Abstract
The effect of sentence priming on picture naming was investigated across the lifespan, from age 3 to 87 years. Names that are normally acquired before 3 years of age were presented in auditory contexts that were semantically congruent, incongruent, or neutral in relation to each picture and its name. Sentential priming was present at all age levels. Facilitation (neutral vs. congruent) was significant by 4 years of age and did not vary significantly with age. Interference (incongruent vs. neutral) was significant at all age levels, but changed nonmonotonically with age (largest in the youngest children, stable from young adulthood through age 70, with a small increase in the oldest participants). We conclude that picture naming is a useful tool for the investigation of sentential priming effects across the lifespan and that it can reveal potentially interesting developmental changes in the effects of sentential context on word retrieval.
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This research was supported by Grants NIH/NIDCD 2-R01-DC00216 (Cross-linguistic studies of Aphasia), NIH 1-R01-AG13474 (Aging and Bilingualism), and NIH/NIDCD P50-DC01289-0351 (Center for the Study of the Neural Bases of Language and Learning) to E.B.
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Roe, K., Jahn-Samilo, J., Juarez, L. et al. Contextual effects on word production: A lifespan study. Memory & Cognition 28, 756–765 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198410
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198410