A method for studying stimulus generalization with verbal stimuli was described. Words were scaled for aggression and presented singly on a memory drum. For 4 groups the training stimuli were the most aggressive words, and for four groups the training stimuli were the least aggressive words. In each set of four groups, one group was reinforced for shouting, one for reading aloud, one for whispering, and one for remaining silent. After training, all groups received a generalization series consisting of words varying in intensity of aggressive connotation. Evidence was found for operation of a matching principle, whereby the intensity of the verbal response tends to vary with the intensity of the verbal stimulus. Generalizing from intense to mild stimuli yielded steeper (mediated) generalization gradients than generalizing from mild to intense stimuli. The method may prove useful for investigating stimulus generalization with meaningful material.