Semantic context effects in word production: The role of message congruency

The main question that the research presented in this dissertation is focused on, is why compared to unrelated context words, related context words induce interference in basic level picture naming but facilitation in picture categorization (Glaser & Dungelhoff, 1984). It is argued that because related context words induce lexical interference compared to unrelated context words in both basic-level picture naming and category-level picture naming, another strongly facilitating semantic context effect must be present in the categorization task in order to account for the semantic facilitation that is observed in this task. This effect labeled “message congruency” was assumed to arise when the automatic processing of the context leads to the activation of the concept that is required for the verbal response. The proposed mechanism responsible for the message congruency effect is the co-activation of the sought-for concept by the message congruent context. In the model of word production that is proposed, a context word can induce semantic facilitation due to spreading of activation, facilitation due to message congruency and semantic interference in lexical selection. With this model, the polarity of the semantic context effect in various tasks can be explained. The main question that the research presented in this dissertation is focused on, is why compared to unrelated context words, related context words induce interference in basic level picture naming but facilitation in picture categorization (Glaser & Dungelhoff, 1984). It is argued that because related context words induce lexical interference compared to unrelated context words in both basic-level picture naming and category-level picture naming, another strongly facilitating semantic context effect must be present in the categorization task in order to account for the semantic facilitation that is observed in this task. This effect labeled “message congruency” was assumed to arise when the automatic processing of the context leads to the activation of the concept that is required for the verbal response. The proposed mechanism responsible for the message congruency effect is the co-activation of the sought-for concept by the message congruent context. In the model of word production that is proposed, a context word can induce semantic facilitation due to spreading of activation, facilitation due to message congruency and semantic interference in lexical selection. With this model, the polarity of the semantic context effect in various tasks can be explained. The main question that the research presented in this dissertation is focused on, is why compared to unrelated context words, related context words induce interference in basic level picture naming but facilitation in picture categorization (Glaser & Dungelhoff, 1984). It is argued that because related context words induce lexical interference compared to unrelated context words in both basic-level picture naming and category-level picture naming, another strongly facilitating semantic context effect must be present in the categorization task in order to account for the semantic facilitation that is observed in this task. This effect labeled “message congruency” was assumed to arise when the automatic processing of the context leads to the activation of the concept that is required for the verbal response. The proposed mechanism responsible for the message congruency effect is the co-activation of the sought-for concept by the message congruent context. In the model of word production that is proposed, a context word can induce semantic facilitation due to spreading of activation, facilitation due to message congruency and semantic interference in lexical selection. With this model, the polarity of the semantic context effect in various tasks can be explained.