Cognitive components of spoken word production when naming pictures

What is it about?

In this study, participants named a set of pictures that overlapped or were different in terms of meaning (e.g., apple, mango, peach vs. apple, chair, duck) or sound (coat, cat, cook vs. coat, book, lamp) in order to investigate the mechanisms underlying spoken word production. An overlap in meaning typically takes a longer naming time, however, it is debated whether this results from a competition in word selection or if it results from learning. The first account argues that the previously named picture (e.g., apple) becomes active and competes for selection during the production of a word related in meaning (e.g., mango). The second account argues that this competition is not needed, since a learning mechanism strengthens the connections between meaning features (e.g., fruit, yellow) and to-be produced words (e.g., mango), while weakening connections between meaning features and competitors. Using behavioural and electrophysiological measurements, it was found that naming took a longer time in blocks with an overlap in meaning, but took less time in blocks with an overlap in sound. Meaning modulated electrophysiological waveforms (ERPs) from 200 ms and sound from 350 ms after picture presentation.

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Why is it important?

The ERP effects run against the account based on a learning mechanism, and are more likely to reflect a selection bias. This study provides new insights into the cognitive components of picture naming and further contributes to the understanding of spoken word production.