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. 2011 Feb;18(1):141-9.
doi: 10.3758/s13423-010-0039-8.

Semantic priming is affected by real-time phonological competition: evidence for continuous cascading systems

Keith S Apfelbaum  1 , Sheila E Blumstein, Bob McMurray
Affiliations

Semantic priming is affected by real-time phonological competition: evidence for continuous cascading systems

Keith S Apfelbaum et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Lexical-semantic access is affected by the phonological structure of the lexicon. What is less clear is whether such effects are the result of continuous activation between lexical form and semantic processing or whether they arise from a more modular system in which the timing of accessing lexical form determines the timing of semantic activation. This study examined this issue using the visual world paradigm by investigating the time course of semantic priming as a function of the number of phonological competitors. Critical trials consisted of high or low density auditory targets (e.g., horse) and a visual display containing a target, a semantically related object (e.g., saddle), and two phonologically and semantically unrelated objects (e.g., chimney, bikini). Results showed greater magnitude of priming for semantically related objects of low than of high density words, and no differences for high and low density word targets in the time course of looks to the word semantically related to the target. This pattern of results is consistent with models of cascading activation, which predict that lexical activation has continuous effects on the level of semantic activation, with no delays in the onset of semantic activation for phonologically competing words.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timecourse of target fixation for words low density and high density words.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A) The predicted magnitude of priming given a hypothesis in which competition delays semantic access, but does not affect magnitude of activation. B) The predicted magnitude of priming if semantic access is continuously dependent on degree of lexical activation. C) The predicted magnitude of priming if semantic access is both delayed and dependent on degree of lexical activation. D) The predicted magnitude of priming if semantic activation always begins at the same time, but peak magnitude of activation is dependent on degree of lexical activation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The proportion of trials on which subjects were fixating the target, semantically related item and unrelated pictures as a function of time. A) Trials in which the stimulus was a low density word. B) High density trials.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Time course of the magnitude of the semantic priming effect in each density condition. Mean logistic functions are overlaid on the raw data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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