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Semantic structure of alcohol and marijuana categories in memory

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Published/Copyright: December 1, 2010
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International Journal on Disability and Human Development
From the journal Volume 9 Issue 4

Abstract

Background: In the literature, multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses have been linked to drinking behavior wherein heavy versus light drinkers’ expectancies map differently on to the MDS space. The present study was a descriptive account of college students’ internal semantic networks of (a) alcohol and (b) marijuana-related stimuli themselves that were semantically related.

Methods: Twenty-four (12 for each category) college undergraduates participated in this study. From each alcohol and marijuana category, pairs of words were generated in such a way that each word was paired with every other word. For each category, participants were presented with pairs of words and were asked to give similarity judgments for each pair of words. Participants’ data were entered in the SPSS program and the MDS algorithm was run.

Results: Two-dimensional plots, which showed the internal structures of the categories were obtained and showed that more similar words occupied close psychological distance from each other and less similar words occupied longer psychological distance from each other.

Conclusions: Assessment techniques such as semantic priming that use words selected from specific regions of the MDS outputs can be used in clinical research to determine alcohol or marijuana dependency or risk.

Keywords: alcohol; college students; marijuana; multidimensional scaling; semantic network
Corresponding author: Suchismita Ray, Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 607 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Received: 2010-8-7
Accepted: 2010-9-28
Published Online: 2010-12-01
Published in Print: 2010-12-01

©2010 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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https://doi.org/10.1515/IJDHD.2010.044
Keywords for this article
alcohol; college students; marijuana; multidimensional scaling; semantic network

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editorial
  2. Aging with a disability
  3. Review articles
  4. White matter and oligodendrocyte abnormalities in bipolar disorder
  5. Aging people with intellectual disability in Israel
  6. Original articles
  7. Effects of contralateral extremity manipulation on brain function
  8. Effects of motor sequence training on attentional performance in ADHD children
  9. The effects of parental attitudes on health behaviors of adolescents attending 6th to 8th grades in Turkey
  10. Early identification of adolescents with greater psychosocial needs: an evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong
  11. The impact of modern library services on the rehabilitation of people with disabilities
  12. Qualitative evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: findings based on focus groups
  13. Patterns of adaptive performance by individuals with autism spectrum disorders on the Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R)
  14. A longitudinal study of institutional downsizing and activity involvement among adults with intellectual disability
  15. Health trends from an international sample of older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  16. The relationship of parental bonding to depression in patients with chronic pain
  17. Semantic structure of alcohol and marijuana categories in memory
  18. Case reports
  19. Ergonomic alternating pressure relief seating system for the rehabilitation of patients with decubitus ulcers
  20. Heart rate variability changes induced by auditory stimulation in persistent vegetative state
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