The missing link between response selection and execution in language production

Abstract

In this review, challenges related to the measurement of word durations in language production are identified, highlighting gaps in current theoretical frameworks and the resulting difficulty in interpreting available evidence. To compensate for limited theoretical predictions regarding response durations in spoken language, we turn to other fields, such as written production and motor control, to provide informative analogies. In written production, reliable effects on durations have been observed but the field similarly suffers from the absence of clear predictions from the available models, limiting interpretations. Since word durations are the result of motor programming and execution, evidence from motor control is particularly relevant. Recent theoretical proposals suggest that planning and execution stages overlap in time, with response planning continuing even after the initiation of the motor response, making variations in durations arise from either planning or execution processes. In addition, they propose a gating mechanism to launch response initiation. Similar dynamics could be easily assumed in language production, which could help bridge the gap from response selection to response execution and extend current models of language production to account for motor execution and predict word durations. We end by outlining pending questions for the field of language production, and some recommendations to tackle them in the future.