Patterns of Response to a Semantic Differential Test before and after Training in General Semantics*

I N T R O D U C T I O N The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effect of general semantics classes on the 'meanings' of certain 'concepts' to the class members -'meaning' being defined in terms of the semantic differential . However, the patterns of response to the semantic differential proved more interesting than the responses to individual concepts . The semantic differential was developed by Professor C . E . Osgood (1) as an objective method of measuring meaning to an individup-7 . It should not be confused with the 'structural differential' of Korzybski (2), which is an educational device for discriminating levels of abstraction . The semantic differentiall combines controlled association and scaling procedures . In practice, an individual is asked to rate a particular concept on a series of bi-polar, seven-point scales (Fig . 1) . A set of ratings constitutes an operational definition of the meaning of that concept, for the individual, at that time .