Table 1.

Example sentence pairs

first sentence	second sentence (without the critical word)	neutral critical word	positive critical word	negative critical word
Nancy’s son ended up just like his father.	He was already a _____ by age 25.	husband	millionaire	criminal
Stephen owned a lot of nineteenth century art.	Everyone knew that he _____ paintings of old masters.	bought	loved	forged
An unfamiliar man rang Lenora’s doorbell one day.	He had come to _____ her.	register	congratulate	arrest
Every day, the local newspaper wrote about the mayor.	They always said _____ things about him.	factual	marvelous	damaging
Mr. Jenners planned to move his family to New York.	The reason for this was _____ to the children.	obvious	reassuring	hidden
Cheryl’s baby cried when she took him to bed.	She quieted him with a _____ that night.	pacifier	lullaby	drug