Correlation between Two Indices of Commonality and of Repetition in Free Word-Association Responses

Abstract

Two samples of subjects, one French ( n = 50) and one American ( n = 29), were given free word-association tests consisting of two successive presentations of the same list of stimulus words separated by a 15-min. interval. Both the frequency of “most common responses” (as defined by Palermo and Jenkins' word association norms for the Americans and a reference sample for the French) and the frequency of repeated responses (responses repeated on successive presentations) remained consistent for individual subjects tested on separate occasions with two different lists of 20 words. There was also a significant correlation between these two parameters for individual subjects.