September 12, 2011; 4-5:30, PY 101

Dr. Ken McRae
Department of Psychology
University of Western Ontario

Semantic and Associative Relations: Examining a Tenuous Dichotomy

Abstract
The constructs of semantic and associative relatedness have played a prominent role in semantic memory research because researchers have historically used this distinction to formulate theories, create experimental conditions, and explain empirical results. I argue that the binary distinction between semantic and associative relations is rooted in a fundamental problem in how the two are defined and contrasted. Whereas “semantic relatedness” has typically been limited to category coordinates, “associative relatedness” has most often been operationalized using the word association task. I discuss how meaningful semantic relations between words/concepts certainly extend beyond category coordinates, that word association is driven primarily by meaningful semantic relations between cue and response words. Furthermore, non-meaningful, purely associative relations between words generally are not retained in memory. To illustrate these points, I discuss research on semantic priming, picture naming, the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm, and mnemonic skill development in adolescents. I conclude that the best path forward for semantic memory research is to theoretically and empirically delineate and test among types of semantic relations, rather than using a semantic/associative dichotomy.