Multiple word associations to 52 CVCs were obtained from grade-school-aged children. Meaningfulness values (m) for each word, defined as the mean number of associations, were determined. While m values for the set of words increased with grade-age, the rank ordering of these values was essentially the same within each grade-age-sex group. Sex was not related to m values. Values of m when compared with Noble's m' showed significant agreement both for rank-order comparisons and values dichotomized into high and low categories.
The Ss were told they would see a list of words, one word at a time, to which they were to write as many associations as possible in the time permitted with a maximum of five different associations to each word.