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Is an apple a fruit? Semantic relatedness as reflected by psychophysiological responsivity
Author(s) -
BENSHAKHAR GERSHON,
FROST RAM,
GATI ITAMAR,
KRESH YIFAT
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1996.tb02363.x
Subject(s) - psychology , generalization , superordinate goals , cognitive psychology , stimulus (psychology) , stimulus generalization , communication , natural language processing , social psychology , computer science , perception , mathematics , neuroscience , mathematical analysis
In the present study, we investigated orienting response generalization across various types of semantically related stimuli. Four experiments, based on a modified version of the guilty knowledge technique, were designed to examine whether semantic relations based on abstract features are reflected by electrodermal responsivity. No generalization across coordinates was obtained, but a moderate degree of generalization was demonstrated between a word and its superordinate category (e.g., table‐furniture) and between a word and its synonym. Complete generalization occurred from a verbal label of an object to its pictorial representation, and vice versa. These results are compatible with our proposal that partial identification of the test stimulus as relevant is a necessary condition for generalization in the guilty knowledge technique.