A multidimensional normative database of experiential ratings for German nouns

Abstract

Abstract

Theories of semantic representation propose that concepts are grounded in multiple forms of experience, yet normative resources capturing this multidimensionality remain scarce, especially in German. We present a database of experiential ratings for 1,985 German nouns, with particularly broad coverage of abstract concepts (a 3:1 ratio of abstract to concrete nouns). In total, 354 native German speakers rated the extent to which the meaning of each word is associated with 16 experiential dimensions spanning perceptual, motor, affective, cognitive, social and magnitude-related domains, complemented by concreteness and familiarity ratings. The database additionally provides the dominant experiential dimension of each word and an exclusivity score quantifying how strongly its profile is dominated by a single dimension relative to the others. Cross-database validation against existing German norms showed strong convergence with our concreteness, valence, and arousal ratings. Longitudinal test-retest assessment of all experiential dimensions, as well as concreteness and familiarity, in a subsample of 36 participants showed moderate to high temporal stability across ratings. To characterize the multidimensional structure captured by the database, we further applied exploratory factor analysis followed by hierarchical clustering in the factor-derived semantic space. These analyses identified three broad factors interpreted as socioemotional, perceptual, and magnitude-related, and four clusters of words with distinct experiential profiles. Summary-level and participant-level data are freely available through the project website, which also provides an interactive interface for exploring the norms. The database provides a resource for research on conceptual representation in psycholinguistics, cognitive neuroscience, and computational semantics.