Linking verbal and non-verbal representations: computer analysis of referential activity.

The objective of this study was to develop a computer assisted procedure to model the Referencial Activity scales as scored by raters. Referential Activity is defined as the function of connecting non-verbal experience with language. Using a large text corpus that had been rated by experienced and reliable judges, extreme samples from both ends of the Referential Activity Scales were selected. The Characteristic Vocabularies for each of these corpora, words that were significantly more frequent in each corpus as compared to the other, were then identified. A small set of 181 frequent words was derived that accounted for half of all words in the text corpora. These words were used as dictionaries for a Computerized Referential Activity measure based on computer assisted content analysis techniques. The new measure showed a correlation with judge-scored Referential Activity of around .50 across both the development and test corpora.