Structure of word associations in relation to creativity and psychopathology

Bhandari & Upmanyu (2003) designed this study to relate different categories of word associations to various measures of creativity and psychiatric disturbances by giving due weightage to stimulus word characteristics, namely response entropy and affective connotation of stimulus word. Low Response Entropy Word Association Test, MMPI-Pd Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Culture Fair Intelligence Test: Scale 3 (Form A). Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: Verbal and Figural (Form A), General Mental Ability Test, Rorschach Ink Blot Test were administered to 200 female college students in the age range of 18-24 years. The study reveals several important findings: (1) extremely unusual word associations reflect impulsive-nonconforming-sensation seeking responses, (2) extremely unusual word associations showed, negative association with impulse control, (3) word associations were structurally unrelated to psychometric as well as projective indices of creativity, (4) a negative association (though weak) was found between psychoticism and intelligence.

Bhandari, Anuradha & Upmanyu, VV. (2003). Structure of word associations in relation to creativity and psychopathology. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. Vol 29 (1-2): 1-6