How does meaning come to mind? Four broad principles of semantic processing.

When we see or hear a word, we can rapidly bring its meaning to mind. The process that underlies this ability is quite complex. Over the past 2 decades, considerable progress has been made toward understanding this process. In this article, I offer four broad principles of semantic processing derived from lexical-semantic research. The first principle is that the relationship between form and meaning is not so arbitrary, and I explore that by describing efforts to understand the relationship between form and meaning, highlighting advances from my own lab on the topics of sound symbolism and iconicity. The second principle is that more is better, and I summarise previous research on semantic richness effects and how those effects reveal the nature of semantic representation. The third principle is the many and various properties of abstract concepts. I point to abstract meaning as a challenge for some theories of semantic representation. In response to that challenge, I outline what has been learned about how those meanings are acquired and represented. The fourth principle is that experience matters, and I summarise research on the dynamic and experience-driven nature of semantic processing, detailing ways in which processing is modified by both immediate and long-term context. Finally, I describe some next steps for lexical-semantic research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).