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''''Semantic satiation''' (also '''semantic saturation''') is a [[psychological]] phenomenon in which [[Repetition (rhetorical device)|repetition]] causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose [[meaning (linguistic)|meaning]] for the listener, who then perceives the speech as repeated meaningless sounds. ==History and research== Leon Jakobovits James coined the phrase "semantic satiation" in his 1962 [[Thesis|doctoral dissertation]] at [[McGill University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2000/banaag/semantic-satiation.doc |title=Effects of Repeated Stimulation on Cognitive Aspects of Behavior: Some Experiments on the Phenomenon of Semantic Satiation|publisher= |author=Leon Jakobovits James |date=April 1962 |accessdate=2012-08-17}}</ref> Prior to that, the expression "verbal satiation" had been used along with terms that express the idea of mental fatigue. The dissertation listed many of the names others had used for the phenomenon: {{bquote|Many other names have been used for what appears to be essentially the same process: inhibition (Herbert, 1824, in Boring, 1950), refractory phase and mental fatigue (Dodge, 1917; 1926a), lapse of meaning (Bassett and Warne, 1919), work decrement (Robinson and Bills, 1926), cortical inhibition (Pavlov, 192?), adaptation (Gibson, 1937), extinction (Hilgard and Marquis, 1940), satiation (Kohler and Wallach, 1940), [[reactive inhibition]] (Hull, 1913 {{sic}}), stimulus satiation (Glanzer, 1953), reminiscence (Eysenck, 1956), verbal satiation (Smith and Raygor, 1956), and verbal transformation (Warren, 1961b).|From Leon Jakobovits James, 1962}} The dissertation presents several experiments that demonstrate the operation of the semantic satiation effect in various cognitive tasks such as rating words and figures that are presented repeatedly in a short time, verbally repeating words then grouping them into concepts, adding numbers after repeating them out loud, and bilingual translations of words repeated in one of the two languages. In each case subjects would repeat a word or number for several seconds, then perform the cognitive task using that word. It was demonstrated that repeating a word prior to its use in a task made the task somewhat more difficult. The explanation for the phenomenon is that, in the [[Cerebral cortex|cortex]], verbal repetition repeatedly arouses a specific neural pattern that corresponds to the meaning of the word. Rapid repetition makes both the [[peripheral]] [[Piaget's theory of cognitive development|sensorimotor]] activity and central neural activation fire repeatedly. This is known to cause reactive inhibition, hence a reduction in the intensity of the activity with each repetition. Jakobovits James (1962) calls this conclusion the beginning of "experimental neurosemantics". ==Applications== An application has been developed to reduce [[speech anxiety]] by stutterers by creating semantic satiation through repetition, thus reducing the intensity of negative emotions triggered during speech.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1966-11392-001|title=SEMANTIC SATIATION AND COGNITIVE DYNAMICS1|author=Dr. Leon James (formerly Leon A. Jakobovits) University of Illinois}}</ref> ==In popular culture== * In Edgar Allan Poe's 1835 short story ''[[Berenice (short story)|Berenice]]'', the protagonist describes a mental state that induced him "to repeat, monotonously, some common word, until the sound, by dint of frequent repetition, ceased to convey any idea whatever to the mind".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.online-literature.com/poe/23/ |title=Berenice by Edgar Allan Poe |publisher=Online-literature.com |date=2007-01-26 |accessdate=2012-08-17}}</ref> * In [[James Thurber]]'s 1933 short story "More Alarms At Night", Thurber describes the phenomenon as follows: "I began to indulge in the wildest fancies as I lay there in the dark, such as that there was no such town, and even that there was no such state as New Jersey. I fell to repeating the word 'Jersey' over and over again, until it became idiotic and meaningless. If you have ever lain awake at night and repeated one word over and over, thousands and millions and hundreds of thousands of millions of times, you know the disturbing mental state you can get into."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The New Yorker|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1933/08/26/1933_08_26_013_TNY_CARDS_000228170|title=MY LIFE AND HARD TIMES-V: MORE ALARMS AT NIGHT|date=August 26, 1933|author= James Thurber}}</ref> * In the ''Friends'' episode "[[The One with the Stoned Guy]]", the character referenced in the title repeats the word "tartlets" until he notes that it has "lost all meaning".<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583649/quotes?qt=qt0389354 Memorable quotes for "Friends" The One with the Stoned Guy (1995)], [[IMDB.com]]</ref> * Semantic satiation is used extensively in Tony Burgess's novel ''[[Pontypool Changes Everything]]'', as well as in the [[Pontypool (film)|film adaptation of the novel]].{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} * In William Faulkner's novel ''[[As I Lay Dying]]'', the character of Addie Bundren speaks of the phenomenon as repeating a word until the meaning drains from it, leaving it an empty container.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} * In Kathryn Lasky's book ''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'', one of the brainwashing techniques the antagonists use against young owls is making them repeat their own name until it loses all meaning to them. * In ''The Simpsons'' episode "[[Radioactive Man (The Simpsons episode)|Radioactive Man]]", Milhouse Van Houten tells Bart Simpson that "making movies is so horribly repetitive; I've said 'jiminy jillikers!' so many times the words have lost all meaning!'"<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120064502/http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F17.html|url=http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F17.html|title=[2F17] Radioactive Man|archivedate=January 20, 2015 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> * In ''The Inbetweeners'' episode "[[Exam Time]]", protagonist Will McKenzie experiences the phenomenon.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} *In "How I met your mother" Ted repeats "bowl" until it not longer sounds like a word anymore. ==See also== * [[Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo]] * [[Gestaltzerfall]] * [[Jamais vu]] * [[Mantra]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== {{Further reading cleanup|date=January 2015}} {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal | author=Dodge, R. | title=The laws of relative fatigue | journal=Psychol. Rev. | volume=24 | issue=2 | year=1917 | pages=89–113 | doi=10.1037/h0075549 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Don, V.J. |author2=Weld, H.P. | title=Lapse of meaning with visual fixation | journal=[[American Journal of Psychology]] | volume=35 | issue=3 | year=1924 | pages=446–450 | doi=10.2307/1414024 | jstor=1414024 }} * {{cite journal | author=Duncan, C.P. | title=On the similarity between reactive inhibition and neural satiation | journal=American Journal of Psychology | volume=69 | issue=2 | year=1956 | pages=227–235 | doi=10.2307/1418151 | pmid=13327083 | jstor=1418151 }} * {{cite journal | author=Eysenck, H.J. | title=Cortical inhibition, figural after-effect, and theory of personality | journal=Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology | volume=51 | issue=1 | year=1955 | pages=94–106 | doi=10.1037/h0043564 | pmid=13242293 }} * {{Cite journal | author=Gaynor, Miriam | title=An effect of satiation on recall | publisher=[[The New School for Social Research|New School for Social Research]] | location=New York | year=1954 | postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} }} Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. * {{cite journal |author1=Severance, Elisabeth |author2=Washburn, Margaret. | title=The loss of associative power in words after long fixation | journal=American Journal of Psychology | volume=18 | issue=2 | year=1907 | pages=182–186 | doi=10.2307/1412411 | jstor=1412411 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Smith, D.E. P. |author2=Raygor, A.L. | title=Verbal satiation and personality | journal=J. Abnrom, soc. Psychol. | volume=52 | issue=3 | year=1956 | pages=323–326 | pmid=13318837 }} * {{cite journal | author=Warren, R.M | title=Illusory changes in repeated words: Differences between young adults and the aged | journal=American Journal of Psychology | volume=74 | issue=4 | year=1961<!--a--> | pages=506–516 | doi=10.2307/1419661 | pmid=14005061 | jstor=1419661 }} * {{cite journal | author=Warren, R.M. | title=Illusory changes of distinct speech upon repetition—the verbal transformation effect | journal=Brit. J. Psychol. | volume=52 | issue=3 | pages=249–258 | year=1961<!--b--> | doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.1961.tb00787.x | pmid=13783239 }} * {{cite journal | author=Wertheimer, M. | title=Studies of some Gestalt qualities of words | journal=In Gestalthaftes sehen: Ergebnisse und Aufgaben der Morphologie | editor=F. Weinhandl | location=Darmstadt, Germany | pages=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft | year=1960 }} * {{cite journal | author=Wertheimer, M. | title=The relation between the sound of a word and its meaning | journal=American Journal of Psychology | volume=71 | issue=2 | year=1958 | pages=412–415 | doi=10.2307/1420089 | jstor=1420089 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Lambert, W.E. |author2=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Verbal satiation and changes in the intensity of meaning | journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology | volume=60 | issue=6 | pages=376–83 | year=1960 | pmid=13758466 | doi=10.1037/h0045624 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=Semantic satiation among bilinguals | journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology | volume=62 | issue=6 | pages=576–82 | year=1961 | pmid=14450947 | doi=10.1037/h0042860 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=Semantic satiation in an addition task | journal=Canadian Journal of Psychology | year=1962 | volume=16 | issue=2 | pages=112–19 | doi=10.1037/h0083238 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=Mediated satiation in verbal transfer | journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology | volume=64 | pages=346–51 | year=1962 | pmid=14450946 | doi=10.1037/h0044630 }} * {{Cite book |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=The effects of repetition in communication on meanings and attitudes |editor1=L. Arons |editor2=M.A. May | work=Television and Human Behavior | location=New York | publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts | year=1963 | pages=167–76 | postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} }} * {{cite journal | author=Messer, S., Jakobovits, L.A., Kanungo, R., and Lambert, W.E. | title=Semantic satiation of words and numbers | journal=British Journal of Psychology | volume=55 | pages=155–63 | year=1964 | pmid=14168480 | doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.1964.tb02715.x }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=Stimulus-characteristics as determinants of semantic changes with repeated presentation | journal=American Journal of Psychology | year=1964 | volume=77 | issue=1 | pages=84–92 | doi=10.2307/1419274 | jstor=1419274 | pmid=14133230 }} * {{cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Semantic satiation in concept formation | journal=Psychological Reports | volume=17 | issue=1 | pages=113–14 | year=1965 | pmid=5826453 | doi=10.2466/pr0.1965.17.1.113 }} * {{cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title= Repetition of auditorily presented information | journal=Psychological Reports | volume=17 | issue=3 | pages=785–86 | year=1965 | pmid=5854255 | doi=10.2466/pr0.1965.17.3.785 }} * {{cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Utilization of semantic satiation in stuttering: A theoretical analysis | journal=Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders | volume=31 | issue=2 | year=1966 | pages=105–114 | doi=10.1044/jshd.3102.105 | pmid=5327594 }} * {{cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Studies of fads: I. The 'Hit Parade.' | journal=Psychological Reports | volume=18 | issue=2 | year=1966 | pages=443–50 | doi=10.2466/pr0.1966.18.2.443 }} * {{cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Semantic satiation and cognitive dynamics | journal=Journal of Special Education | volume=2 | issue=1 | pages=35–44 | year=1967 | url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s99/yamauchi/semantic.ht | doi=10.1177/002246696700200103 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Hogenraad, Robert. | title=Some suggestive evidence on the operation of semantic generation and satiation in group discussions | journal=Psychological Reports | volume=20 | issue=3 | pages=1247–1250 | year=1967 | doi=10.2466/pr0.1967.20.3c.1247 }} * {{Cite journal | author=Jakobovits, L.A. | title=Words, words, words | work=In L. Kuppuswami, Modern Trends in Psychology | location=Bombay | publisher=Manaktala & Sons | year=1967 | postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Lambert, W.E. | title=A note on the measurement of semantic satiation | journal=Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior | volume=6 | issue=6 | year=1967 | pages=954–57 | doi=10.1016/s0022-5371(67)80165-8 }} * {{cite journal |author1=Jakobovits, L.A. |author2=Hogenraad, Robert | title=Le phénomène de la satiation semantique | journal= Bulletin de Psychologie | volume=22 | year=1968 | pages=140–9 }} * {{cite journal |author1=John Kounios |author2=Sonja I. Kotz |author3=Phillip J. Holcomb |title=On the Locus of the Semantic Satiation Effect: Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials |url=http://neurocog.psy.tufts.edu/papers/semsatMC.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010125084700/http://neurocog.psy.tufts.edu/papers/semsatMC.htm |archivedate=January 25, 2001 |journal=Memory & Cognition |year=2000 |volume=28 |page=1366 |doi=10.3758/BF03211837 }} {{refend}} [[Category:Psycholinguistics]] [[Category:Semantics]]'