Effect of cue distinctiveness on naming: Evidence from a verbally cued naming paradigm

This study examined how semantic characteristics of verbal cues impact naming, focusing on cue distinctiveness, defined as the degree to which a semantic cue is uniquely associated with a target. Using a novel naming paradigm, we presented word pairs representing semantic features to elicit naming responses. These verbal cues were categorized as distinctive (e.g., "moo-milk" for COW) or shared (e.g., "feathers-pink" for FLAMINGO), and targets were classified as living or nonliving. Distinctive cues significantly improved naming accuracy and speed, with a greater benefit for living items. A follow-up analysis examined graded effects of distinctiveness while accounting for associative strength. Both cue distinctiveness and associative strength facilitated naming speed overall. However, when distinctiveness was residualized against associative strength, the effect remained stronger for living items, although other semantic factors are also discussed. This study introduces a novel paradigm for evaluating semantic factors on naming, with potential future application to clinical populations.