Comparison of Restricted Associations Among Six Languages.

The purpose of this study was to develop equivalent forms of restricted association tests for different languages and to test their applicability. Twenty-four (12 male, 12 female) native speakers of each of the following languages were tested: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. Most were graduate students at the University of Michigan or Michigan State University. The same seven types of restricted associations to the same 35 stimulus nouns were obtained in all languages. Written tests were administered individually with self-explanatory instructions in the language of the test. There was no time limit. The seven restricted association tasks were to give (1) class names for stimulus words, (2) another member of the class to which the stimulus belonged, (3) synonyms, (4) antonyms, (5) verbs denoting usage of the stimulus, (6) adjectives denoting qualities, and (7) parts or attributes of the stimulus. The results indicate that restricted association tests can be successfully adopted for use in foreign languages and that the results will indicate marked response variability between individuals as well as between languages. Since the numbers of subjects within the groups were rather small and since most subjects were recruited on a university campus, the study must be regarded as preliminary. (DO)