Internet-based language production research with overt articulation: Proof of concept, challenges, and practical advice

Abstract

Language production experiments with overt articulation have thus far only scarcely been conducted online, mostly due to technical difficulties related to measuring voice onset latencies. Especially the poor audiovisual synchrony in web experiments (Bridges et al. 2020) is a challenge to time-locking stimuli and participants’ spoken responses. We tested the viability of conducting language production experiments with overt articulation in online settings using the picture–word interference paradigm – a classic task in language production research. In three pre-registered experiments (N = 48 each), participants named object pictures while ignoring visually superimposed distractor words. We implemented a custom voice recording option in two different web experiment builders and recorded naming responses in audio files. From these stimulus-locked audio files, we extracted voice onset latencies offline. In a control task, participants classified the last letter of a picture name as a vowel or consonant via button-press, a task that shows comparable semantic interference effects. We expected slower responses when picture and distractor word were semantically related compared to unrelated, independently of task. This semantic interference effect is robust, but relatively small. It should therefore crucially depend on precise timing. We replicated this effect in an online setting, both for button-press and overt naming responses, providing a proof of concept that naming latency – a key dependent variable in language production research – can be reliably measured in online experiments. We discuss challenges for online language production research and suggestions of how to overcome them. The scripts for the online implementation are made available.

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“…Data quality was good, where 99% of the audios were transcribable (99% of produced words being transcribed), and only about 12% of participants were replaced due to incomplete or missing recordings. In addition, web-based language production paradigms (e.g., picture-naming tasks) have reproduced lab-based findings across studies (Fairs & Strijkers, 2021;Vogt et al, 2021;Stark et al, 2022). Therefore, the quality of auditory data collected online does not seem to be compromised by technical issues and human factors.…”

“…Researchers should expect a higher exclusion/replacement rate of the online collection of auditory data compared with lab-based settings (Bradshaw & McGettigan, 2021;Vogt et al, 2021). As mentioned, there was some erratic sound quality of improvisations associated with limited control over participants' recording set-ups is one major aspect of the technical issues contributing to data exclusion.…”

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