Picture–Word Interference Reveals Inhibitory Effects of Syllable Frequency on Lexical Selection

Abstract

While previous research has shown that high syllable frequency can facilitate speech production at the level of phonological/phonetic encoding, little is known about its influence on prephonological processes, specifically lexical selection. The current study used a picture-word interference (PWI) task to (a) shed light on the stages of lexical access where syllable frequency is relevant, and (b) inform as to whether lexical selection is accomplished via competition among activated word options. Participants named pictures whose names had high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) first syllables while ignoring phonologically related (same first syllable) or unrelated distractor words that were presented simultaneously. Word frequency was also manipulated, as half of the targets were HF words, and half were LF words. Results revealed inhibitory syllable frequency effects in all conditions, such that targets with HF first syllables were named more slowly than targets with LF first syllables. However, inhibitory syllable frequency effects were exacerbated in conditions thought to reflect heightened lexical competition, specifically in the presence of phonologically related distractors and for targets with low word frequency. These findings reveal novel evidence for first-syllable frequency effects on lexical selection and offer further support for models proposing delays at lexical selection due to activation of nontarget competitors.

High-frequency first syllables facilitate name–face association learning

“…Within the NST and TDH model, the increased ease in learning HF first-syllable names results from the increased use of the phonological components, which strengthens their connections and makes them easy to access and learn (e.g., James & Fogler, 2007). As described by Farrell and Abrams (2014):. .…”

“…Venuto’s (2019) unpublished experiment tested whether a “downstream” benefit of greater phonological frequency would emerge during name–face association learning. HF syllables essentially have long-term practice effects that strengthen all connections to and from those nodes, facilitating their access (Farrell & Abrams, 2014). These strengthened connections should in turn make learning a name with HF sound sequences easier than learning one with LF sound sequences.…”

Phonological Codes Constrain Output of Orthographic Codes via Sublexical and Lexical Routes in Chinese Written Production

“…The inhibitory effect of token syllable frequency has been obtained in speech production as well. For example, Farrell and Abrams [ 71 ] reported an inhibitory effect of syllable frequency in successful speech production (see also [ 72 ] for inhibitory influences on tip-of-the-tongue resolution). Furthermore, they found that inhibitory syllable frequency effects were more pronounced in the presence of phonologically related distractors and for targets of low WF in PWI tasks.…”

Age-related influences on lexical selection and orthographic encoding during homophone spelling.

“…Because homophone regularity influences orthographic encoding, we would expect increased errors when competitors have regular spellings because of stronger connections to these regular spellings, relative to competitors with irregular spellings. However, evidence suggests that older adults may have reduced activation to phonological competitors (e.g., Abrams, Trunk, & Merrill, 2007; Burke et al, 1991; Farrell & Abrams, 2010), which would lead older adults to have fewer errors than younger adults when spelling unambiguous homophones. This reduction in activation to competitors has been observed in spoken production via tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states, where older adults have fewer alternate words come to mind than younger adults, despite having more TOT states (e.g., Burke et al, 1991).…”

“…Older adults also are less likely to resolve their TOTs than younger adults following presentation of a phonologically related word (Abrams et al, 2007; White & Abrams, 2002), suggesting that older adults transmit less activation from a phonological prime to the TOT's lemma to enable retrieval. Recent research (Farrell & Abrams, 2010) has also shown that older adults less effectively transmit activation to phonological competitors than younger adults in a picture-word interference task.…”