Adaptive processing in word production: More evidence from picture-word interference studies

Adaptive lexical processing is a prominent concept in theorizing about speech production. Specifically, some current models include a mechanism that operates rapidly, after each use of a word, and makes semantically related competitor words less accessible for future retrieval. A recent study (Jescheniak et al., 2024) showed that semantic interference in the picture-word interference task (longer picture naming latencies with a semantically related distractor word compared with a semantically unrelated distractor word; the effect is assumed to reflect the activation of competitor words) was reduced across repeated naming of a picture, even when novel distractor words were used. This finding supports the notion of adaptive lexical processing. The present study presents four new picture-word interference experiments, which replicate the core finding of Jescheniak et al. (2024) and show that the reduction of semantic interference (a) contrasts with the nonreduction of phonological facilitation when semantic and phonological distractor conditions are counterbalanced, (b) is also found when distractor words are presented visually rather than auditorily, and (c) replicates with different material. An exploratory overall analysis, also including the data from Jescheniak et al., suggests that the reduction is likely to be instantaneous rather than continuous. Overall, this study provides further support for the notion of adaptive lexical processing in word production and demonstrates that the picture-word interference task is an appropriate tool for investigating it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).