Normative values on various word characteristics were obtained for abstract, concrete, and emotion words in order to facilitate research on concreteness effects and on the similarities and differences among the three word types. A sample of 78 participants rated abstract, concrete, and emotion words on concreteness, context availability,and imagery scales, Wordassociations were also gathered for abstract, concrete, and emotion words. The data were used to investigate similarities and differences among these three word types on word attributes, association strengths, and number of associations. These normative data can be used to further research on concreteness effects, word type effects, and word recognition for abstract, concrete, and emotion words, A robust finding in the concreteness effects literature is that concrete words (e.g., desk, computer) are understood better than abstract words (e.g., liberty,freedom) (Schwanenflugei, Harnishfeger, & Stowe, 1988). The advantages for processing concrete words over abstract words have been referred to as concreteness effects and have been found in a variety of cognitive tasks, including paired associatelearning, translation, comprehension tests, lexical decision, and free recall (e.g., Day, 1977; de Groot, Dannenburg, & van Hell, 1994; Holmes & Langford, 1976; James, 1975; Paivio, 1971 Paivio, , 1986. These concreteness effects are commonly exp1ained by either a dual coding theory (Paivio, 1971(Paivio, , 1986 or a context avai1ability theory (Schwanenflugei, Akin, & Luh, 1992). According to the dual coding theory there are two functionally independent yet interconnected representationa1 systems: (1) verbal and (2) imaginal. The verbal system processes verbal information, whereas the imaginal system processes nonverbal information. These representations are differentially avai1ablein memory contingent on the concreteness ofthe words. Both concrete and abstract words are represented in the verbal system, but only concrete words are connected to the imagina1 system. Since the image provides an additional means through which concrete words can be stored and retrieved, concrete words are more 1ike1y to be recalled better than abstract words that lack representation in the imaginal system. The work reported here was funded by a Faculty Research Award from the University at Albany, State University ofNew York. The authors thank Peter Dixon, Janet van Hell, and an anonymous reviewer who provided helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. The authors also thank Noah Balanoff, Allyse Scher, and John Sears for their assistance with data collection and data entry. Correspondence should be addressed to J. Altarriba, Department of Psychology, SS 112, University of Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12222 (e-mail: ja087@csc.albany.edu).The context avai1ability hypothesis emphasizes the ease with which a context or circumstance can be recalled for a particular word (Kieras, 1978; Schwanenflugel et al., 1992; Schwanenflugel et al., 1988). The context availabilit...