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Contrasting effects of associates and coordinates in children with and without language impairment: A picture–word interference study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2012

PATRICIA J. BROOKS ,
LIAT SEIGER-GARDNER  and
KEVIN SAILOR
PATRICIA J. BROOKS*
Affiliation:
College of Staten Island, City University of New York
LIAT SEIGER-GARDNER
Affiliation:
Lehman College, City University of New York
KEVIN SAILOR
Affiliation:
Lehman College, City University of New York
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Patricia J. Brooks, Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, 4S-108, Staten Island, NY 10314. E-mail: patricia.brooks@csi.cuny.edu
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Abstract

In picture naming, semantic context words produce either facilitation or inhibition, depending on their relationship to the target-picture name. This study used the picture–word interference task to examine facilitative effects of associates (the word carrot paired with a picture of rabbit) and inhibitory effects of coordinates (mouse paired with a rabbit) in children and adults. Experiment 1 with adults (N = 44) documented robust associate and coordinate effects with either auditory or visual presentation of interfering words. Experiment 2 used auditory presentation of interfering words with children (N = 44, 6 years, 10 months to 11 years, half with typical development, half with specific language impairment). Children showed significant facilitation from associates but no reliable coordinate interference effect. The strength of the associative priming effect in children was correlated with their language abilities (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals scores). The results indicate the dominant role of association in facilitating word retrieval in speech production in children. In children with specific language impairment, lexical access gains weaker support from networks of associations in semantic memory.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 515 - 545
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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