Abstract
The present study investigated whether lexical frequency, a variable that is known to affect the time taken to utter a verbal response, may also influence articulation. Pairs of words that differed in terms of their relative frequency, but were matched on their onset, vowel, and number of phonemes (e.g., map vs. mat, where the former is more frequent than the latter) were used in a picture naming and a reading aloud task. Low-frequency items yielded slower response latencies than high-frequency items in both tasks, with the frequency effect being significantly larger in picture naming compared to reading aloud. Also, initial-phoneme durations were longer for low-frequency items than for high-frequency items. The frequency effect on initial-phoneme durations was slightly more prominent in picture naming than in reading aloud, yet its size was very small, thus preventing us from concluding that lexical frequency exerts an influence on articulation. Additionally, initial-phoneme and whole-word durations were significantly longer in reading aloud compared to picture naming. We discuss our findings in the context of current theories of reading aloud and speech production, and the approaches they adopt in relation to the nature of information flow (staged vs. cascaded) between cognitive and articulatory levels of processing.
Highlights
Speech production involves the combination of cognitive and articulatory processes
We hypothesized that lexical frequency effects on verbal responses should be more prominent in picture naming than in reading aloud. This is because semantic activation of the target stimulus is required in picture naming; its associated lexical frequency will have a robust effect on verbal responses
A number of studies have provided evidence that challenges this assumption. Such evidence comes from speech errors, which contain articulatory characteristics of unselected sounds; and from effects of lexical frequency, phonological neighborhood density, syntactic predictability, and semantic congruency on the acoustic realization of verbal responses
Summary
Speech production involves the combination of cognitive and articulatory processes. these processes have been traditionally investigated in separate domains of research, yielding a division between models of speech production that focus on psycholinguistic (e.g., Dell, 1986; Levelt et al, 1999) vs. motor control (Guenther et al, 2006) aspects of this process. These processes have been traditionally investigated in separate domains of research, yielding a division between models of speech production that focus on psycholinguistic (e.g., Dell, 1986; Levelt et al, 1999) vs motor control (Guenther et al, 2006) aspects of this process This division is likely due to the widely held assumption that the transition from cognitive to articulatory levels of processing occurs in a staged manner, so that articulatory processes can only be initiated after cognitive processing is complete (Levelt et al, 1999). Several studies to date have shown that articulation is affected systematically by such higherlevel processes (see Bell et al, 2009, and Gahl et al, 2012, for comprehensive reviews) The results of these studies suggest that articulation can be initiated before higher-level processes involved in the selection of a phonological code are finished. This finding offers support for the view that information from cognitive to articulatory levels of processing flows in a cascaded manner
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
