Task set persistence modulates word reading following resolution of picture-word interference.
We extend the finding that word reading slows following successful responses to a color-word Stroop interference task (Masson, Bub, Woodward, & Chan, 2003). Word reading was assessed in a picture-word interference task in which subjects alternated between naming a picture (with either a word or a row of Xs superimposed on it) and reading a word. For the word-reading task, words were presented either in isolation or superimposed on a picture. Word reading was slower after subjects responded to a bivalent stimulus that required resolution of conflict (naming a picture with a word superimposed on it) than after they responded to a stimulus that involved no conflict (naming a picture with Xs superimposed on it), indicating modulation of dominant task performance. This effect was found when word-reading targets were superimposed on pictures but not when those targets were presented in isolation. Modulation of word reading, therefore, appears to be the result of interference from a persistent picture-naming task set, cued by a stimulus configuration that invites execution of both competing tasks.
Masson
Michael E J
ME
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. mmasson@uvic.ca
Bub
Daniel N
DN
Ishigami
Yoko
Y
D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D012718:Set, Psychology