Picture-word differences in decision latency: A test of common-coding assumptions

Three experiments examined the processing of pictures and words in 2 tasks of semantic decision--judgments of conceptual size and judgments of associative relatedness--to test the prediction from single-coding models of memory that different semantic decisions produce comparable picture-word latency differences. Ss were 118 undergraduates. In Exp I, an interaction in decision latency was found such that picture-picture (P-P) pairs were significantly faster than word-word (W-W) pairs in decisions of size but not in decisions of associative relatedness. In Exp II, no latency differences were found in decisions of association for pairs presented in P-P, W-W, or mixed (P-W or W-P) forms. Decisions of size, however, were fastest for P-P pairs, intermediate for mixed pairs, and slowest for W-W pairs. In a 3rd experiment, using a speeded inference task, the interaction obtained in the 1st 2 experiments was reproduced. Possible revisions to common-coding assumptions about the processing of pictures and words in semantic decisions are discussed. (44 ref)