Nonverbal measurement of affect: the graphic differential

The measurement of affective meaning (Osgood's three universal factors) is easily accomplished via the semantic differential. However, the verbal nature of this instrument prevents its use with many subject groups in which the measurement of affective meaning would be the most interesting: members of illiterate cultures, verbally damaged individuals such as anomic aphasics and thought-disordered schizophrenics, and children younger than 6 years. For these purposes, the present study describes the development of a nonverbal alternative to the semantic differential and assesses the statistical comparability of scores resulting from the use of the two instruments.