Overcoming the Limitations of Single- Response Free Associations
Lance W. Hahn · 2008
Single-response free association has been the standard method for creating associates for a target word, but it has shortcomings when the objective is to create a broad set of associates. There are also some pragmatic challenges such as the preponderance of idiosyncratic responses and the lack of associate diversity when a strong associate is present. A multiple-response free association task with a new analytic approach is introduced. This new approach is compared with the traditional free association task in terms of response set size and associate strengths. While data from the two tasks are highly correlated, the new task generates broader associate sets and raises the possibility that response biases may influence single-response free association measurements. The new method also provides a mechanism by which individual differences could be studied.