Not just a pretty picture: Effects of colored drawings and photographs on living and nonliving things naming

Abstract

Picture naming is the most commonly used task for assessing cognitive processes. Nowadays, the influence of stimulus format is a topic of discussion. According to some studies, the use of different visual formats affects concept recognition. Moreover, previous research has found that the use of either drawings or photos differentially influences the recognition of living things (LTs) and nonliving things (NLTs). However, other studies did not identify differences across formats. This study aimed to assess whether the visual format of pictorial stimuli affects performance in an oral naming task, particularly across semantic domains: LTs and NLTs. Fifty-six Spanish-speaking adults were randomly assigned to name the same set of concepts in coloured drawings or in photograph format. Accuracy and reaction times were analysed using generalised and linear mixed-effects models, respectively, with random intercepts for participants and items. No significant differences in accuracy were found between formats or semantic domains. However, participants named photographs significantly faster than drawings. Although NLTs were named faster than LTs, the difference did not reach statistical significance. While both formats yielded comparable accuracy, photographs facilitated faster lexical access, likely due to their higher visual iconicity. These findings supported the use of photographs in clinical, educational, and experimental research. The study also highlighted the value of using mixed-effects models and the need to develop culturally adapted pictorial sets for Latin American populations.