Abstract
Contemporary models of spoken word production assume conceptual feature sharing determines the speed with which objects are named in categorically-related contexts. However, statistical models of concept representation have also identified a role for feature distinctiveness, i.e., features that identify a single concept and serve to distinguish it quickly from other similar concepts. In three experiments we investigated whether distinctive features might explain reports of counter-intuitive semantic facilitation effects in the picture word interference (PWI) paradigm. In Experiment 1, categorically-related distractors matched in terms of semantic similarity ratings (e.g., zebra and pony) and manipulated with respect to feature distinctiveness (e.g., a zebra has stripes unlike other equine species) elicited interference effects of comparable magnitude. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the role of feature distinctiveness with respect to reports of facilitated naming with part-whole distractor-target relations (e.g., a hump is a distinguishing part of a CAMEL, whereas knee is not, vs. an unrelated part such as plug). Related part distractors did not influence target picture naming latencies significantly when the part denoted by the related distractor was not visible in the target picture (whether distinctive or not; Experiment 2). When the part denoted by the related distractor was visible in the target picture, non-distinctive part distractors slowed target naming significantly at SOA of −150 ms (Experiment 3). Thus, our results show that semantic interference does occur for part-whole distractor-target relations in PWI, but only when distractors denote features shared with the target and other category exemplars. We discuss the implications of these results for some recently developed, novel accounts of lexical access in spoken word production.
Highlights
A large empirical literature on object naming has demonstrated that speakers are influenced by the activation of concepts related to the object they intend to name
In three experiments using the pictureword interference (PWI) paradigm, we investigated the roles of distinctive vs. shared conceptual features in lexical access
In Experiment 3, non-distinctive part distractors that were visible in the target pictures slowed picture naming latencies significantly compared to their matched unrelated distractors at SOA −150 ms
Summary
A large empirical literature on object naming has demonstrated that speakers are influenced by the activation of concepts related to the object they intend to name. In the pictureword interference (PWI) paradigm, in which participants ignore a distractor word while naming a target picture, slower naming latencies are observed reliably when distractors (e.g., wolf) are category coordinates of the target picture (e.g., DOG) compared to unrelated distractors (e.g., book; Schriefers et al, 1990; Levelt et al, 1991; La Heij and van den Hof, 1995) This effect is known as semantic interference and has been interpreted as evidence supporting a competitive lexical selection mechanism in some spoken word production models (Starreveld and La Heij, 1996; Levelt et al, 1999; Rahman and Melinger, 2009). Noncompetitive lexical selection mechanisms have been proposed to explain the effect (Caramazza, 1997; Mahon et al, 2007)
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