Within the theoretical framework of Osgood's (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957) theory of meaning the sign of an object is a primary symbol assumed to evoke a representational mediating response that is some part of the total behavior emitted by the organism when stimulated by the object itself. This response produces distinctive cues, mediating behavior that would otherwise not have occurred in the absence of previous association of the object with the word. The representational elements (r m -s m ) correspond to the meaning of the sign, and because of the cue or stimulus components the sign can be conditioned to other stimuli initially lacking in meaning. Upon conditioning such symbolic stimuli are designated assigns. On the basis of the congruity principle distinctive responses may be produced by novel stimuli if the assign, within appropriate contextual arrangements, is used to label other novel stimuli (Osgood etal., 1957).