Assessing treatment effects through changes in perceptions and cognitive organization

This investigation tested the Associative Group Analysis (AGA) for its analytic sensitivity in assessing perceptions and attitudes and in mapping changes in cognitive organization indicative of substance abuse. Based on inferences drawn from the distributions of thousands of spontaneous, free associations elicited by strategically selected stimulus themes, AGA offers an unstructured approach to assess images and meanings, and to map systems of mental representation evasive to the more direct methods of using questions or scales. This article compares pretreatment and posttreatment samples, tracing the psychosocial effects of treatment. The investigations focus on variables related to substance abuse such as self-image, social nexus, and perceptions of illicit substances. The results indicate a sensitive approach, useful in treatment evaluation.