word-association test

n. Any of numerous measures of personality, pathology, and mental deficiency in which a subject is asked to respond as quickly as possible with the first word that comes to mind, and reaction time as well as the content of the response are analyzed. This measure was first devised by Carl Jung in order to investigate the mental functioning of schizophrenics. Reliability and validity for this measure are largely lacking, although many clinicians claim it gives considerable insight into clients.