Poster E52, Thursday, August 22, 2019, 3:45 – 5:30 pm, Restaurant Hall
Part-Whole but not Whole-Part Relations Elicit Interference Effects in Object Naming
Julien Dirani1, Liina Pylkkänen1,2;1New York University Abu Dhabi, 2New York University
INTRODUCTION. Categorically related primes slow down naming times of target images. This interference effect has been extensively used to inform models of lexical access during word production, however, its origin is not well understood. For instance, manipulating the type of semantic relation sometimes reverses the interference effect into a facilitation, but it is not clear whether this facilitation effect stems from the same neural locus as the categorical interference. In this magnetoencephalography study we manipulated the type of semantic relation to assess the spatiotemporal localization of the semantic interference and facilitation effects. We compared semantic priming effects across part-whole relations (car-tire), whole-part relations (tire-car) and categorical relations (truck-car). We hypothesized that categorical relations would induce a late, post-lexical semantic interference effect, in line with previous MEG findings (Dirani & Pylkkänen, 2018). The same was hypothesized for whole-part relations, possibly because a larger representation (i.e. whole) has to be inhibited in order to name the subset of the representation (i.e. part). Part-whole relations were hypothesized to induce facilitation effects, possibly because of spreading activation from the subset of the representation to the larger representation. Evidence for those hypotheses would suggest a model of conceptual representations where “parts” are represented as nested within the “whole” representations. METHOD. Thirteen native English speakers named target pictures that were separated into two sets: A Whole set (e.g. car) and a Part set (e.g. tire). All targets were presented multiple times, each time preceded by repetition primes, unrelated primes, or categorically related primes. In addition, targets in the Part set were preceded by Whole primes, and targets in the Whole set were preceded by Part primes. The order of targets was randomized across sets (i.e. no blocking was used). Voice onset time was measured as well as brain activity using MEG. RESULTS. Our behavioral results replicated the previously identified semantic interference effect using categorical primes with Whole targets. MEG localization showed a categorical interference pattern for the Part set only, at ~300-400ms in the Superior Temporal Gyrus. We found that part-whole relations elicited a behavioral semantic interference effect, however, whole-part relations did not induce any priming effects relative to the unrelated primes. Surprisingly, repetition priming was also absent in the Part set, suggesting that participants might have been using strategies to name the Part objects. CONCLUSION. Our results replicated the previous MEG spatiotemporal localization of categorical interference, with a slightly earlier locus at 300-400ms in the STG. Contrary to what was hypothesized, we found that part-whole, but not whole-part relations elicited an interference effect. With the current sample of subjects, we find no support for a model of conceptual representations were parts are represented as nested within the whole representations.
Themes: Language Production, Meaning: Lexical Semantics
Method: Electrophysiology (MEG/EEG/ECOG)