Crowther, J.
Department of Psychology. Rice University. Houston, USA.
Several studies have reported evidence for a phrasal planning scope in sentence production, which researchers have often attributed to advanced lexical planning. However, studies manipulating lexical variables have failed to find effects beyond the first item in a phrase, suggesting incremental lexical planning. The purpose of the current study was to characterize the representational level involved in phrasal planning. In Experiment 1, subjects were presented with a prime picture to name, followed by three pictures to produce in a sentence. Although priming the first item in a phrase led to facilitation, priming the second item led to interference. In Experiment 2, subjects were presented with a preview of either the pictures or the structure to be produced in a sentence. The picture preview did not modulate phrasal planning, whereas the structural preview did. Results of the current study support the notion that phrasal planning involves conceptual, rather than lexical, planning.