Semantic Repetition Research Articles

Semantic repetition blindness and associative facilitation in the identification of stimuli in rapid serial visual presentation.

Repetition blindness (RB) is the inability to detect both instances of a repeated stimulus during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). Prior work has demonstrated RB for semantically related critical items presented as pictures, but not for word stimuli. It is not known whether the type of semantic relationship between critical items (i.e., conceptual similarity or lexical association) determines the manifestation of semantically mediated RB, or how this is affected by the format of the stimuli. These questions provided the motivation for the present study. Participants reported items presented in picture or word RSVP streams in which critical items were either low-associate category coordinates (horse-camel), high-associate noncoordinates (horse-saddle), or unrelated word pairs (horse-umbrella). Report accuracy was reduced for category coordinate critical items only when they were presented in pictorial form; accuracy for coordinate word pairs did not differ from that of their unrelated counterparts. Associated critical items were reported more accurately than unrelated critical items in both the picture and word versions of the task. We suggest that semantic RB for pictorial stimuli results from intracategory interference in the visuosemantic space; words do not reliably suffer from semantic RB because they do not necessitate semantic mediation to be reported successfully. Conversely, the associative facilitation observed in both picture and word versions of the task reflects the spread of activation between the representations of associates in the lexical network.

LIMINALITY EFFECT AND THE VERSE: ENERGY ACCUMULATION IN SUPER LONG, USUAL AND SUPER SHORT LINE (BASED ON POETRY MATERIAL OF V. LEKHTSIER AND V. MANGOLD)

The article uses the materials of Our Literature section of the BiZ-Bote magazine of ethno cultural education. The author suggests using the term «liminality zone» for the designation of the zone of apparent transition from one plane to another in perception of literary read and the term «liminality effect» for the designation of the result as a consequence of reception of this transition zone. Studying liminality proves efficient in respect of the aspect of super long and super short lines. Repetition on the ground of both super long and super short lines allows accumulating and redistributing creative energy, building up liminality zones and effect, multiplying the amount of interpretations of texts and contexts. In the super long line by V. Lekhtsier both lexical and semantic repetitions are present. Apparentness and – more rarely – polarity of the flanks allow the middle length line to lie inside the super long. It is interesting that while Vitaly Lekhtsier is reading his verses, he ensues to articulate the longest lines (38–42 syllables) in one breath, emphasizing the tension of super long line. This proves that the liminality zone lies exactly at the juncture of verbal and non-verbal, and the text plane remains integral. Vendelin Mangold usually works in the realm of a small text. His favorite practice is creating the liminality effect by combining exalted and prosaic. W. Mangold’s «pyramid poems» («Pyramiden») are of great interest in terms of liminality [Mangold, Hymne auf den Menschen]. Their literal meaning fades through crescent and/or decrescent phrases/words. Visually, the poem is shaped like a pyramid, and both explicit and implicit (phantom) parts of a word/phrase are in the liminality zone. That is how the context of love is severed from the context of egoism through decrescent lines: having started with passionate confessions, only «I love» and, finally, «I» remains. Mangold’s «Pyramiden» are characterized by strong or slight paradoxes that create the liminality effect. In case the «pyramid» is first decrescent and then crescent, the liminality effect is created twice: at the apex of the pyramid and in the paradoxical part. Vitaly Lechtzier’s extralong stanza ranges from 12 to 42 syllables. The liminality effect emerges through repeating the left and right parts of the verse. This is where variations are formed. Lechtzier’s message is overtly political, the author works with imperative forms and disavowed call for «open writing».Vitaly Lechtzier’s extralong stanza with its anaphoras, imperative forms, syntactic parallelism, repetitions and escalation is similar to Valery Nugatov’s extralong stanza. This affinity did not emerge under direct mutual influence but probably rather through Allen Ginsberg’s poetry, who was of interest to both authors: Nugatov used to translate his poems, and Lechtzier mentioned being interested in Ginsberg’s works. Nugatov also mentioned Ginsberg in his own works. The syntactic construction in Ginsberg’s poems is based on the lyrical «self». The same is true for Nugatov’s poems, however, Lechtzier steps away from the «self» completely. Unlike Nugatov, in his opinion, Lechtzier does not resort to deconstruction in his poetry, but instead endeavors to «do positive work with other people’s words, create variations within them and make them sound like poerty». Nugatov’s works «sound like poetry» in part due to the deconstruction. It is enough to compare some extracts from these three authors’ works. The study shows that in case of both extralong and extrashort stanza, repetitions help accumulate and redistribute creative energy, creating the liminality effect and liminality zones that increase the number of potential interpretations and contexts.

Repetition and Reactance in Graham’s "Underneath" Poems

The present paper gives a detailed analysis and interpretation of 16 poems in Jorie Graham's collection, Swarm (2000), which bear "UNDERNEATH" as their main titles. The poems are marked with different types of repetition such as graphological repetition, word, phrase, and sentential repetition, semantic repetition, and syntactic repetition. The study draws on Lakoff and Johnson's theories on metaphor and Brehm and Brehm’s reactance theory. It is argued "underneath" is a conceptual (orientational) metaphor which signifies a state of being limited, lack of control and freedom, and loss of power. The paper investigates the speaker's reactant behavior in "Underneath" poems, seeking a way to restore her lost freedom. Reactance behaviors can be skepticism, inertia, aggression, and resistance. It is concluded despite her thematic inertia, representing her submission to the oppressed state, her stylistic reactance reflected in repetitions, innovations, and disruptive diction stands for her attempts to regain her lost control.

Duration compression induced by visual and phonological repetition of Chinese characters.

Our prior experience heavily influences our subjective time. One of such phenomena is repetition compression, that is, repeated stimuli are perceived shorter than novel stimuli. However, most of the studies on repetition compression used identical stimuli, leaving the question whether similar repetition effects could take place in phonological and semantic level repetition. We used Chinese characters to manipulate different levels of repetition in a duration discrimination task. We replicated earlier findings that repetition of visual identical characters shortened the apparent duration and found the repetition compression was spatially independent. Phonological repetition also caused the duration compression though the effect was weaker than the visual repetition. However, we observed no duration compression during the semantic repetition. The results suggest that repetition compression is mediated by visual and phonological representation of a stimulus in an early stage in processing hierarchy. We explained our findings according to the framework of predictive coding.

Automaticity and Flexibility of S-R Retrieval During Priming.

Learned associations between stimuli and responses (S–R associations) make important contributions to behavioral and neural priming. The current study investigated the automaticity and flexibility of these S–R associations and whether the global task context in which they occur modulates the impact of S–R retrieval on priming. Participants engaged in a semantic repetition priming task in which S–R retrieval is known to influence priming. Across participants, repetition priming occurred in global task contexts (i.e., combination of activated task sets) that either remained consistent or shifted across time. In the stable context group, the global task context at study matched that at test, whereas in the shifting context group, the global task context at study differed from that at test. Results revealed that the stability of the global task context did not affect the magnitude of S–R contributions to priming and that S–R contributions to priming were significant in both the stable and shifting context groups. These results highlight the robustness of S–R contributions to priming and indicate that S–R associations can flexibly transfer across changes in higher-level task states.

Text-Critical Approaches to Sura Structure: Combining Synchronicity with Diachronicity inSūrat al-Baqara.Part Two

This article is an exploratory attempt to rationalise a combination of seemingly disparate strands of current thought on sura structure into a workable, if tentative, system. Despite the number of unknowns in this area, the overlapping structures that are posited by thematic concerns, semantic repetitions, sura rhythm, rhyme patterns, and variations in verse length, would seem to highlight the possibility of a fusion of synchronic and diachronic elements in sura composition.The present essay divides into two parts, and four main sections. Part One, published in JQS 19:1, contrasted five scholarly analyses of the structure of (largely) Sūrat al-Baqara in order to highlight the differences and overlaps between them. It then built upon the work of Neuwirth and Stewart, and looked at the rhyme patterns in Sūrat al-Baqara in an attempt to achieve a closer definition of what should be considered anomalous within the context of this sura, and what the structural significance of this could be. Part Two, published in this volume, first considers Bazargan's system for the internal division of suras into diachronic layers (‘Sura Structure III: Chronological Markers’), contrasting this to the schemes proposed by Nöldeke and Bell, and making a preliminary attempt at assessing the extent to which apparent chronological markers within al-Baqara can be utilised alongside synchronic approaches to the corpus, in order to attain a more precise understanding of sura structure. Finally, ‘Sura Structure IV: Exploring the Potential for Synthesis’ further investigates the possibility that the structural markers identified by the various hermeneutical systems need not be applied in isolation of one another, and looks at compositional paradigms for the Qur'anic corpus with specific reference to Medinan material.

Text-Critical Approaches to Sura Structure: Combining Synchronicity with Diachronicity in Sūrat al-Baqara. Part One

This article is an exploratory attempt to rationalise a combination of seemingly disparate strands of current thought on sura structure into a workable, if tentative, system. Despite the number of unknowns in this area, the overlapping structures that are posited by thematic concerns, semantic repetitions, sura rhythm, rhyme patterns, and variations in verse length, would seem to highlight the possibility of a fusion of synchronic and diachronic elements in sura composition. The present essay divides into two parts, and four main sections. Part One, ‘Sura Structure I: Thematic and Chiastic Approaches’, contrasts five scholarly analyses of the structure of (largely) Sūrat al-Baqara in order to highlight the differences and overlaps between them. ‘Sura Structure II: Considerations of Rhyme’ builds upon the work of Neuwirth and Stewart, and looks at the rhyme patterns in Sūrat al-Baqara in an attempt to achieve a closer definition of what should be considered anomalous within the context of this sura, and what the structural significance of this could be. Part Two first considers Bazargan's system for the internal division of suras into diachronic layers (‘Sura Structure III: Chronological Markers’), contrasting this to the schemes proposed by Nöldeke and Bell, and making a preliminary attempt at assessing the extent to which apparent chronological markers within al-Baqara can be utilised alongside synchronic approaches to the corpus, in order to attain a more precise understanding of sura structure. Finally, ‘Sura Structure IV: Exploring the Potential for Synthesis’ further investigates the possibility that the structural markers identified by the various hermeneutical systems need not be applied in isolation of one another, and looks at compositional paradigms for the Qur'anic corpus with specific reference to Medinan material.

The impact of phonological versus semantic repetition training on generalisation in chronic stroke aphasia reflects differences in dorsal pathway connectivity

ABSTRACTIt has been suggested that neuroimaging can be used to inform therapeutic intervention. The current study aimed to determine whether an individual would benefit more from training engaging their intact or their damaged neural pathway. Two males with chronic stroke aphasia participated, with DM showing milder disruption of connectivity along the dorsal language pathway relative to JS, according to distortion corrected diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Each patient received two blocks of six repetition training sessions over two weeks, one of which was “phonological” and the other “semantic” in nature. Both phonological and semantic training produced significant gains for both patients for trained items. For the untrained control items, significant gains were specific to training type for each patient. Only phonological training elicited significant generalisation for DM, which was greater than that seen for JS. Conversely, only semantic training elicited significant generalisation for JS, which was greater than that seen for DM. This double dissociation in generalisation effects suggests that a restitutive approach is more effective for patients with milder damage while a compensatory approach may be more effective for those with more severe damage. These results indicate the utility of neuroimaging to optimise relearning strategies and promote generalisation to untrained items.

Семантический повтор как актуализатор заглавия в романе Г. И. Газданова «Призрак Александра Вольфа»

Семантический повтор как актуализатор заглавия в романе Г. И. Газданова «Призрак Александра Вольфа»

Lexical-semantic representation in bilingual aphasia: Findings from semantic priming and cognate repetition priming

Background: While many studies have investigated the nature of language organisation in monolingual speakers with aphasia, our understanding of bilingual aphasia lags far behind. Only a handful of studies have employed on-line psycholinguistic experimental methods to explore the nature of language representation and processing in bilingual speakers with aphasia. Improving our understanding of how language is organised and processed in bilingual speakers with aphasia is central to the development of effective impairment-level language treatments. Cognate/noncognate representation and semantic representation are two key aspects of bilingual language organisation that are yet to be explored in depth in bilingual speakers with aphasia.Aims: The present study aimed to investigate (1) whether semantic representation was shared across the two languages of a bilingual speaker with aphasia and (2) whether cognate words would produce a processing advantage relative to noncognate words (as has been found in neurologically-normal younger bilingual adults).Methods & Procedures: A 70-year-old bilingual Italian/English speaker, who presented with nonfluent aphasia and apraxia of speech, completed two priming experiments: a semantic priming experiment and a cognate repetition priming experiment.Outcomes & Results: In the semantic priming experiment, the participant demonstrated large priming effects in both within-language conditions and one cross-language condition. The finding of priming in at least one of the cross-language conditions provides some corroboration for shared semantic representation in this bilingual individual with aphasia. In the cognate repetition priming experiment, the participant produced a language-specific cognate advantage in English, for words repeated in the same language. For words repeated in a different language condition (i.e., as their translation equivalent), the participant produced a processing advantage for noncognate words.Conclusions: The findings of this study provided support for shared semantic representation in bilingual speakers following aphasia; however, the results also suggested that aphasia can disrupt normal lexical access processes. Results in relation to cognate versus noncognate processing suggested that bilingual speakers with aphasia may not, necessarily, always display a cognate advantage. Overall, the present study showed that language processing in bilingual speakers with aphasia is highly complex and is dependent upon the intricate interplay between the speaker’s premorbid language proficiency, inhibitory processing deficits that occur with normal aging and postmorbid language impairment and recovery patterns.

1419 – Language changes as an important psychopathological phenomenon of mild depression

Objective Difficulties in diagnostics of mild depressions are related to clinical interpretation of thought structure and content within depressive triad. Whereas nonverbal (motor) and affective components are similar to variations of normal sadness in healthy individuals, associative component reveals the most sensitive psychopathological finding being represented in definite language changes. Methods 124 patients and 77 healthy controls, including 35 with normal sadness reactions, were observed. Speech (superficial, deep levels, Russian language) was studied using standardized psycholinguistic procedures. Statistical data evaluation included descriptive methodics, nonparametric analysis, mathematic modeling (discriminate analysis). Results Three clinical groups were formed upon to psychopathological subtypes (anxious, asthenic-hypodynamic, melancholic mild depressions). Leading hypotymic affect correlated with content of affective component, semantics of associative component, pronounced component of depressive triad and direction of the prevailing time representation. Lexical-stylistic sublevel of speech demonstrated verbosity, narration dominated over reasoning, signs of oral speech, increased number of phraseologisms, tautologies, lexical and semantic repetitions, metaphors, comparisons, inversions, ellipsis. Lexical-grammer sublevel contained more pronouns of all types with the prevalence of personal pronouns, imperfective verbs in preferential past tense. Syntax-stylistic sublevel represented the prevalence of simple sentences (truncated, impersonal), inversive word order. Component analysis of speech demonstrated the qualitative distortion and reduction of semantic component. Disruptions in structure and semantics of speech related to the most clinically pronounced thought disorder were presented in melancholic depression. Superficial level of speech was damaged mostly in asthenic-hypodynamic depression. Speech was similar to healthy controls and demonstrated the highest among subgroups cognitive adaptability level in anxious subtype.

The relationship between the objective identification threshold and priming effects does not provide a definitive boundary between conscious and unconscious perceptual processes

The Objective Threshold/Strategic Model (OT/S) proposes that strong, qualitative inferences of unconscious perception can be made if the relationship between perceptual sensitivity (typically priming effects) and stimulus visibility is nonlinear and nonmonotonic. The model proposes a nadir in priming effects at the objective identification threshold (identification d'=0). These predictions were tested with masked semantic priming and repetition priming of a lexical decision task. The visibility of the prime stimuli was systematically varied above and below the objective identification threshold. The obtained relationship between prime visibility and priming facilitation was nonlinear, but the results failed to confirm a nadir in priming effects at the objective identification threshold. We conclude that the objective identification threshold does not necessarily indicate the point where presumably unconscious priming effects might be inhibited by conscious cognitive processes.

List restructuring in Arabic–English translation

This paper deals with the translation from Arabic to English of lists, i.e. phrases consisting of at least two, and typically three or more, noun phrases, adjective phrases, etc. which belong to a relatively coherent semantic field. Section 1 considers four standard techniques for translating Arabic semantic repetition into English: maintenance of repetition, merging, grammatical transposition, and semantic distancing. Section 2 defines listing as an extension of semantic repetition, and identifies basic listing structures in English and Arabic. Sections 3–3.5 look at techniques for translating Arabic lists into English on the basis of the first three translation techniques for semantic repetition discussed in Section 2. Section 3.1 looks at list retention (cf. maintenance of repetition), considering where this is and is not acceptable. Section 3.2 looks at list reduction/merging (cf. semantic merging). Sections 3.3–3.5 look at techniques which parallel grammatical transposition as a technique for translation semantic repetition: embedded coordination, as a form of subordination (Section 3.3), standard subordination (Section 3.4), and the combination of embedded coordination with standard subordination (Section 3.5). Section 3.6 considers summary definition, as a translation technique which goes beyond merging. Section 4 considers the significance of listing patterns in Arabic and English in the context of the more general preference in Arabic for coordination and in English for subordination. Section 5 raises the possibility that the preference for coordination in Arabic may correlate with a larger textual preference for ostensive presentation, while the preference for subordination in English may correlate with a larger textual preference for analytical summary. I suggest that, if true, this may give rise to translation issues which are effectively intractable.

REDUCED TASK-RELATED SUPPRESSION DURING SEMANTIC REPETITION PRIMING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Few studies have reported the reduced suppression of brain activity within the default network in schizophrenia. The relationship, however, between task-specific activation and default network suppression, as well as impact of this relationship on brain function, is still not clear, and it has not been studied in schizophrenia so far. We used previously published data showing a relationship between semantic encoding and white matter integrity in schizophrenia (Jeong et al., 2009), and reanalyzed the data using an independent component analysis (ICA). Participants comprised 10 healthy control subjects and 10 patients with chronic schizophrenia who underwent an fMRI scan during which they performed the Levels of Processing paradigm. The semantic processing-related independent components were compared between two groups using tensor-ICA. An independent component of semantic repetition priming showed a significant difference between the two groups. The component consisted of both less activated and less suppressed regions within the patients' brains. The less activated regions included the bilateral inferior frontal gyri and the supramarginal gyri. The less suppressed regions included the medial frontal gyrus, the posterior cingulate gyrus, the precuneus and the right cerebellum. Our results suggest two components of semantic repetition priming deficit in schizophrenia: one related to weaker suppression of default network, mainly precuneus and medial frontal gyrus, the other related to weaker activation of regions directly involved in semantic repetition priming.

Semantic repetition blindness: Picture versus word effects

Semantic repetition blindness: Picture versus word effects

Reduced task-related suppression during semantic repetition priming in schizophrenia

Few studies have reported the reduced suppression of brain activity within the default network in schizophrenia. The relationship, however, between task-specific activation and default network suppression, as well as impact of this relationship on brain function, is still not clear, and it has not been studied in schizophrenia so far. We used previously published data showing a relationship between semantic encoding and white matter integrity in schizophrenia (Jeong et al., 2009), and reanalyzed the data using an independent component analysis (ICA). Participants comprised 10 healthy control subjects and 10 patients with chronic schizophrenia who underwent an fMRI scan during which they performed the Levels of Processing paradigm. The semantic processing-related independent components were compared between two groups using tensor-ICA. An independent component of semantic repetition priming showed a significant difference between the two groups. The component consisted of both less activated and less suppressed regions within the patients' brains. The less activated regions included the bilateral inferior frontal gyri and the supramarginal gyri. The less suppressed regions included the medial frontal gyrus, the posterior cingulate gyrus, the precuneus and the right cerebellum. Our results suggest two components of semantic repetition priming deficit in schizophrenia: one related to weaker suppression of default network, mainly precuneus and medial frontal gyrus, the other related to weaker activation of regions directly involved in semantic repetition priming.

Perceptual and Semantic Contributions to Repetition Priming of Environmental Sounds

Repetition of environmental sounds, like their visual counterparts, can facilitate behavior and modulate neural responses, exemplifying plasticity in how auditory objects are represented or accessed. It remains controversial whether such repetition priming/suppression involves solely plasticity based on acoustic features and/or also access to semantic features. To evaluate contributions of physical and semantic features in eliciting repetition-induced plasticity, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study repeated either identical or different exemplars of the initially presented object; reasoning that identical exemplars share both physical and semantic features, whereas different exemplars share only semantic features. Participants performed a living/man-made categorization task while being scanned at 3T. Repeated stimuli of both types significantly facilitated reaction times versus initial presentations, demonstrating perceptual and semantic repetition priming. There was also repetition suppression of fMRI activity within overlapping temporal, premotor, and prefrontal regions of the auditory "what" pathway. Importantly, the magnitude of suppression effects was equivalent for both physically identical and semantically related exemplars. That the degree of repetition suppression was irrespective of whether or not both perceptual and semantic information was repeated is suggestive of a degree of acoustically independent semantic analysis in how object representations are maintained and retrieved.

Scanning speech: semantic, lexical and syntactic repetition suppression in sentence production

Scanning speech: semantic, lexical and syntactic repetition suppression in sentence production

The nature and time course of the relationship between surface variability and linguistic processing.

It is becoming increasingly prevalent to study and understand the role of surface information in the process of speech perception and to attempt to accommodate these variables in theories of speech perception. Indeed, theories of speech perception increasingly require an account of the precise circumstances under which surface details affect the ease with which listeners access spoken words. To date, the majority of studies have focused on manipulating various components of surface information (e.g., speaking rate, talker differences, dialect difference, and so on) to determine whether these manipulations matter to the processing task. The present set of studies in our laboratory represents the converse component of this relationship in order to determine whether linguistic complexity can affect or modulate listeners’ overt subjective impressions of the surface information. Two different methodologies, including semantic priming and repetition priming, were used manipulate ease of lexical access and determine the role on listeners perception of surface details (foreign accent). Additionally, the time course of the effect of linguistic context on accent rating judgments was studied as it manifested itself differently at different points during perceptual processing. Overall, these studies help understand the complex nature of the relationship between surface variability and linguistic processing.

Regulatory functions of prefrontal cortex during single word production

Over the past decade, many neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have investigated the putative linguistic and nonlinguistic functions of prefrontal cortex, specifically the posterior portion of the left, inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) also known as ‘‘Broca’s area’’. A number of these studies have converged on the hypothesis that LIFG functions to regulate activation among competing representations across a wide variety of linguistic (and nonlinguistic) situations (e.g., Robinson, Blair, & Cipolotti, 1998; Thompson-Schill, D’Esposito, & Kan, 1999). This hypothesis draws on a large body of research into the function of prefrontal cortex (e.g., Miller & Cohen, 2001), and contrasts with other more domain-specific accounts of the function of Broca’s area. Here, we present both functional neuroimaging data from young, healthy volunteers and lesion-deficit analyses of patients with focal brain damage that jointly provide support for the regulatory hypothesis of LIFG involvement in language processing, and that more broadly inform the study of both linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive processes. In several prior studies (e.g., Kan & Thompson-Schill, 2004), we manipulated competition during single word production across items, by systematically varying intersubject name agreement (e.g., a picture of a banana, which is consistently named as such, versus a picture of a shirt, which is alternatively named as a blouse, a top, a jacket). Activation in LIFG—and errors made by a patient with focal damage to this region—increased during naming of pictures with many, compared to few, competing names. Although these findings are consistent with the hypothesized regulatory role of LIFG in word production, differences across items are subject to a number of alternative interpretations. In the present series of experiments, we manipulated competition during single word production within items, taking advantage of a robust interference effect on picture naming that results from semantic blocking: Repeated naming of a group of pictures drawn from a common semantic category is slower (and in patients with aphasia, more error-prone) than is repeated naming of the same pictures arranged in unrelated blcoks (e.g., Damian, Vigliocco, & Levelt, 2001; Schnur, Schwartz, Brecher, & Hodgson, 2006). We (and others) have argued that this semantic blocking manipulation increases competition among semantically related items, and thereby increases demands for a regulatory (control) process that is hypothesized to require the LIFG. In the first experiment, fMRI data were collected while sixteen subjects named line drawings of common objects. Half of the picture naming blocks comprised repeated sets of unrelated pictures. The other half of the picture naming blocks comprised repeated sets of either semantically-related pictures (i.e., same category) or phonologically-related pictures (i.e., names with same onset). Comparisons of semantically-related blocks to unrelated blocks revealed increased activation in LIFG, t(15) = 2.37, p < .05 and left temporal cortex, t(15) = 2.14, p < .05; however, only the former was correlated with behavioral performance, r = .76. Furthermore, the effect of semantic blocking was greater than the (null) effect of phonological blocking – which is typically associated with facilitation, not interference—only in the LIFG, t(15) = 2.21, p < .05. In the second experiment, we analyzed error rates of twelve chronically aphasic patients attempting to repeatedly name pictures appearing in semantically related or unrelated blocks. We obtained high-resolution MRI or CT scans in order to perform a number of analyses relating structural abnormalities to functional impairments. First, in a region of interest analysis, we found that patients who exhibited a large blocking effect had more substantial LIFG damage than did patients who exhibited a small (or absent) blocking effect, t(10) = 3.59, p < .01. (In this and subsequent analysis, the magnitude of the blocking effect was described by a measure of the interaction between semantic blocking and repetition on error rates.) Second, we conducted a whole-brain analysis, comparing the magnitude of the blocking effect as a function of tissue status (damaged versus intact) at every voxel in the brain. In aggregate, lesions from the twelve