Abstract
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.
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The data from the present experiments were presented at meetings of the Cognitive Section of the British Psychological Society (Experiment 1 at Kent, 2002, and Experiment 2 at Leeds, 2004). This research was supported by Grant RES-000-22-0109 from the Economic and Social Research Council, awarded to the first author.
Note—This article was accepted by the previous editorial team, when Colin M. MacLeod was Editor.
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Vitkovitch, M., Cooper-Pye, E. & Leadbetter, A.G. Semantic priming over unrelated trials: Evidence for different effects in word and picture naming. Memory & Cognition 34, 715–725 (2006). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193590
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193590