Penn State psychologists say that presidential candidates can use the same words, but can mean something completely different. They say the gap between words and meaning has never been this big — and that this gap is growing. They used computer algorithms to examine how presidential candidates' used words together — word association — in speeches and debates since 1999 to help determine the meaning of those words in the minds of the candidates. The researchers were also able to use algorithms to predict a person's political leanings and party affiliation based on their word associations.