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Abstract:
Abstract: We present a new technique to study the activation
of semantic and phonological codes in speech production using ERPs.
The paradigm combines a delayed picture naming task with a priming
procedure. While participants prepared the production of the
picture name, they were presented with an auditory target word. If
the prepared picture name and target word were semantically related
(same category) or phonologically related (shared initial
segments), the ERP to the target word was less negative when
compared to an unrelated control. Both effects were widely
distributed. The semantic effect started about 400 ms after target
onset, and the phonological effect about 250 ms after target onset.
By contrast, if participants performed a non-linguistic conceptual
task on the depicted object (natural-size judgment), the semantic
effect was strongly attenuated while the phonological effect
disappeared. This suggests that both effects primarily index the
activation of lexical-semantic and phonological rather than
conceptual codes in speaking.
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