Semantic Interference with Repeated and Novel Targets in Picture-Word Interference: Evidence for Adaptive Processing in Word Production

Current models assume that word production adapts rapidly, after each selection of a word, leading to enhanced accessibility of the selected target word and reduced accessibility of activated but not selected competitor words. Much evidence for this notion comes from studies using the continuous picture naming task which show a continuous slowing in the production of a word with each recently produced word from the same semantic category. We put the notion of adaptive lexical processing to a test in a picture-word interference (PWI) experiment. Participants repeatedly named a set of target pictures while ignoring auditory distractor words. The distractor words were either semantically related or unrelated to the target picture and differed across two times of measurement. Across the times of measurement, naming responses were faster with repeated target pictures and slower with novel target pictures that replaced previously named pictures from the same semantic category. Moreover, the semantic interference (longer naming latencies with related distractor words than with unrelated distractor words) was reduced with repeated target pictures and remained constant with novel target pictures. This pattern provides new and converging PWI evidence for adaptive processing in word production.