The nature of phonological encoding during spoken word retrieval

In the present study, two priming experiments were performed to gain a bett er understanding of the planning processes that underlie phonological encod ing. In Experiment 1, participants named picture primes and targets that we re identical, shared the same onsets (e.g. coat-comb), or shared the same r hymes (e.g. mouse-house). In addition, the response stimulus interval (RSI) between the primes and targets was varied (650 and 1000 msec). The results revealed a facilitatory repetition priming effect that did not decrease wi th RSI. In addition, a reliable rhyme-related inhibitory effect was obtaine d, which was smaller in magnitude than the onset-related inhibitory effect. In Experiment 2, the identity condition was excluded to determine if a str ategic comparison process may have produced the inhibitory effects. In addi tion, a new stimulus set was created and the RSI was held at 650 msec. The results replicated those of Experiment 1 by showing a reliably larger inhib itory effect for onset-related than rhyme-related targets. The results are consistent with Dell's (1988) two-stage sequential model of encoding in whi ch there is an initial parallel activation within a lexical network followe d by a sequential left-to-right selection of the intended word's phonemes.