Manual training of mental rotation

The aim of this study was to investigate the timing relations between phonological encoding that is, the generation of an abstract phonological representation of a to-be-produced utterance and the initiation of articulation. Previous research (Meyer &; Schriefers, 1991) using a picture-word paradigm suggested that, in the production of simple one-word naming responses, a speaker completes phonological encoding of the complete word before articulation is initiated. In the present study, this question was investigated for the production of German no-determiner noun phrases (e.g. roter Tisch, “red table”;). The results showed reliable facilitation effects for distractors that are identical to the first syllable of the first word of the noun phrase. For the second syllable of the first word, only weak facilitation effects were obtained. For the second word, no significant facilitation effects were obtained. However, additional analyses showed that two groups of speakers can be distinguished, one showing only facilitation effects for the first syllable of the first word, and the other showing an additional facilitation effect for the second syllable of the first word. Together with related results, our findings lead to two conclusions. First, the (phonological) word is not the lower limit of phonological encoding before articulation can be initiated. Second, speakers can adjust the size of the advance planning unit at the phonological level based on the specific speaking context.