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WordAssociationWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

WordAssociation
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WordAssociationisacommonwordgameinvolvinganexchangeofwordsthatareassociatedtogether.Thegameisbasedonthenoun
phrasewordassociation,meaning"stimulationofanassociativepatternbyaword"[1]or"theconnectionandproductionofotherwordsin
responsetoagivenword,donespontaneouslyasagame,creativetechnique,orinapsychiatricevaluation."[2]

Contents
1Howtoplay
1.1Variants
2Example
3Psychology
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks

Howtoplay[edit]
Onceanoriginalwordhasbeenchosen,usuallyrandomlyorarbitrarily,aplayerwillfindawordthattheyassociatewithitandmakeit
knowntoalltheplayers,usuallybysayingitaloudorwritingitdownasthenextitemonalistofwordssofarused.Thenextplayermust
thendothesamewiththispreviousword.Thiscontinuesinturnsforanylengthoftime,butoftenwordlimitsareset,sothatthegameis
agreedtoendafter,forinstance,400words.
Usually,playerswritedownthenextwordbymerelyusingthefirstwordthatcomestotheirmindaftertheyhearthepreviousone.
Sometimeshowevertheymayputinmorethoughttofindamorecreativeconnectionbetweenthewords.Exchangesareoftenfastand
sometimesunpredictable(thoughlogicalpatternscanusuallybefoundwithoutdifficulty).Sometimes,alotofthegame'sfuncanarisefrom
theseeminglystrangeoramusingassociationsthatpeoplemakebetweenwords.Itisalsofoundamusingwhatyoucangetfromanoriginal
word,andhowtheycontrastdistinctly,forexample,fromtheword"tea"youcouldgettheword"murder".
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Thegamecanbeplayedactivelyorpassively,sometimestakingmanyweekstocomplete,andcaninfactbeplayedwithanynumberof
players,evenone.Example:Soda,Sprite,Fairy,Tinkerbell,PeterPan,Pans,Skillet,Kitchens,Refrigerator,Drinks,Soda

Variants[edit]
Insomegames,extralimitationsareadded,forinstance:
Theassociationsbetweenwordsmustbestrictlyobvious,ratherthantheusual"firstwordthatcomestomind",whichcanoften
requireexplainingtoseehowitisconnectedwiththepreviousword.
WordDisassociation(sometimescalledDissociation)issometimesplayed.Inthisgame,theaimistosayawordthatisasunrelated
aspossibletothepreviousone.Insuchgames,however,itisoftenfoundthatcreativityisloweredandthewordsstraytowards
havingobviousassociationsagain.ThereisasongaboutWordDisassociationbyNeilCicierega(LemonDemon)onhisDamnSkippy
album.Thisgameissometimesknownas"WordforWord".
Sometimes,repeatedwordsareforbiddenorotherwisenotedonaseparatelistforinterest.
Avariantwithanarbitraryname(sometimescalledUltraWordAssociation)involvesassociatingwordsinagrid,wherethefirst
wordisplacedinthetopleft,andwhereeachwordmustbeplacedadjacenttoanotheroneandmustassociatewithallthosewords
adjacenttoit.
AgamebasedontheWordAssociationgamewhichissometimespopularforinformalsocialgatheringsisBobsledding.

Example[edit]
HereisanexampleofhowaWordAssociationgamemightrun:
Dog,
Cat,
Fur,
Coat,
Enshroud,
Night,
Eye,
Heart,
Love,
Hate,
Dark

Psychology[edit]
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Itisbelievedbysomethatthisgamecanrevealsomethingofaperson'ssubconsciousmind(asitshowswhatthingstheyassociatetogether),
howeversomeareskepticalofhoweffectivesuchatechniquecouldbeinpsychology.However,moreoftenthannot,mostofthefunofthe
gamecomesfromobservingtheerraticlinksbetweenwords,wheretheamusementcomesfromwonderinghowsomeoneelse'smind
managedtomakesuchanassociation.
Often,thegame'sgoalistocomparethefirstandfinalword,toseeiftheyrelate,ortoseehowdifferenttheyare,oralsotoseehowmany
wordsarerepeated.Likewise,playersoftenreviewthelistofwordstoseethepathwaysofassociationsthatgofrombeginningtoend.
Wordassociationhasbeenusedbymarketresearcherstoensurethepropermessageisconveyedbynamesoradjectivesusedinpromotinga
company'sproducts.Forexample,JamesVicary,workinginthe1950s,testedtheword'lagered'forabrewingcompany.Whileaboutathird
ofhissubjectsassociatedthewordwithbeer,anotherthirdassociateditwithtiredness,dizzinessandsoforth.Asaresultofthestudy,
Vicary'sclientdecidednottousetheword.[3]
Intheearlyyearsofpsychology,manydoctorsnotedthatpatientsexhibitedbehaviorthattheywerenotincontrolof.Somepartofthe
personalityseemedtohaveaninfluenceonthatperson'sbehaviorthatwasnotinhis/herconsciouscontrol.Thispartwas,byfunction,
unconscious,andbecamesonamedtheUnconscious.CarlJungtheorizedthatpeopleconnectideas,feelings,experiencesandinformation
bywayofassociations...thatideasandexperiencesarelinked,orgrouped,intheunconsciousinsuchamannerastoexertinfluenceover
theindividualsbehavior.ThesegroupingshenamedComplexes.[4]
Thequestfortheearlyanalystswashowtoaccessandfreethecontentsoftheunconscious.Earlymethodsofthistreatmentincluded
hypnosis,dreamanalysis,andwordassociation.WordassociationresearchstartedasapsychologicalsciencewithDarwin'scousin,Sir
FrancisGalton,whothoughtthattheremightbealinkbetweenaperson'sI.Q.(intelligencequotient)andwordassociations.Atypical
associationissuch:ifIsay"cat",youmightsay"dog".Thisindicatesthatyouassociatedogwithcat,acommonassociation.Acommon
"associationtest"wouldbelistoftriggerwordsthatthepersonbeingtestedwouldrespondtoasquicklyaspossible.Oftentheseresponses
weretimed,anditbecameobviousthatcertainwordscouldcauseaconsiderabledelayintheindividual'sresponse.SirFranciswasunable
tofindadirectlinkbetweenintelligenceandwordassociation,howeverJungbecamecuriousaboutthetimedelaythatoccurredin
respondingtocertainwords.Jungtheorizedthatthedelaybetweenstimulusandresponseindicatedsomesortofblockinselfexpression.
Onetypeofblockmightbethattoomanypossibleanswersrushtothesurfaceandcreateasortofexpressionlogjam,andthatoneisunable
toansweruntilonesortsoutallthepossibleanswers.Anotherpossibilityisthattheindividualfeelsuncomfortablewiththeresponse,or
thattheresponseisinappropriate,thustheyresistexpressingtheanswer.ThisresistancetoanswerispartofthephenomenonthatFreud
describedasrepression.

Seealso[edit]
ImplicitAssociationTest
iAssociate
Password
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References[edit]
1. ^Dictionary.com
2. ^Dictionary.com's21stCenturyLexicon
3. ^VancePackard,TheHiddenPersuaders,Penguin,1961paperbackedition,p.129
4. ^Jung,CarlG.(1910)."TheAssociationMethod".AmericanJournalofPsychology21(2):219269.doi:10.2307/1413002.
Retrieved16November2013.

Externallinks[edit]
powerhouse.me.uk
WordAssociation.org
Scientificstudyonwordassociationsinvariouslanguages
FunnyFarmOnlineAssociationGame
Wordassociationgameagainstliveopponents
Onlinegameofwordassociation
WordAssociationsNetwork
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Word_Association&oldid=654295943"
Categories:
Wordgames
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ArticlesneedingadditionalreferencesfromJanuary2012
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