Controversy remains as to the scope of advanced planning in language production. Smith and Wheeldon (1999) found significantly longer onset latencies when subjects described moving picture displays by producing sentences beginning with a complex noun phrase than for matched sentences beginning with a simple noun phrase. While these findings are consistent with a phrasal scope of planning, they might also be explained on the basis of: 1) greater retrieval fluency for the second content word in the simple initial noun phrase sentences and 2) visual grouping factors. In Experiments 1 and 2, retrieval fluency for the second content word was equated for the complex and simple initial noun phrase conditions. Experiments 3 and 4 addressed the visual grouping hypothesis by using stationary displays and by comparing onset latencies for the same display for sentence and list productions. Longer onset latencies for the sentences beginning with a complex noun phrase were obtained in all experiments, supporting the phrasal scope of planning hypothesis. The results indicate that in speech, as in other motor production domains, planning occurs beyond the minimal production unit. Evidence for a Phrasal Scope of Planning in Speech ProductionIn cognitive tasks involving motor output, be it language production, problem solving, or skilled motor performance (such as playing a musical instrument), people must execute a sequence of actions toward some goal. Crucial issues in all these cognitive domains concern the levels of representation at which advance planning takes place and the extent or scope of such planning (e.g., Catrambone, 1998;Rosenbaum, 2010;Smith & Wheeldon, 1999). There are major benefits to planning ahead -such as avoiding mistakes. One can insure that in problem solving, for instance, one will not end up in a game position from which there is no legal move without backtracking. In piano playing one can avoid choosing fingering for the first notes of a run that would impede rapid execution of the entire arpeggio. In language production, one can avoid becoming tongue-tied because of the difficulty in finding an appropriate word or phrase to complete a thought given what has already been produced. Advance planning has its downsides as well. Advance planning at multiple levels is

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Middle school friendships end quickly and often, but certain shared traits help them last Can you remember who your best friend was in seventh grade? If you are having difficulty, it could be because relationships at that age are often short-lived. Half don't last a year. The friendships that do last can be predicted based on demographic and behavioral similarities, according to new research from psychologist Brett Laursen of Florida Atlantic University."There is a lot of change during middle school, and