Picture-word differences in decision latency: a test of common-coding assumptions.
Three experiments examined the processing of pictures and words in two tasks of semantic decision--judgments of conceptual size and judgments of associative relatedness--in order to test the prediction from single-coding models of memory that different semantic decisions produce comparable picture-word latency differences. In Experiment 1 an interaction in decision latency was found such that picture-picture (P-P) pairs were significantly faster than word-word (W-W) pairs in decisions of size but not in decisions of associative relatedness. In Experiment 2 no latency differences were found in decisions of association for pairs presented in P-P, W-W, or mixed (P-W or W-P) forms. Decisions of size, however, were fastest for P-P pairs, intermediate for mixed pairs, and slowest for W-W pairs. In a third experiment, using a speeded inference task, the interaction obtained in the first two experiments was reproduced. In light of these results possible revisions to common-coding assumptions about the processing of pictures and words in semantic decisions are discussed.
D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D012858:Size Perception