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free association Definition

free association

noun

  1. Psychoanalysis the technique of having the patient talk spontaneously, expressing without inhibition whatever ideas, memories, etc. come to mind: used to discover repressed material in the unconscious
  2. any process of mental association in which spontaneous or nonlogical linking takes place

free association Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • produce: After studying words of positive, neutral, and negative affective valences, subjects produced free associations to various cues.