NICI > Publications > 1998 > Serial versus cascaded processing in lexical access in language production: Further evidence from the coactivation of near-synonyms
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Reference
Jescheniak, J.D., & Schriefers, H.J. (1998). Serial versus cascaded processing in lexical access in language production: Further evidence from the coactivation of near-synonyms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 24 (5), 1256-1274.
Abstract
In a series of three cross-modal picture-word interference experiments we investigated the time course of lexicalization in speech production. Participants named pictures of simple objects while hearing distractor words at different SOAs. Distractors were semantically related or phonologically related either to the picture name or its non-target near-synonym. Compared to an unrelated control, effects from all distractors were obtained at a late SOA (+150 ms), and vanished shortly thereafter (at SOA = +300 ms). These findings conflict with the notion of an early selection of a single element. Rather, multiple lexical representations appear to remain active until late in the production process if a near-synonymous lexical competitor is present. We discuss the scope of our observations and their relevance for discrete two-stage and cascading models of lexical access.