Perception is a two-way junction: feedback semantics in word recognition

Feed back semantics refers to whether a specific meaning can be represented by only one word (consistent) or by several words (inconsistent)--that is, whether a word has synonyms (e.g., jail) or not (e.g., milk). Models of word perception that allow feedback activation from semantics to orthography and phonology predict that performance should be worse for words that are feedback inconsistent (words with a synonym) than for words that are feedback consistent (words without a synonym). The present study showed that both naming and lexical decision responses are faster and more accurate to consistent than to inconsistent words. The results provide support for models that allow feedback activation between phonology, orthography, and semantics.