PSY 403: FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
2025 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The earliest stage of speech production is often referred to as "selecting a lexical concept" -
what exactly happens during this stage? - ANS -We choose a lemma: a mental representation
that incorporates semantic (meaning) and syntactic (combinatory) info about the word we
want, but not its sound composition; "word kit"=
-Must decide which word to say before we can actually say it-map an idea without a specific
word and match it to an existing word
It is argued that different lexical items may compete with each other when we are selecting
them for production. How do we know? (Remember the picture-word interference test). -
ANS Picture-word inference test: participants were asked to name the picture (ex: dog) and
ignore a word written over it
Neutral word (ex: bed): no effect
Semantically related word (ex: cat): longer RT = COMPETITION
Phonologically related word (ex: doll): shorter RT= FACILITATION
It is thought that speech movements are planned one word at a time, one syllable at a time, left
to right. How do we know it? (think of the "rabbit experiment") - ANS Speech movements
are planned one syllable at a time, left to right
Rabbit experiment:
-Main task is to name an animal on screen
-Second task is to press a response button if the name contains an "r" or a "t"
-Faster RT if screening for "r" because the entire word is not activated right away, and "r"
precedes "t" in "rabbit"
1 Copyright ©2025 FYNDLAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
, Why are speech errors useful for studying cognitive processes underlying speech production? -
ANS Speech errors give insight into the cognitive processing that underlines spoken language
mechanisms
Speech errors do not occur randomly - the commonalities tell us how we planned before
something goes wrong
Different errors indicate different phases in speech production
What are semantic substitution errors? What stage/stages of speech production are they likely
to arise from? - ANS "dog" for "cat"; "chair" for "table"
Let's meet next year (instead of next week etc.)
The lecture lasted 2 weeks (instead of 2 hours)
What are sound exchange errors? What regularities do we usually observe in sound exchange
errors? - ANS Sound exchange errors
e.g., "fig beet" for "big feet"
More common after phonological primes:
primes: fat beer, fun bed, far base
target: big feet => fig beet
Sound exchange errors suggest:
Words are not retrieved as whole units - some assembly is required.
What is a positional constraint? - ANS Positional constraint: Onsets exchange with onsets;
codas exchange with codas.
Because planning unit = syllable; positions within syllables are marked.
What are word exchange errors? - ANS Word exchange errors:
"My piano plays the girlfriend."
Obeys the category (~lexical category) constraint
Reflects clause-level planning
2 Copyright ©2025 FYNDLAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
2025 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The earliest stage of speech production is often referred to as "selecting a lexical concept" -
what exactly happens during this stage? - ANS -We choose a lemma: a mental representation
that incorporates semantic (meaning) and syntactic (combinatory) info about the word we
want, but not its sound composition; "word kit"=
-Must decide which word to say before we can actually say it-map an idea without a specific
word and match it to an existing word
It is argued that different lexical items may compete with each other when we are selecting
them for production. How do we know? (Remember the picture-word interference test). -
ANS Picture-word inference test: participants were asked to name the picture (ex: dog) and
ignore a word written over it
Neutral word (ex: bed): no effect
Semantically related word (ex: cat): longer RT = COMPETITION
Phonologically related word (ex: doll): shorter RT= FACILITATION
It is thought that speech movements are planned one word at a time, one syllable at a time, left
to right. How do we know it? (think of the "rabbit experiment") - ANS Speech movements
are planned one syllable at a time, left to right
Rabbit experiment:
-Main task is to name an animal on screen
-Second task is to press a response button if the name contains an "r" or a "t"
-Faster RT if screening for "r" because the entire word is not activated right away, and "r"
precedes "t" in "rabbit"
1 Copyright ©2025 FYNDLAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
, Why are speech errors useful for studying cognitive processes underlying speech production? -
ANS Speech errors give insight into the cognitive processing that underlines spoken language
mechanisms
Speech errors do not occur randomly - the commonalities tell us how we planned before
something goes wrong
Different errors indicate different phases in speech production
What are semantic substitution errors? What stage/stages of speech production are they likely
to arise from? - ANS "dog" for "cat"; "chair" for "table"
Let's meet next year (instead of next week etc.)
The lecture lasted 2 weeks (instead of 2 hours)
What are sound exchange errors? What regularities do we usually observe in sound exchange
errors? - ANS Sound exchange errors
e.g., "fig beet" for "big feet"
More common after phonological primes:
primes: fat beer, fun bed, far base
target: big feet => fig beet
Sound exchange errors suggest:
Words are not retrieved as whole units - some assembly is required.
What is a positional constraint? - ANS Positional constraint: Onsets exchange with onsets;
codas exchange with codas.
Because planning unit = syllable; positions within syllables are marked.
What are word exchange errors? - ANS Word exchange errors:
"My piano plays the girlfriend."
Obeys the category (~lexical category) constraint
Reflects clause-level planning
2 Copyright ©2025 FYNDLAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
