Abstract: The present study focused on the dynamics of semantic information processing, and the role of familiarity. In order to solve this problem, two experiments with speed-accuracy decomposition and conventional reaction-time paradigm were conducted to inspect how dose familiarity influence the dynamic of semantic processing. Experiment 1 used conventional reaction-time paradigm with sentence verification task to investigate the effects of familiarity and semantic hierarchical distance on time course of semantic process. The results showed there are complex interaction among familiarity, semantic hierarchical distance and percentile of reaction time. It provides evidences consistent with the dual-process mechanism in semantic processing. This mechanism combined discrete search and continuous computation. Experiment 2 used SAD technique with the sentence verification task. The aim of experiment 2 was to explore the familiarity effect on the available partial information accumulations of discrete search and continuous computation mechanisms. The results showed that the high familiarity sentences verification process produced discrete intermediate outputs of partial information; and the process of low familiarity produced continuous intermediate outputs of partial information.

Key words: semantic information process, speed-accuracy decomposition paradigm, partial information accumulation, discrete search, continuous computation