Semantic interference effects in the production of verbs: The role of the response set

Picture–word interference studies have consistently shown semantic interference effects with nouns. However, only few contradictory results are available at present with verbs. Two experiments on the production of Italian verbs were conducted in order to clarify the issue. Experiment 1 replicated Roelofs (1993). Experiment 2 showed that semantic interference effects obtain regardless of whether or not the distractor verbs are part of the response set. The results are interpreted as evidence that similar processes occur in the production of nouns and verbs. An explanation of the discrepancies present in the current literature is suggested.