Language, Meaning, and Culture: The Selected Papers of C.E. Osgood

One of the most frequently cited scholars in the social and behavioral sciences, Charles E. Osgood, has assembled his most important writings in this volume for the Centennial Psychology series. Osgood’s prolific contributions cover four decades of research and center on the human cognitive processes and their functional characteristics at three levels of human ecology: in individual humans, across human cultures, and for survival of the human species. Oliver Tzeng’s introduction, presenting Osgood’s life as well as the evolution of his three major themes, is followed by eleven selections. A comprehensive bibliography of Osgood’s writings completes this volume. Social and Behavioral Psychologists will find Language, Meaning, and Culture an extremely rich encounter.

The three major themes of Osgood’s entire professional life were set in motion during his undergraduate years. This volume divides Osgood’s most important papers among these themes: Psycholinguistic Research and Theory; Cross Cultural Universals of Affective Meaning; Psycho-Social Dynamics and the Prospects for Mankind.

CHARLES E. OSGOOD is currently Professor of Psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Among his work is his famous graduate text Method and Theory in Experimental Psychology as well as The Measurement of Meaning and Semantic Differential Technique: A Sourcebook.