Task Attitudes in Word Association, Projective and Nonprojective1

Abstract

V-iONSTRUCTivE theorizing and research on the projective process have been greatly hampered by the general tendency to accept and preserve as "given" the particular set of conditions which happened to be specified originally for each of the various projective tests We now have a wide variety of "standard" projective conditions varying all of the way from the unstructured blots and free directions of the Rorschach test to the highly structured stimulus words and rigid directions of the word-association test Hence instead of a general projective psychology', we have a number of systems for interpreting projective phenomena, each applicable only withm Its own local test setting Toward a more constructive approach, we have suggested an experimental attack upon the whole problem with a deliberate program for varying drastically the inviolate conditions of some prominent projective techniques The present stud> is a continuation of our previous research directed toward determining the extent to which the projective process is influenced by variation of a particular aspect of the test situation, namely, the task attitude of the subject While the previous research (4) dealt with the effects of the free conditions of the Rorschach test, the present study concerns the influences of the restricted task imposed by the usual conditions of the word-association test Experimental variation of the task attitude was selected as a promising line of attack since it could provide an approach to the ' This research was aided by a grant from the Sigma Xi-RESA Research Fund The wnters are grateful to Harold E Israel for helpful suggestions related to the theoretical aspects of this paper

Effects of impulsivity, introversion, and individual values upon association under free conditions1

“…The results were analyzed m terms of the reaction time and content of the associative responses The statistical treatment is restricted to an analysis of the results for the 15 adjective stimulus words, since adjective stimuli have been found to be well suited to yield differentiation between stimulus-bound and subject-bound associates (7) Table 1 presents a comparison of the spontaneous tempo of associative reaction (based upon individual medians) adopted by 5"s low or high on scales R, T, and S i's with low scores on any of the three scales were relatively prompt m their reactions, whereas i's high on these scales delayed their reactions However, only m the case of scale R is there a statistically reliable difference {p = 025) between the low and high groups Thus the results clearly confirm our prediction that individuals who are typically impulsive choose to react more promptly than do inhibited individuals on an association test administered under free conditions The results for scale T fail to confirm our prediction…”

“…The fact that the results generally fail to support our prediction of a relation between extroversion-introversion of the thinking type and the two patterns of association may be an artifact produced by the close relation of Guilford's scale T to maladjustment Since it has already been shown that maladjustment scores are reliably related to the two associative patterns (7), it seems plausible to assume that the maladjustment variable worked in opposition to the extroversion-introversion variable in the present study According to Guilford, both our Low T and High T groups were maladjusted, so that their associative patterns would tend to be similar because of this factor in common value systems wjis introduced here to include another aspect of the obective-subjective dimension of personahty which might be more closely related to our two patterns of association (and less directly related to maladjustment) than Guilford's measures of extijoversionmtroversion Knowledge of an individual's dominant value system should provide very definite information about the specific standard of evaluation that he will apply in situations providing freedom of choice One should be able to predict from his values the general manner in which a person will interpret the task of word association, the kind of evaluative choices he will make between alternative responses, and the kind of responses that he will find personally most meaningful Moreover, on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the relation of the six value systems to our problem, we came to the conclusion that these values could be classified under the following two relevant categories…”

“…The objective criteria utilized to distinguish the two types of associative patterns are as follows a stimulus-bound pattern is mdicated by shorter reaction time, more contrast associates, and less awareness of associative processes intervening between stimulus and response, as compared to a subject-bound pattem indicated by longer reaction time, more adj'ective-noun associates, and more frequent awareness of complex intervening associative processes A theory describing the significance and interrelations of these criteria is fully presented m the previous study (7) In brief, a stimulus-bound associative pattem is, by definition, tied to a set for speed, which automatically induces a limitation of the associations to the type that come most quickly, namely, contrast associates Since this type of associative process stops quickly at the early stage of mere identification of the stimulus, the 5" has no complex intervening processes to report A subject-bound pattern is tied to a set to find a personally meaningful association, which involves a time-consuming intervening process, typified by concrete visual images of objects or events Since this type of intervening process features concrete objects, the final word selected by S to express the personal meaning of the process is likely to be the name of a concrete object, a noun Thus a noun response to an adjective stimulus provides a convenient index of the subject-bound type of pattem PART I IMPULSIVITY-INHIBITION AND EXTROVERSION-INTROVERSION In terms of specific hypotheses, the problem here can be stated as follows (o) 5"s who are typically impulsive are more likely to select a relatively stimulus-bound manner of associating under free conditions, as evidenced by faster reaction time, more contrast associates, and less frequent awareness of intervening processes, whereas typically inhibited S' s are more likely to select a relatively subject-bound approach, as evidenced by slower reaction time, more adjective-noun associates, and more frequent awareness of intervening processes (b) Ss who are thmkmg-extroverts are more likely to select the relatively stimulus-bound pattern under free conditions, whereas 5"s who are thmkmg-mtroverts are more likely to select the relatively subject-bound pattem…”

“…The objective criteria utilized to distinguish the two types of associative patterns are as follows a stimulus-bound pattern is mdicated by shorter reaction time, more contrast associates, and less awareness of associative processes intervening between stimulus and response, as compared to a subject-bound pattem indicated by longer reaction time, more adj'ective-noun associates, and more frequent awareness of complex intervening associative processes A theory describing the significance and interrelations of these criteria is fully presented m the previous study (7) In brief, a stimulus-bound associative pattem is, by definition, tied to a set for speed, which automatically induces a limitation of the associations to the type that come most quickly, namely, contrast associates Since this type of associative process stops quickly at the early stage of mere identification of the stimulus, the 5" has no complex intervening processes to report A subject-bound pattern is tied to a set to find a personally meaningful association, which involves a time-consuming intervening process, typified by concrete visual images of objects or events Since this type of intervening process features concrete objects, the final word selected by S to express the personal meaning of the process is likely to be the name of a concrete object, a noun Thus a noun response to an adjective stimulus provides a convenient index of the subject-bound type of pattem…”

Association Test Antonym‐response Set1

“…Kieldergaard reported that about as many popular responses are elicited by such antonym-set instructions as were elicited by Jenkins' instructions to give popular responses. Siipola, Walker, and Kolb (1955) reported that, when Ss are asked to give associations under an extreme speed set, they give more antonJ~responses than they do under stand.ard free-association instructions. It appears that antonym responses are ones Ss find obvious.…”