Frequency of meaning use for ambiguous and unambiguous words
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Updated: Oct 19, 2026

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods
Published on: September 19, 2012
1University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. griffin@psych.stanford.edu
Abstract:
When using verbal stimuli, researchers usually equate words on frequency of use. However, for some ambiguous words (e.g., ball as a round object or a formal dance), frequency counts fail to distinguish how often a particular meaning is used. This study evaluates the use of ratings to estimate meaning frequency. Analyses show that ratings correlate highly with word frequency counts when orthographic and meaning frequencies should converge, are not unduly influenced by semantic factors, and may provide a better measure of relative meaning dominance than the word association task does. Furthermore, the ratings allow researchers to equate or manipulate frequency of meaning use for ambiguous and unambiguous words. Ratings for 211 words are reported.
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