We used the event-related potential (ERP) approach combined with a subtraction technique to explore the timecourse of activation of semantic and phonological representations in the picture–word interference paradigm. Subjects were exposed to to-be-named pictures superimposed on to-be-ignored semantically related, phonologically related, or unrelated words, and distinct ERP waveforms were generated time-locked to these different classes of stimuli. Difference ERP waveforms were generated in the semantic condition and in the phonological condition by subtracting ERP activity associated with unrelated picture–word stimuli from ERP activity associated with related picture–word stimuli. We measured both latency and amplitude of these difference ERP waveforms in a pre-articulatory time-window. The behavioral results showed standard interference effects in the semantic condition, and facilitatory effects in the phonological condition. The ERP results indicated a bimodal distribution of semantic effects, characterized by the extremely rapid onset (at about 100 ms) of a primary component followed by a later, distinct, component. Phonological effects in ERPs were characterized by components with later onsets and distinct scalp topography of ERP sources relative to semantic ERP components. Regression analyses revealed a covariation between semantic and phonological behavioral effect sizes and ERP component amplitudes, and no covariation between the behavioral effects and ERP component latency. The early effect of semantic distractors is thought to reflect very fast access to semantic representations from picture stimuli modulating on-going orthographic processing of distractor words.

Although plants are essentially sessile in nature, these organisms are very much in tune with their environment and are capable of a variety of movements. This may come as a surprise to many non-botanists, but not to Charles Darwin, who reported that plants do produce movements. Following Darwin’s specific interest on climbing plants, this paper will focus on the attachment mechanisms by the tendrils. We draw attention to an unsolved problem in available literature: whether during the approach phase the tendrils of climbing plants consider the structure of the support they intend to grasp and plan the movement accordingly ahead of time. Here we report the first empirical evidence that this might be the case. The three-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis of a climbing plant (Pisum sativum L.) demonstrates that the plant not only perceives the support, but it scales the kinematics of tendrils’ aperture according to its thickness. When the same support is represented in two-dimensions (2D), and thus unclimbable, there is no evidence for such scaling. In these circumstances the tendrils’ kinematics resemble those observed for the condition in which no support was offered. We discuss these data in light of the evidence suggesting that plants are equipped with sensory mechanisms able to provide the necessary information to plan and control a movement.