Investigating the Patterns of Lexical Semantic Activation in Neuro-typical Younger, Middle, and Older Adults

Activating and retrieving lexical entries from the mental lexicon, known as lexical access, is a complex process. The present study, which rigorously investigated the patterns of Lexical Semantic Activation as a function of age in neurotypical native Kannada-speaking younger (N=15), middle-aged (N=15), and older adult (N=15) age groups, employed a non-cyclic-block naming paradigm. This paradigm was carefully designed to include taxonomic, thematic-related, and unrelated blocks containing frequent and infrequent items. Reaction time and accuracy scores were not just measured but also meticulously measured. The results, which revealed that Group 1 and Group 2 out performed Group 3 for all the parameters, both in terms of reaction times and accuracy measures, are a testament to the thoroughness of our methodology. Participants from all three groups performed significantly better for related and unrelated frequent than infrequent conditions. Participants from all three groups performed better for related than unrelated conditions, but no significant effect was observed. This trend was observed for both taxonomic and thematic blocks. Therefore, based on a comprehensive and meticulous methodology, our study’s findings suggest that a mixed block containing frequent and infrequent related and unrelated items provides neutral grounds for naming activation patterns.