Localizing semantic interference from distractor sounds in picture naming: A dual-task study

Neighing dogs: Semantic context effects of environmental sounds in spoken word production - a replication and extension

Semantic context effects are well established using both words and pictures as stimuli. One such effect, semantic interference, is observed in naming latencies when a categorically related distractor word or picture is presented together with a target picture (e.g., dog-LION). Recently, this effect has also been shown to occur when an environmental sound (e.g., a dog barking) is presented as an auditory distractor during picture naming and when a distractor picture is presented with a target sound for naming. The purpose of the current study was twofold: (1) to replicate the semantic interference effect in the picture-sound interference (PSI) paradigm and (2) determine whether a semantic interference effect is also observable when distractor words are presented with environmental sounds as target auditory objects for naming, using a novel sound-word interference (SWI) paradigm. We replicated the semantic interference effect in Experiment 1 with environmental sound distractors. Experiment 2 demonstrated significant semantic interference during an SWI paradigm for the first time. We discuss the implications of these results for our understanding of the origin and locus of the semantic interference effect according to current theories of lexical selection.

A cautionary note on the studies using the picture-word interference paradigm: the unwelcome consequences of the random use of "in/animates"

The picture-word interference (PWI) paradigm allows us to delve into the process of lexical access in language production with great precision. It creates situations of interference between target pictures and superimposed distractor words that participants must consciously ignore to name the pictures. Yet, although the PWI paradigm has offered numerous insights at all levels of lexical representation, in this work we expose an extended lack of control regarding the variable animacy. Animacy has been shown to have a great impact on cognition, especially when it comes to the mechanisms of attention, which are highly biased toward animate entities to the detriment of inanimate objects. Furthermore, animate nouns have been shown to be semantically richer and prioritized during lexical access, with effects observable in multiple psycholinguistic tasks. Indeed, not only does the performance on a PWI task directly depend on the different stages of lexical access to nouns, but also attention has a fundamental role in it, as participants must focus on targets and ignore interfering distractors. We conducted a systematic review with the terms "picture-word interference paradigm" and "animacy" in the databases PsycInfo and Psychology Database. The search revealed that only 12 from a total of 193 PWI studies controlled for animacy, and only one considered it as a factor in the design. The remaining studies included animate and inanimate stimuli in their materials randomly, sometimes in a very disproportionate amount across conditions. We speculate about the possible impact of this uncontrolled variable mixing on many types of effects within the framework of multiple theories, namely the Animate Monitoring Hypothesis, the WEAVER++ model, and the Independent Network Model in an attempt to fuel the theoretical debate on this issue as well as the empirical research to turn speculations into knowledge.

Capacity limitations of processing presuppositions triggered by determiners

Definite determiners trigger existence- and uniqueness-presuppositions, that is, the speaker assumes that it is taken for granted that there exists exactly one of the mentioned object in the relevant discourse. Indefinite determiners are associated with anti-uniqueness, that is, that there are several of the mentioned object. Applying the Maximize Presupposition principle, this additional meaning component arises as an anti-presupposition and involves first considering the definite determiner's uniqueness-presupposition and then its negation. We here investigate processing of the two determiners in more detail and ask whether this processing is automatic or requires limited central capacities. To do so, we employed the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) approach and the locus of slack-logic. We observed more difficult processing for the indefinite compared to the definite determiner in felicitous sentences, and also in infelicitous compared to felicitous sentences. Further, immediate processing of the indefinite determiner appears capacity-limited. These results support the Maximize Presupposition principle and are an important step forward toward understanding cognitive processing of presuppositions.

Semantic interference in the picture-word interference task: Is there a pre-lexical, conceptual contribution to the effect?

Picture naming takes longer in the presence of a semantic-categorically related distractor word compared to an unrelated distractor word. This semantic interference effect in the picture-word interference (PWI) task is an empirical cornerstone in speech production research and of central importance in theory development and evaluation. Prominent models locate the effect at an abstract lexical level, yet only few studies have tested for a possible pre-lexical, conceptual contribution. Moreover, those studies that did are not conclusive. We re-explored the locus of semantic interference by contrasting two task versions that were implemented in as parallel a fashion as possible, but differed with respect to the processing stages involved: naming pictures (requiring conceptual processing and lexical processing) and deciding on their natural size (requiring conceptual processing only). We predicted semantic interference in naming, replicating the standard effect. If part of the effect is localized at the conceptual level, we predicted interference in size decision, too. We found semantic effects in both tasks but with different polarity - interference in naming and facilitation in size decision. This pattern supports the view that semantic interference in PWI has its locus at the lexical level and its origin at the conceptual level.