Semantic Satiation: What Happens when You Repeat A Word Over and Over Again

The author Leon James originally coined the expression "semantic satiation" in his Ph.D. Dissertation at McGill University in 1962. He then published two-dozen articles in psychology journals reporting on his findings of what happens when you repeat a word over and over again. In the intervening 56 years since then, semantic satiation has been a research topic in cognitive psychology, advertising, aesthetics, and semantics. In the past ten years the idea of semantic satiation has intrigued many people and has entered the popular discussions in the form of music, videos, chat room discussions, dance, and art. . Because of this continued interest in semantic satiation on the part of academic researchers and the popular culture, the author has decided to publish the original text of his doctoral dissertation. People interested in the phenomenon of word repetition can now read how it was investigated experimentally at the beginning and how its effects were demonstrated in various areas of interest, including counting and problem solving, bilingualism, memory, generalization, meaning, hit songs, and commercials. . The book also includes a bibliography and a sample of how semantic satiation is being discussed on the Internet and researched in laboratories.