The role of visual form in lexical access: Evidence from Chinese classifier production

The interface between the conceptual and lexical systems was investigated in a word production setting. We tested the effects of two conceptual dimensions – semantic category and visual shape – on the selection of Chinese nouns and classifiers. Participants named pictures with nouns (“rope”) or classifier–noun phrases (“one-classifier–rope”) in three blocked picture naming experiments. In Experiment 1, we observed larger semantic category interference with phrases than with nouns, suggesting comparable semantic categorical effects on classifier and noun selection. In Experiments 2 and 3, items with similar shapes produced an interference effect when they were named with classifier–noun phrases, but not with bare nouns. This indicates that object shape modulates classifier (but not noun) selection. We conclude that object shape properties can by themselves influence word selection processes just as semantic relationships (captured by semantic category) do. The factors operating during word selection may be more diverse than has been previously thought.     

Semantic priming over unrelated trials: Evidence for different effects in word and picture naming

Two naming experiments are reported that replicated previous findings of semantic interference as a result of naming related word or picture primes three trials before picture targets. We also examined whether semantic interference occurred when the materials were reversed and picture or word primes were named before word targets. The interest in semantic interference during word naming followed a suggestion made by Humphreys, Lloyd-Jones, and Fias (1995) that word naming, like picture naming, may be reliant on a semantic route to name retrieval when the two stimuli are mixed. In contrast to their findings, we found no evidence for semantic interference during target word naming; in fact, we found facilitation from related picture primes. No priming was found for the related word prime and word target condition. The data allow us to rule out the possibility that word naming is reliant on a semantic route when mixed with pictures in this priming paradigm and to conclude that there is no clear evidence of semantic activation during word naming. We also conclude, in line with other research, that word naming and picture naming involve different processes.     

Selective and nonselective inhibition of competitors in picture naming

The present study examined the relation between nonselective inhibition and selective inhibition in picture naming performance. Nonselective inhibition refers to the ability to suppress any unwanted response, whereas selective inhibition refers to the ability to suppress specific competing responses. The degree of competition in picture naming was manipulated by presenting targets along with distractor words that could be semantically related (e.g., a picture of a dog combined with the word cat) or unrelated (tree) to the picture name. The mean naming response time (RT) was longer in the related than in the unrelated condition, reflecting semantic interference. Delta plot analyses showed that participants with small mean semantic interference effects employed selective inhibition more effectively than did participants with larger semantic interference effects. The participants were also tested on the stop-signal task, which taps nonselective inhibition. Their performance on this task was correlated with their mean naming RT but, importantly, not with the selective inhibition indexed by the delta plot analyses and the magnitude of the semantic interference effect. These results indicate that nonselective inhibition ability and selective inhibition of competitors in picture naming are separable to some extent.     

The semantic nature of response competition in the picture-word interference task

Picture-word interference refers to the fact that when a picture (i.e., line drawing) is presented with a word superimposed, picture naming latency is longer than when the picture is presented alone. In addition, naming latency will be further prolonged whenever the word and the picture are members of the same semantic category. This semantic interference effect was investigated in a series of studies in order to develop an appropriate model of the semantic processes involved in picture-word interference. In Experiments 1 and 2, it was determined that the associative strength between the word and the picture is unimportant in the picture-word interference task. In Experiment 3, it was demonstrated that the category typicality of the word and the picture is also unimportant in this task. These results suggest that the semantic processes in picture-word interference would not be well described by a semantic network model. This conclusion was reinforced by Experiment 4, in which it was found that the imageability of a word is a highly important factor in the picture-word interference task. The present set of results suggests that any model of the processes involved in picture-word interference must have at its core the notion of the word’s "relevance" to the task of naming the presented picture.     

Semantic component of a cross-modal Stroop-like task

Three experiments showed that the pattern of interference of single-modality Stroop tests also exists cross-modally. Distractors and targets were either pictures or auditory words. In a naming task (Experiment 1), word distractors from the same semantic category as picture targets interfered with picture naming more than did semantically unrelated distractors; the semantic category of picture distractors did not differentially affect word naming. In a categorization task (Experiment 2), this Stroop-like effect was reversed: Picture distractors from the same semantic category as word targets interfered less with word categorization than picture distractors that were semantically unrelated; the semantic category of word distractors did not differentially affect picture categorization. Experiment 3 replicated these effects when each subject performed both tasks; the task, naming or categorizing, determined the pattern of interference between pictures and auditory words. The results thus support the existence of a semantic component of a cross-modal Stroop-like effect.     

延迟命名任务中图词干扰效应的眼动研究

采用图-词分离呈现及眼动技术探讨在延时命名条件下图-词干扰效应发生的位置。结果发现：（1）延时命名图片时,仍出现图-词干扰效应和频率效应;（2）与命名干扰词相比,命名图片时图片的回视率高,注视时间长;（3）图片的注视时间也出现频率效应和图-词干扰效应。这说明即使在延时命名图片的条件下,目标词汇仍需要再次激活,频率效应和图-词干扰效应是发生在词汇化过程中,反驳反应排除理论的图-词干扰反应选择阶段的观点,支持了词汇化选择竞争的理论。     

Task choice and semantic interference in picture naming

Evidence from dual-task performance indicates that speakers prefer not to select simultaneous responses in picture naming and another unrelated task, suggesting a response selection bottleneck in naming. In particular, when participants respond to tones with a manual response and name pictures with superimposed semantically related or unrelated distractor words, semantic interference in naming tends to be constant across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between the tone stimulus and the picture–word stimulus. In the present study, we examine whether semantic interference in picture naming depends on SOA in case of a task choice (naming the picture vs reading the word of a picture–word stimulus) based on tones. This situation requires concurrent processing of the tone stimulus and the picture–word stimulus, but not a manual response to the tones. On each trial, participants either named a picture or read aloud a word depending on the pitch of a tone, which was presented simultaneously with picture–word onset or 350 ms or 1000 ms before picture–word onset. Semantic interference was present with tone pre-exposure, but absent when tone and picture-word stimulus were presented simultaneously. Against the background of the available studies, these results support an account according to which speakers tend to avoid concurrent response selection, but can engage in other types of concurrent processing, such as task choices.     

Stroop interference in naming and verifying spatial locations

Two experiments are reported that were designed to assess effects of semantic similarity on naming and verification of spatial locations. In Experiment I, the wordsabove, below, left, andright occurred as distractors when Ss named the location of the word relative to a dot, or the location of a dot relative to the word. In Experiment II. the same dot-word displays were used, but Ss reported whether or not the word correctly specified its own location relative to the dot or the location of the dot relative to itself. The naming task showed some within-dimension facilitation and interference effects, most notably when Ss named the location occupied by the distractor word. The verification tasks showed quite substantial retardation of “no” responses when the word and location represented different values on either the horizontal or the vertical dimension.     

Effects of sentence constraint on priming in natural language comprehension

In 4 cross-modal naming experiments, researchers investigated the role of sentence constraint in natural language comprehension. On the sentence constraint account, incoming linguistic material activates semantic features that in turn pre-activate likely upcoming words. The 1st and 2nd experiments investigated whether stimulus offset asynchrony played a critical role in previous studies supporting the sentence constraint account. The 3rd and 4th experiments examined further predictions of the sentence constraint account, in particular whether pre-activated words would compete for activation. In Experiment 3, the researchers manipulated whether an expected target word had a close competitor and found that response to the expected word was facilitated regardless of the proximity of a competitor. The 4th experiment established that close competitors were primed by the sentence frames and should have been available to compete with expected target words. Thus, word-level representations did not compete for activation.     

Semantic interference and associative facilitation from words presented in rapid serial visual presentation

Semantic interference in picture naming is readily obtained when categorically related distractor words are displayed with picture targets; however, this is not typically the case when both primes and targets are words. Researchers have argued that to obtain semantic interference for word primes and targets, the prime must be shown for a sufficient duration, prime processing must be made difficult, and participants must attend to the primes. In this article, we used a novel procedure for prime presentation to investigate semantic interference in word naming. Primes were presented as the last word of a rapid serial visual presentation stream, with the target following 600-1,200 msec later. Semantic interference was observed for categorically related targets, whereas facilitation was found for associatively related targets.     

Differences in semantic encoding as a function of reading comprehension skill

Using a modified Stroop procedure, we examined the extent to which the semantic encoding of a word is governed by the context within which that word appears. Good and poor comprehenders named the color of target words following their reading of either sentences or single words representing the object nouns of the sentences. Target words represented contextually emphasized (appropriate) attributes of the object nouns, nonemphasized (inappropriate) attributes of these nouns, or object attributes not related to these nouns (neutral). For single-word contexts, all subjects exhibited equal semantic interference to appropriate and inappropriate targets, relative to neutral targets. For sentence contexts, however, good comprehenders exhibited semantic interference only to appropriate targets, whereas poor comprehenders again exhibited equal interference to appropriate and inappropriate targets. These findings suggest that differences in comprehension skill may be attributable, at least in part, to fundamental differences in the way in which sentences are semantically encoded.     

Feature overlap slows lexical selection: Evidence from the picture–word interference paradigm

How does the presence of a categorically related word influence picture naming latencies? In order to test competitive and noncompetitive accounts of lexical selection in spoken word production, we employed the picture–word interference (PWI) paradigm to investigate how conceptual feature overlap influences naming latencies when distractors are category coordinates of the target picture. Mahon et al. (2007. Lexical selection is not by competition: A reinterpretation of semantic interference and facilitation effects in the picture-word interference paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(3), 503–535. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.33.3.503) reported that semantically close distractors (e.g., zebra) facilitated target picture naming latencies (e.g., HORSE) compared to far distractors (e.g., whale). We failed to replicate a facilitation effect for within-category close versus far target–distractor pairings using near-identical materials based on feature production norms, instead obtaining reliably larger interference effects (Experiments 1 and 2). The interference effect did not show a monotonic increase across multiple levels of within-category semantic distance, although there was evidence of a linear trend when unrelated distractors were included in analyses (Experiment 2). Our results show that semantic interference in PWI is greater for semantically close than for far category coordinate relations, reflecting the extent of conceptual feature overlap between target and distractor. These findings are consistent with the assumptions of prominent competitive lexical selection models of speech production.     

Fighting ability influences mate value in late adolescent men

Several studies have demonstrated the relationship between handgrip strength (HGS) and fighting ability in men, which is a relevant trait for intrasexual competition to increase the probability of obtaining a mate. However, few studies have determined a relationship between fighting ability and men’s self-perceived capacity to find, attract and retain a mate. This capacity is a complex compound of several traits that evolutionary psychology has called mate value. In the present study, in a population of late adolescent men from Chile (M ± SD = 16.94 ± .89 years), we explored the relationship between fighting ability, estimated by both HGS and a self-perceived fighting ability questionnaire, and mate value, assessed with a self-perceived mate value components questionnaire. The results show a strong influence of fighting ability on mate value. This influence affects the subscales of “views from the opposite sex”, “sociality” and “relationship history”. However, we did not find an effect on the subscales of “wealth”, “parenting” or “fear to failure”. The relationship between mate value and fighting ability indicates that fighting ability is a relevant component in understanding men’s reproductive behaviour, including intrasexual competition and intersexual selection. This effect was observed in adolescents, who have less mating experience than adults.     

The effects of thematic relations on picture naming abilities across the lifespan

A picture–word interference paradigm tracked patterns of activation during picture naming in 87 individuals (age range 17–80 years old). Distractor words were presented at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of ?200, ?100, and 0 ms bearing a has a-, location, or no relationship to the picture. Analyses of group naming reaction times revealed significant facilitation effects for both semantic relation types for all age groups. Analyses of temporal patterns of activation revealed significant effects primarily at SOAs of ?200 and ?100 ms. These findings provide evidence that both thematic relations are particularly salient in how semantic knowledge is organized, and that the patterns of effects from these semantic relations remain the same as one ages.     

Are phonological influences on lexical (mis)selection the result of a monitoring bias?

A monitoring bias account is often used to explain speech error patterns that seem to be the result of an interactive language production system, like phonological influences on lexical selection errors. A biased monitor is suggested to detect and covertly correct certain errors more often than others. For instance, this account predicts that errors that are phonologically similar to intended words are harder to detect than those that are phonologically dissimilar. To test this, we tried to elicit phonological errors under the same conditions as those that show other kinds of lexical selection errors. In five experiments, we presented participants with high cloze probability sentence fragments followed by a picture that was semantically related, a homophone of a semantically related word, or phonologically related to the (implicit) last word of the sentence. All experiments elicited semantic completions or homophones of semantic completions, but none elicited phonological completions. This finding is hard to reconcile with a monitoring bias account and is better explained with an interactive production system. Additionally, this finding constrains the amount of bottom-up information flow in interactive models.     

Are phonological influences on lexical (mis)selection the result of a monitoring bias?

A monitoring bias account is often used to explain speech error patterns that seem to be the result of an interactive language production system, like phonological influences on lexical selection errors. A biased monitor is suggested to detect and covertly correct certain errors more often than others. For instance, this account predicts that errors that are phonologically similar to intended words are harder to detect than those that are phonologically dissimilar. To test this, we tried to elicit phonological errors under the same conditions as those that show other kinds of lexical selection errors. In five experiments, we presented participants with high cloze probability sentence fragments followed by a picture that was semantically related, a homophone of a semantically related word, or phonologically related to the (implicit) last word of the sentence. All experiments elicited semantic completions or homophones of semantic completions, but none elicited phonological completions. This finding is hard to reconcile with a monitoring bias account and is better explained with an interactive production system. Additionally, this finding constrains the amount of bottom-up information flow in interactive models.     

Congruency effects in conceptualizing for speech

In naming a picture at the basic level, a semantically related distractor word induces interference in comparison to an unrelated word. When the task is changed from basic-level naming to categorization, however, this effect reverses to semantic facilitation. In previous studies, this semantic facilitation effect was attributed to “message congruency” at the conceptual level. The present study examines the nature of this message congruency effect: Is it due to competition between two activated category concepts in the incongruent condition or is it due to convergence of activity on a single category concept in the congruent condition? Two experiments show that neither the strength with which the context stimulus activates an incongruent category concept nor the semantic distance between the category concepts activated by target and distractor affect target categorization speed. We conclude that the message congruency effect is most likely due to convergence on a single category concept in the category-congruent condition.     

Rapid processing of the meaning of sentences

It has been shown (Fischler & Bloom, 1979) that sentence contexts facilitate a lexical decision task for words that are highly likely sentence completions and inhibit the decision for words that are semantically anomalous sentence completions. In the present experiment, the sentence contexts were presented 1 word at a time, at rates from 4 to 28 words/sec. The facilitation for words that were likely sentence completions was marginal at the slower rates and absent at higher rates. In contrast, the inhibitory effects of semantic anomaly were apparent at all presentation rates. Several analyses suggested that the sentence contexts were becoming ineffective at the very highest presentation rates, but the high rates at which the sentence contexts still affected word recognition were taken as evidence that semantic information accrues at an early stage of sentence processing. Implications for Posner and Snyder’s (1975) theory of attention and for models of reading were discussed.     

Embodied image: Gender differences in functional and aesthetic body image among Australian adolescents

Perceptions of the body are not restricted to the way the body “looks”; they may also extend to the way the body “functions”. This research explores body image among male and female adolescents using the Embodied Image Scale (EIS), which incorporates body function into body image. Adolescents (N = 1526, male = 673, female = 853) aged 12–17 (M = 13.83, SD = 1.02), from 26 Western Australian high schools were surveyed. Information was gathered on pubertal timing, body mass index (BMI) and body image. Participants reported significantly higher value of, behavioral-investment in, and satisfaction with the functional dimension of the body compared to the aesthetic dimension. After controlling for age, pubertal timing, and BMI, females reported significantly higher aesthetic values and aesthetic behavioral-investment, and lower aesthetic satisfaction, functional values, functional behavioral-investment and functional satisfaction than male participants. Grade, pubertal timing and BMI category differences were also explored.     

Indian mate preferences: Continuity,sex differences,and cultural change across a quarter of a century

Expressed mate preferences provide unique windows into evolved mating psychology. The current study used two research instruments—one ranking and one rating procedure—to examine mate preferences in India. We compared modern Indians (n = 536) with a more modest Indian sample studied a quarter of a century earlier (n = 105) to test the hypothesis that sex-specific mate preferences—as hypothesized by parental investment theory—would persist during this time period. Mate preferences for mutual attraction and love remained important and invariant over time, despite India’s history of arranged marriages. Sex differences in mate preferences for cues to fertility (youth, physical attractiveness) and resources (good financial prospects, social status) remained relatively invariant over time. Several changes in mate preferences emerged, including a greater preference for mates who are “creative and artistic,” “ambitious and industrious,” and “a good cook and housekeeper” for both sexes. Despite cultural changes in India over the past 25 years, evolved mate preferences have persisted during this time period. Discussion highlights limitations of this research.