Let’s start with the basics. Semantic means meaning and to satiate is to completely satisfy a yourself or a need. So, semantic satiation means to satisfy meaning? Well, not even remotely. Psychologists like to name things that have a certain gravitas in them, not necessarily by meaning.
Semantic satiation is a term used to describe a psychological phenomenon where repeated usage or exposure of a word can cause it to temporarily lose its meaning, making it sound nonsensical or weird. It was coined by Leon Jakobovits James (good luck remembering that) in the 1960. So, why does this happen?
As most of you know, we have neurons in our body. Neurons are the reason we get signals to and from our brain and the reason we have a response to things. For example, when you touch a hot stove, it’s neurons that send signals to give you pain and remove your hand. Now, when repeatedly exposed to a stimulus, the neurons fire less frequently, sending and receiving less signals from the brain. For example, when you first wear a ring, you might find it uncomfortable and pressuring on you constantly. Over time, you forget that it’s even there, at which point it feels like an extension of your finger. It’s the same case with words.
The most common example of this is music. When you first hear a song, you notice the lyrics, tune, etc. Over time, how many of us actually process the meaning of the lyrics every time we sing along? The tune has simply taken over, and we say the words without any thought of the semantics
RELATED POSTS
View all
