Jean A. Bryson

Comparative Analysis of Words and Pictures through Associations

The investigations focused on a picture-stimulated continued association approach, its information value and analytic potential. Student groups (N = 50), each composed of both sexes, were from the University of Maryland. The study involved a comparative analysis of associations produced to words and pictures. The results show that the two approaches are closely comparable but produced responses which were differently focused. While the word-stimulated responses were somewhat more generic, the picture-stimulated associations were more narrow and specific. All the measures developed previously in the context of word-stimulated associations were found to be equally applicable and informative with picture-stimulated associations as well. From a theoretical viewpoint, the investigations were informative in demonstrating the importance of perceptual semantic and affective-attitudinal factors in the association process. Corresponding words and pictures elicited closely similar response distributions with correlations in the range of .7. As the role of perceptual factors is obvious in picture-stimulated associations, the results of the study have distinct implications for association theory, underlining the importance of centrally mediated mechanisms in the process of elicitation.