Development of WRRL: A New Computerized Measure of the Reflecting/Reorganizing Function

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Psychology

Background:

• The referential process includes three functions: Symbolizing, Reflecting/Reorganizing (R/R), and others.
• The Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary (WRAD) models the Symbolizing function.
• A new model is needed for the R/R function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the Weighted Reflecting Reorganizing List (WRRL) as a model for the R/R function.
• To identify the language style associated with the R/R function.
• To validate the WRRL as a measure of the R/R function.

Main Methods:

• Developed the WRRL by rating text segments and using a word-by-word weighting procedure.
• Applied an iterative process to create a scoring manual for the R/R function.
• Described the dictionary development and presented a validation study.

Main Results:

• The WRRL effectively models the R/R function.
• Identified a specific language style characterized by particular function words.
• This language style is applicable across diverse content.

Conclusions:

• The WRRL is a valid measure for the R/R function.
• The language style identified by WRRL is consistent and broadly applicable.
• This contributes to understanding the referential process in psychology.