| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that time to name single-digit Arabic numbers is about 15 ms slower when naming trials are interleaved with simple multiplication (e.g., state product of 2 × 3) than when naming digits is interleaved with magnitude comparison (e.g., state larger; 2 ↑ 3). To explain this phenomenon, J. I. D. Campbell and A. W. S. Metcalfe (2008) proposed that the comparison context enables both semantic and asemantic pathways for digit naming but that number-fact retrieval inhibits the semantic route and slows digit naming relative to the comparison context. To test this hypothesis, the authors modified the naming context paradigm by introducing a semantic priming manipulation. They replicated the digit-naming response time advantage for comparison relative to the multiplication context and observed semantic priming only in the comparison context. In comparison blocks, digit naming was 8 ms faster immediately after naming near digit primes (±1) compared to far primes (≥3), but in multiplication blocks there was no priming. The results reinforce the theory that number-fact retrieval can inhibit the semantic route for digit naming (L. Cohen & S. Dehaene, 1995) and thereby reconfigure the cognitive architecture for naming digits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
