TY - JOUR

T1 - Semantic domain and grammatical class effects in the picture-word interference paradigm

AU - Rodriguez-Ferreiro, Javier

AU - Davies, Robert

AU - Cuetos, Fernando

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Grammatical effects in picture–word interference experiments have been argued to reflect grammatical constraints during lexicalisation. Alternative views hold that those effects derive from the coincidence of semantic and grammatical differences between candidates. We present three experiments conducted in Spanish. Semantic relatedness between target and distracters (related or unrelated), as well as grammatical class (nouns or verbs) and semantic domain (objects or actions) of the distracters were manipulated in infinitive or inflected action naming tasks. Whereas related action-words, but not object-nouns, produced longer reaction times irrespective of their grammatical class in the infinitive condition, only related verbs slowed latencies in the inflected condition. Our results suggest that speech production relies on the exclusion of candidate responses that do not fulfil task-pertinent criteria like membership in the appropriate semantic domain or grammatical class. Taken together, these findings are explained by a response-exclusion account of speech output. This and alternative hypotheses are discussed.

AB - Grammatical effects in picture–word interference experiments have been argued to reflect grammatical constraints during lexicalisation. Alternative views hold that those effects derive from the coincidence of semantic and grammatical differences between candidates. We present three experiments conducted in Spanish. Semantic relatedness between target and distracters (related or unrelated), as well as grammatical class (nouns or verbs) and semantic domain (objects or actions) of the distracters were manipulated in infinitive or inflected action naming tasks. Whereas related action-words, but not object-nouns, produced longer reaction times irrespective of their grammatical class in the infinitive condition, only related verbs slowed latencies in the inflected condition. Our results suggest that speech production relies on the exclusion of candidate responses that do not fulfil task-pertinent criteria like membership in the appropriate semantic domain or grammatical class. Taken together, these findings are explained by a response-exclusion account of speech output. This and alternative hypotheses are discussed.

KW - semantic interference effect

KW - grammatical class

KW - verbs

KW - action naming

KW - picture–word interference

U2 - 10.1080/01690965.2013.788195

DO - 10.1080/01690965.2013.788195

M3 - Journal article

VL - 29

SP - 125

EP - 135

JO - Language and Cognitive Processes

JF - Language and Cognitive Processes

SN - 0169-0965

IS - 1

ER -