Abstract
The present study addresses two questions: (1) Will Osgood’s semantic differential dimensions, activity and potency, provide adequate cuing to the human learner in a binary choice selective (discrimination) learning paradigm? And (2) will these dimensions combine as redundant cues to facilitate learning? Undergraduate student subjects responded to a program presented by microcomputer. Three groups were designated: Group P was presented word pairs that differed only in their factor scores on potency (weak-strong); the other semantic dimensions were “neutralized.” Group A received word pairs differing only in activity scores (active-passive). And Group A&P-matched received word pairs differing in both potency and activity (relevant redundant cues, as weak-passive vs. strong-active). Instructions to all subjects simply urged that they respond to the “way the word feels−the general feeling of the word.” Few subjects mastered the one dimension problem (potency or activity presented singly). Combining the two, however, yielded evidence of learning.
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This research was reported in part at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, March 1981, Atlanta, Georgia.
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McCord, D.M., Siegel, P.S. Dimensions of the semantic differential as cues in discrimination learning. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 18, 92–94 (1981). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333569
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333569