Timed picture naming in seven languages

Publication date
2003-06
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Bates, Elizabeth
D’Amico, Simona
Székely, Anna
Andonova, Elena
Devescovi, Antonella
Herron, Dan
Lu, Ching Ching
Pechmann, Thomas
Pléh, Csaba
Wicha, Nicole
Federmeier, Kara
Gerdjikova, Irini
Gutierrez, Gabriel
Hung, Daisy
Hsu, Jeanne
Iyer, Gowri
Kohnert, Katherine
Mehotcheva, Teodora
Orozco-Figueroa, Araceli
Tzeng, Angela
Tzeng, Ovid
Organisational unit
Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Universität Leipzig
DOI
URI
Publisher
Springer
Series or journal
Psychonomic bulletin & review
ISSN
Periodical volume
10
Periodical issue
2
First page
344
Last page
380
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
Nein
Language
English
Abstract
Timed picture naming was compared in seven languages that vary along dimensions known to affect lexical access. Analyses over items focused on factors that determine cross-languageuniversals and cross-language disparities. With regard to universals, number of alternative names had large effects on reaction time within and across languages after target–name agreement was controlled, suggesting inhibitory effects from lexical competitors. For all the languages, word frequency and goodness of depiction had large effects, but objective picture complexity did not. Effects of word structure variables (length, syllable structure, compounding, and initial frication) varied markedly over languages. Strong cross-language correlations were found in naming latencies, frequency, and length. Other-language frequency effects were observed (e.g., Chinese frequencies predicting Spanish reaction times) even after within-language effects were controlled (e.g., Spanish frequencies predicting Spanish reaction times). These surprising cross-language correlations challenge widely held assumptions about the lexical locus of length and frequency effects, suggesting instead that they may (at least in part) reflect familiarity and accessibility at a conceptual level that is shared over languages.
Cite as
Bates, E., D’Amico, S., Jacobsen, T. et al. Timed picture naming in seven languages. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 10, 344–380 (2003). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196494
Version
Published version
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Metadata only access