Strength of perceptual experience predicts word processing performance better than concreteness or imageability

► Concreteness and imageability ratings do not reflect perceptual basis of concepts. ► Perceptual strength ratings predict lexical decision and word naming performance. ► Perceptual strength outperforms concreteness and imageability in these tasks. ► Concreteness effects are better conceptualised as perceptibility effects. ► Current theories of conceptual structure cannot account for these findings.