The distractor lexicality effect in the picture–word interference task

Abstract

In color–word and picture–word interference (PWI) tests, participants perform a speeded naming of target stimuli (colors or images) while ignoring distractors. In a number of studies, it has been shown that pseudoword distractors diminish the target naming latencies compared with high–frequency words (the distractor lexicality effect). However, some further studies have failed to replicate this effect. Moreover, in several studies the effect had an opposite direction: pseudoword distractors increased the target naming latencies. Analysis of available literature has led us to conclude that the effect's direction can depend on two factors: either on the type of interference test (color–word or picture–word interference tests) or on the method of pseudowords' creation (changing the words of natural language or generating them using a computer program). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the distractor lexicality effect depends on the type of interference test. In two PWI experiments, pseudowords created from the words of natural language reduced the picture naming latencies compared with high-frequency words. Since similar results were obtained in studies using the color–word interference test, we conclude that the distractor lexicality effect does not depend on the type of interference paradigm. The results we obtained contradict fndings of E. Dhooge and R. J. Hartsuiker (2012). In their PWI experiments, the distractor lexicality effect had an opposite direction. We explain the contradiction between experimental results by the fact that E. Dhooge and R. J. Hartsuiker generated pseudoword stimuli using the computer program WordGen, while in our study pseudowords were made from the real words of the Russian language. Thus, the method of pseudowords' creation may be a critical determinant of the distractor lexicality effect in the PWI paradigm.