In the most general sense, the associative array - a collection of items related to each other by any common ground.Moreover, if the element A is associated with the element B on any associated attribute, and the element B is associated with the element C is not necessary that in the associative series A was associated C. For example, at the mention of the word "summer" may be the following associative array: Seabeach, sand, etc.Each successive word is related to the previous one, but not necessarily to the one standing in front of the previous one.This serial associative array.There are also rows in which all elements are united by one common feature.More details on this issue versed in the theory of sets.
Associative series is now widely used in various fields of human knowledge.With testing association can understand the psychological state of the respondent, his views of life and even thinking features.To do this, it conducted a so-called associative experiment, in which subjects are encouraged to select a word or a call associated with some reference.By the association experiment is known Luscher color test, as the desire for a particular color palette associated with the projection of her internal states rights.
Nevertheless, it is worth emphasizing that the assessment of the individual association scheme is not always adequate.Everyone can name their own associative array to any word, because the associative connections are formed in the process of acquiring experience.Each has his own.But normal from the psychological point of view, people will have a similar associative series.But one of the main symptoms of schizophrenia is precisely the presence of dissociative thinking.
more justified to use the association experiment in assessing the development of preschool and primary school children.For training of children today are often used so-called association game when you need to sort out a few things for a particular feature or find a general basis pair.
associative array is also used in the assessment of an individual's level of erudition and tests IQ.Despite the wide spread of this type of assessment of intellectual abilities, he still has some drawbacks.The fact that in one case, an individual can build the right number of associative or merge objects of common ground in the process of thinking, and the other - as a result of previous experience.Accordingly, in the first case we are dealing with intellectually more capable in terms of logical-man, and the second - with a knowledgeable and trained.
However, some researchers believe that the ability to quickly organize information and find it logical links is always the result of a trained intellectually logical unit.Training should begin as early as possible in childhood, and carried out on the broadest range of applications.
