The present project presents data included in the Article "Intuitive Judgments of Semantic Coherence: A Thematic Integration Model" currently under review in Cognition & Emotion.
Abstract: People can intuitively distinguish semantically coherent from incoherent word triads, even without knowing the common denominator. This effect has traditionally been attributed to subliminal spreading activation of the common denominator. The present authors, however, suggest that intuitive coherence judgments may also be driven by the thematic relations of the triad words. Words are thematically related when they perform different roles in the same scenario (e.g., CHICKEN and EGG are related via a production theme). Thematic relations differ from associations (CHICKEN and LITTLE are associated with a Disney movie) and taxonomic relations, which specify common attributes between concepts (CHICKEN and SPARROW are both birds). Consistent with the thematic integration model, word triads with thematic (rather than taxonomic) relations were more often judged as coherent (Study 1). Moreover, priming thematic (rather than taxonomic) processing led to more intuitive coherence judgments of word triads (Study 2). In three published datasets, thematic relations between triads’ word pairs predicted over half of the variance in intuitive coherence judgments (Study 3). Finally, when the existence of a common denominator and thematic relations were independently manipulated, thematic relations drove intuitive coherence judgments (Study 4). These findings demonstrate that intuition draws on thematic knowledge about the world.
Note: We included the original experiment files and processed datasets in this project. We did not upload the raw data due to data protection regulations. In case you would like to access privat data, please contact the first Author, Tobias Maldei.