title: Picture-word interference is a Stroop effect: A theoretical analysis and new empirical findings.
abstract: The picture-word interference (PWI) paradigm and the Stroop color-word interference task are often assumed to reflect the same underlying processes. On the basis of a PRP study, Dell'Acqua et al. (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14: 717-722, 2007) argued that this assumption is incorrect. In this article, we first discuss the definitions of Stroop- and picture-word interference. Next, we argue that both effects consist of at least four components that correspond to four characteristics of the distractor word: (1) response-set membership, (2) task relevance, (3) semantic relatedness, and (4) lexicality. On the basis of this theoretical analysis, we conclude that the typical Stroop effect and the typical PWI effect mainly differ in the relative contributions of these four components. Finally, the results of an interference task are reported in which only the nature of the target - color or picture - was manipulated and all other distractor task characteristics were kept constant. The results showed no difference between color and picture targets with respect to all behavioral measures examined. We conclude that the assumption that the same processes underlie verbal interference in color and picture naming is warranted.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Brain and Cognition, Room 0.11, P.O. Box 15915, 1001 NK, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. P.A.Starreveld@UvA.nl.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Starreveld
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wido
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: La Heij
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D057190:Stroop Test; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Picture-word interference; Stroop interference; Vincentized RT distribution