Abstract

Until recently, it has been assumed that frequency effects in word naming tasks arise in the lexical identification and retrieval processes involved. However, some new experiments have suggested that the locus of such effects is subsequent to these processes. The former hypothesis predicts that frequency will affect the extent of interference produced in colour naming Stroop tasks. whereas the latter does not. In the present experiment, the size of Stroop interference using words from various frequency bands was investigated. In one condition, subjects named the colour in which high, medium and low frequency words, pronounceable non-words, or non-alphabetic character strings were displayed. In another condition, they named the printed item itself, displayed in white, for each of these item types but the last. Though substantial frequency and lexicality effects were observed in the item naming task, the amount of interference observed in the colour naming task was not significantly different for any of the real word or pronounceable non-word groups, although all of these groups did show a significant interference increment compared to colour naming of non-alphabetic character strings. It is concluded that the process of retrieval of semantic information associated with a word is not the locus of frequency sensitivity in word naming. Additionally, it is suggested that involuntary base item identification in Stroop tasks is by sublexical processes. Several problems with this view are mentioned, and the need for further research is emphasized.