Originality and perceptual set: comparative study of Hungarians and Americans

208 Hungarian and 200 American college adults were administered Sounds and Images. The criterion for breaking away from perceptual set was the production of non-sound images given sound stimuli. In response to four sounds presented three times, the greatest number of non-sound images was produced to the second and fourth sound stimuli by all subjects; Hungarians produced more non-sound images to the second and Americans to the fourth stimulus. Further, Americans produced a significantly greater number of non-sound images than Hungarians.