Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity
Published on: January 21, 2017
The perceived structure of 176 pain descriptive words
R J Verkes1, W A Van der Kloot, J Van der Meij
1Psychiatric Hospital Endegeest, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The semantic structure and the underlying dimensions of 176 common Dutch words used to describe various kinds of pain were studied. Seventy-seven subjects rated the intensity of the pain described by each of these words; another 53 subjects sorted the words with regard to their similarity in meaning. A unidimensional solution adequately represented the intensity ratings. The sorting data were analyzed by means of HOMALS, a program for multiple correspondence analysis, which yielded a 3-dimensional configuration differentiating evaluative/affective, sensory, temporal and spatial aspects of pain. Regression analysis showed intensity to be the main criterion for similarity within the affective/evaluative group, whereas intensity was not related to the similarities among the sensory words. Cluster analysis, using the distances in the 3-dimensional HOMALS space, yielded 32 clusters of words among which the subscales of both the original McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and the Dutch version by Vanderiet et al. could easily be identified. Since the present results were obtained in a different country and by completely different methods of data collection (i.e., similarity sortings without a priori categories), they strongly indicate the cross-cultural and cross-methodological generality of the structure of pain descriptions.
Related Concept Videos
Nociception
Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones
Nutrient Artery
The nutrient artery is the main blood vessel that enters the diaphysis via the nutrient foramen. While most long bones have only one nutrient foramen, large bones, such as the femur, may have two. This...
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...
Analgesia and Pain Management
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Pain

