Abstract
The semantic structure underlying the attitudes of pretreatment and posttreatment drug addicts was modeled using a network analysis of free word associations. Measures of graph theoretic properties were used to assess structural differences in the associative networks of the two populations. These measures modeled the information processes of associative networks proposed in the spreading activation theory of semantic processing. As expected based on graph theory, the structure of the associative networks of post-treatment subjects was more dense, less constrained, and more hierarchically organized by the self concept. In a test of the network model, the subjects' evaluations of concepts in the associative network were found to be a function of their evaluations of semantically similar concepts. Although preliminary and limited, the results suggest that graph theory may provide a broad mathematical foundation for diverse models of cognitive systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J. R. (1983).The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brook, J. S., Whiteman, M., Gordon, A. S., & Cohen, P. (1986). Some models and mechanisms for explaining the impact of maternal and adolescent characteristics on adolescent stages of drug use.Developmental Psychology, 22(4), 460–467.
Brown, L. T., & Stanners, R. F. (1983). The assessment and modification of concept interrelationships,Journal of Experimental Education, 52, 11–21.
Burr, A. (1984). The ideologies of despair: A symbolic interpretation of punks' and skinheads' usage of barbiturates.Social Science and Medicine, 19(9), 929–938.
Burt, R. S. (1980). Network models of structure.Annual Review of Sociology, 6, 79–141.
Burt, R. S. (1982).Toward a structural theory of action: Network models of social structure, perception, and action. New York: Academic Press.
Burt, R. S. (1983). Range. In R. S. Burt & M. I. Minor, (Eds.),Applied network analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Burt, R. S. (1992a).STRUCTURE, Version 4.2. New York: Columbia University Center for the Social Sciences.
Burt, R. S. (1992b).Structural holes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1981).Attention and self-regulation: A control theory approach to human behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Cipolli, C., & Galliani, I. (1990). Addiction time and value of Z indicators in Rorschach of heroin users.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 70, 1105–1106.
Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1976). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing.Psychological Bulletin, 82, 407–428.
Craig, R. J. (1988). Psychological functioning of cocaine and free basers derived from objective tests.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(4), 599–606.
Dunn W. N., & Ginsberg, A. (1986). A sociocognitive network approach to organizational analysis.Human Relations, 40, 955–976.
Erdley, C. A., & D'Agostine, P. R. (1989). Cognitive and affective components of automatic priming effects.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 741–747.
Fazio, R. H., Sabonmatsu, D. M., Powell, M. C., & Kardes, F. R. (1986). On the automatic activation of attitudes.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 229–238.
Goodkin, K., & Wilson, K. E. (1982). Amenability of opiate addicts on probation or parole.International Journal of the Addictions, 17(6), 1047–1053.
Harary, F. (1969).Graph theory. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Higgins, E. T., Rohles, W. S. & Jones, C. R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141–154.
Institute of Medicine (1990).Report of the committee for substance abuse coverage. Washington, D.C.: author.
Judd, C. M., Drake, R. A., Downing, J. W., & Krosnick, J. A. (1991). Some dynamic properties of attitude structures: Context induced response facilitation and polarization.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 193–202.
Kelley, G. A. (1955).The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton
Klein, S. B., & Loftus, J. (1988). The nature of self referent encoding The contributions of elaborative and organizational processes.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 5–11.
Knoke, D., & Burt, R. S. (1983). In R. S. Burt, & M. J. Minor, (Eds.),Applied network analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Mongillo, M. (1992). The nature of conceptual similarity schemata: Examination of some basic assumptions.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(1), 88–95.
Krackhardt, D. (1987). Cognitive social structures.Social Networks, 9, 109–134.
Labouvie, E. W., & McGee, C. R. (1986). Relation of personality to alcohol and drug use in adolescence.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54(3), 289–293.
Lunt, P. K. (1991). The perceived causal structure of loneliness.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(1), 26–34.
Markus, H. (1977). Self schemata and processing information about the self.Journal of personality and Social Psychology, 35, 63–78.
Markus, H., & Wurf, E. (1987). The dynamic self concept: A social psychological perspective.Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 299–337.
McGuire, W. J. (1990). Dynamic operations of thought systems.American Psychologist, 45(4), 504–512.
Miyamoto, W., Suga, S., & Oi, K. (1990). Methods of digraph representation and cluster analysis for analyzing free association.IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 20(3), 695–701.
Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957).The measurement of meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois.
Page, R. C., & Mitchell, S. (1986). A comparative study of the attitudes of college students and drug treatment center residents toward drugs, other drug users, and themselves,Journal of Offender Counseling, Services, and Rehabilitation, 10, 83–95.
Peak, H. (1958). Psychological structure and psychological activity.Psychological Review, 65, 325–347.
Quillan, M. R. (1969). The teachable language comprehender.Communication of the ACM, 12, 639–663.
Roediger, H. L. (1990). Implicit memory: Retention without remembering.American Psychologist, 45(9), 1043–1056.
Shepard, R. M., & Chipman, S. (1970). Second order isomorphism of internal representations.Cognitive Psychology, 1, 1–7.
Steffenhagen, R. A., Polich, J. M., & Lash S. (1978). Alienation, delinquency, and patterns of drug use.International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 24(2), 125–137.
Svanum, S., & Schladenhauffen, J. (1986). Lifetime and recent alcohol consumption among male alcoholics: Neuropsychological implications.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 214–220.
Szalay, L. B., & Brent, J. (1967). The analysis of cultural meanings through free verbal associations.Journal of Social Psychology, 72, 161–187.
Szalay, L. B., & Bryson, J. A. (1973). The measurement of psychocultural distance: A comparison of American blacks and whites.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 166–177.
Szalay, L. B., & Bryson, J. A. (1974). Psychological meaning: Comparative analyses and theoretical implications.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 166–177.
Szalay, L. B., & Deese, J. (1978).Subjective meaning and culture: An assessment through word associations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum/Wiley.
Tesser, A., & Shaffer, D. R. (1990). Attitudes and attitude change.Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 479–523.
Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men.Psychology Review, 55, 189–208.
Tourangeau, R., & Rasinski, K. A. (1988). Cognitive processes underlying context effects in attitude measurement.Psychological Bulletin, 103, 299–314.
Wicklund, R. A., & Frey, D. (1980). Self-awareness theory: When the self makes a difference. In D. M. Wegner & R. R. Vallacher (Eds.),The self in social psychology (pp. 31–54). New York: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The research was funded by a grant from the National Institute for Drug Abuse to the Institute of Cultural Studies, Inc.
Daytop Village.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bovasso, G., Szalay, L., Biase, V. et al. A graph theory model of the semantic structure of attitudes. J Psycholinguist Res 22, 411–425 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074344
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074344