Norms of Word Association

Book excerpt: Norms of Word Association contains a heterogeneous collection of word association norms. This book brings together nine sets of association norms that were collected independently at different times during a 15-year period. Each chapter is a self-contained unit. The order in which the norms are presented is arbitrary, although an attempt is made to group together norms that seem to belong together. The 1952 Minnesota norms are presented first, due to "age" and in recognition of the fact that a number of the norms that follow are direct outgrowths of this work. The next three norms in this collection are responses to the Russell-Jenkins stimuli obtained from subjects representing different linguistic communities. A summary of association norms collected from British and Australian subjects are reported along with association norms from German and French college students and French workmen. Four sets of norms that are not directly related to the 1952 Minnesota collection are included. The text will be of interest to historians and researchers in the field of verbal learning and verbal behavior.