ERP Evidence for Ultra-Fast Semantic Processing in the Picture–Word Interference Paradigm

Claudio Mulatti,Eduardo Navarrete,Francesca Peressotti,Jonathan Grainger,Paola Sessa,Roberto Dell'Acqua

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00177

Claudio Mulatti, Eduardo Navarrete + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00177

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Abstract

We used the event-related potential (ERP) approach combined with a subtraction technique to explore the timecourse of activation of semantic and phonological representations in the picture–word interference paradigm. Subjects were exposed to to-be-named pictures superimposed on to-be-ignored semantically related, phonologically related, or unrelated words, and distinct ERP waveforms were generated time-locked to these different classes of stimuli. Difference ERP waveforms were generated in the semantic condition and in the phonological condition by subtracting ERP activity associated with unrelated picture–word stimuli from ERP activity associated with related picture–word stimuli. We measured both latency and amplitude of these difference ERP waveforms in a pre-articulatory time-window. The behavioral results showed standard interference effects in the semantic condition, and facilitatory effects in the phonological condition. The ERP results indicated a bimodal distribution of semantic effects, characterized by the extremely rapid onset (at about 100 ms) of a primary component followed by a later, distinct, component. Phonological effects in ERPs were characterized by components with later onsets and distinct scalp topography of ERP sources relative to semantic ERP components. Regression analyses revealed a covariation between semantic and phonological behavioral effect sizes and ERP component amplitudes, and no covariation between the behavioral effects and ERP component latency. The early effect of semantic distractors is thought to reflect very fast access to semantic representations from picture stimuli modulating on-going orthographic processing of distractor words.

Highlights

There is a general consensus today that picture naming is semantically mediated, in that the phonological representation of the object name is recovered from a structural representation of the object via semantics (e.g., Indefrey and Levelt, 2004; Bi et al, 2009; Chauncey et al, 2009; Mulatti et al, 2010)
Difference event-related potential (ERP) waveforms were generated in the semantic condition and in the phonological condition by subtracting ERP activity associated with unrelated picture–word stimuli from ERP activity associated with related picture–word stimuli
The dominant interpretation of semantic interference in the picture–word interference paradigm is that the distractor word provides bottom-up support for a competing lexical representation that is activated top-down from semantic representations that are activated by the picture stimulus

Summary

Introduction

There is a general consensus today that picture naming is semantically mediated, in that the phonological representation of the object name is recovered from a structural representation of the object via semantics (e.g., Indefrey and Levelt, 2004; Bi et al, 2009; Chauncey et al, 2009; Mulatti et al, 2010). On seeing a picture of a truck, is the lexical representation for “truck” activated, and semantically compatible words such as “car.” Presenting the word “car” as a distractor increases the activity of its lexical representation, increasing its ability to interfere with the production of “truck.” According to this account, the earliest possible influence of a semantically related distractor word during picture naming is during the process of lexical selection Current estimates locate this process at around 200 ms post-picture onset (e.g., Costa et al, 2009). The dominant interpretation of phonological facilitation effects, on the other hand, locates them at the level of phonological segments that are activated subsequently to www.frontiersin.org

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