Exploring the role of verbal-semantic overlap in response-effect compatibility

According to ideomotor accounts, actions are cognitively represented by their sensory effects. The response-effect compatibility (R-E compatibility) paradigm investigates this notion by presenting predictable effect stimuli that are produced by the response ("response effects"). The R-E compatibility effect denotes the finding of better performance in R-E compatible conditions than in incompatible conditions, suggesting that anticipation of the effect stimulus primes the response. Most previous studies employed perceptual R-E overlap manipulations (e.g., spatial, temporal or phonological overlap of response and predictable response effect). In the present study, we examined verbal-semantic response-effect overlap. In Experiment 1, we used category words as vocal responses and semantically associated vs. non-associated exemplar words for auditory response effects (or exemplar words as responses and category words as effects, respectively) to manipulate verbal-semantic R-E overlap without perceptual-phonological similarity. In Experiments 2A and 2B, we used the response word also as an "identical" auditory effect word (i.e., both verbal-semantic and perceptual-phonological R-E overlap). An R-E compatibility effect was observed only when there was both verbal-semantic and perceptual-phonological R-E overlap. These data suggest that anticipation of perceptual response features may be critical in the R-E compatibility paradigm, whereas the role of verbal-semantic processes in response-effect anticipation still needs to be established more firmly. We discuss how perceptual and conceptual processes can interact in ideomotor control of action.