STUDYING CONTROLLED WORD ASSOCIATIONS 371 



The purpose of this investigation then was to consider the fol- 

 lowing points in the procedure of the controlled word association 

 method, to determine to what extent these factors must be taken 

 into account in a precise use of this method. 



1. Does the length of the reaction time in controlled associa- 

 tions differ for the normal and inverse order of nouns and 

 adjectives in the English language? That is, will the reaction 

 time be longer or shorter when the stimulus words are adjectives 

 to be responded to with nouns, than for the opposite, when the 

 stimulus words are nouns to be responded to with adjectives? Is 

 there any such relation between the verb-object and the verb- 

 subject associations? 



2. Does the length of the reaction time vary systematically, if 



the stimulus words are nouns and the response words are adjec- ^ * 

 tives, according to the logical categories in which these nouns fall? 



3. Does the length of the reaction time vary according to the 

 number of syllables in the stimulus word, for the adjective-noun, 

 noun-adjective, verb-object, and verb-subject associations? 



4. Does the length of the reaction time vary according to the ( ' ; 

 position of the accent in the stimulus word for the adjective- 

 noun and noun-adjective associations? 



5. If the same lists of adjectives and noun stimulus words are 

 given for three successive days, requiring noun and adjective re- 

 actions, respectively, and with no additional instruction, will there 

 be a systematic change in the reaction tune from day to day? 



6. Is there any variation in the length of the reaction time for 

 normal and inverse directions of controlled double associations? 

 If the stimulus word is an adjective, for an association to be made 

 first to a noun (not spoken) and then to a verb as response word 

 with this noun as its subject, will the reaction time be longer or 

 shorter than when the control is reversed and the stimulus word 

 is a verb to associate back through a noun subject to an adjec- 

 tive modifying this subject? 



A consideration of these questions will indicate whether such 

 factors are important in a precise use of the controlled word 

 association method. Without any apparent knowledge of their 

 r61e many investigators have drawn conclusions from variations 



