The cost of switching between taxonomic and thematic semantics

Jon Frederick Landrigan*, Daniel Mirman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Current models and theories of semantic knowledge primarily capture taxonomic relationships (DOG and WOLF) and largely do not address the role of thematic relationships in semantic knowledge (DOG and LEASH). Recent evidence suggests that processing or representation of thematic relationships may be distinct from taxonomic relationships. If taxonomic and thematic relations are distinct, then there should be a cost associated with switching between them even when the task remains constant. This hypothesis was tested using two different semantic-relatedness judgment tasks: Experiment 1 used a triads task and Experiment 2 used an oddball task. In both experiments, participants were faster to respond when the same relationship appeared on consecutive trials than when the relationship types were different, even though the task remained the same and the specific relations were different on each trial. These results are consistent with the theory that taxonomic and thematic relations rely on distinct processes or representations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)191-203
Number of pages13
JournalMemory and Cognition
Volume46
Issue number2
Early online date12 Sept 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2018

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Semantic memory
  • Taxonomic
  • Thematic

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