Semantic priming in the lexical decision task: Roles of prospective prime- … (original) (raw)
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1989
In semantic priming paradigms for lexical decisions, the probability that a word target is semantically related to its prime (the relatedness proportion) has been confounded with the probability that a target is a nonword, given that it is unrelated to its prime (the nonword ratio). This study unconfounded these two probabilities in a lexical decision task with category names as primes and with high-and low-dominance exemplars as targets. Semantic priming for highdominance exemplars was modulated by the relatedness proportion and, to a lesser degree, by the nonword ratio. However, the nonword ratio exerted a stronger influence than did the relatedness proportion on semantic priming for low-dominance exemplars and on the nonword facilitation effect (i.e., the superiority in performance for nonword targets that follow a category name rather than a neutral XXX prime). These results suggest that semantic priming for lexical decisions is affected by both a prospective prime-generated expectancy, modulated by the relatedness proportion, and a retrospective target/prime semantic matching process, modulated by the nonword ratio. People are typically faster and more accurate in responding to a target word when it is accompanied by or immediately preceded by a semantically related priming word, relative to an unrelated priming word (e.g,, Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971; Neely, 1976). This semantic priming effect has most often been studied in the lexical decision task, in which subjects indicate whether a target letter string (e.g., robin or tark) is a word or a nonword. The relatedness proportion effect is the finding that semantic priming increases in magnitude with increases in the proportion of related word-prime/word-target trials-a proportion hereafter referred to as the relatedness proportion. The relatedness proportion effect is very robust and has been obtained across a wide range of procedural variations in the lexical decision task (de Groot,
Semantic priming in the lexical decision task: Roles of prospec-tive prime-generated expectancies an
1989
In semantic priming paradigms for lexical decisions, the probability that a word target is semantically related to its prime (the relatedness proportion) has been confounded with the probability that a target is a nonword, given that it is unrelated to its prime (the nonword ratio). This study unconfounded these two probabilities in a lexical decision task with category names as primes and with high-and low-dominance exemplars as targets. Semantic priming for highdominance exemplars was modulated by the relatedness proportion and, to a lesser degree, by the nonword ratio. However, the nonword ratio exerted a stronger influence than did the relatedness proportion on semantic priming for low-dominance exemplars and on the nonword facilitation effect (i.e., the superiority in performance for nonword targets that follow a category name rather than a neutral XXX prime). These results suggest that semantic priming for lexical decisions is affected by both a prospective prime-generated expectancy, modulated by the relatedness proportion, and a retrospective target/prime semantic matching process, modulated by the nonword ratio. People are typically faster and more accurate in responding to a target word when it is accompanied by or immediately preceded by a semantically related priming word, relative to an unrelated priming word (e.g,, Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971; Neely, 1976). This semantic priming effect has most often been studied in the lexical decision task, in which subjects indicate whether a target letter string (e.g., robin or tark) is a word or a nonword. The relatedness proportion effect is the finding that semantic priming increases in magnitude with increases in the proportion of related word-prime/word-target trials-a proportion hereafter referred to as the relatedness proportion. The relatedness proportion effect is very robust and has been obtained across a wide range of procedural variations in the lexical decision task (de Groot,
The long and short of semantic priming effects in lexical decision
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 1997
described a theory of priming that predicts long-term effects for all forms of relatedness. This prediction is reconciled with previous failures to observe long-term semantic priming on the basis of 2 claims: (a) that previously used pairs share few semantic features and (b) that tasks typically used to study priming are not especially sensitive to semantic influences. The present experiments provide further support for these claims by demonstrating long-term semantic priming in the lexical-decision task when the stimuli and task are modified in a way that increases semantic involvement. However, the findings suggest that in addition to the mechanism advocated by Becker et al., a second mechanism is necessary to provide a complete account of semantic priming effects. Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) introduced the lexicaldecision task as a tool for learning more about the processes and mechanisms underlying semantic memory. In its original form, the task consisted of two letter strings simultaneously presented, with participants instructed to press one key if both stimuli were words, and another key if one or both of the stimuli were nonwords. Findings from that task indicated that correct "word** responses could be emitted faster if the stimuli consisted of a pair of semantically related words (e.g., sky-cloud) than if the stimuli consisted of apair of semantically unrelated words (e.g., car-cloud). This phenomenon is called semantic priming. In follow-up work, Meyer, Schvaneveldt, and Ruddy (1972) discovered two other facts about semantic priming. The first was that the priming observed in the original study was also observed with a procedure in which participants had to judge the lexical status of a single item that either was or was not preceded by a semantically related associate. The second discovery was that the magnitude of the semantic priming effect was strongly affected if items were presented between the prime and target. In their experiment, they found that the strong semantic priming effect observed when the prime and target were presented consecutively became
Word-based grouping affects the prime-task effect on semantic priming
2000
Semantic priming between words is reduced or eliminated if a low-level task such as letter search is performed on the prime word (the prime task effect), a finding used to question the automaticity of semantic processing of words. This idea is critically examined in 3 experiments with a new design that allows the search target to occur both inside and outside the prime word.
Semantic priming in the prime task effect: Evidence of automatic semantic processing of distractors
Memory & Cognition, 2000
The automaticity of the semantic processing of words has been questioned because of the reduction of semantic priming when the prime word is processed nonsemantically-for example, in letter search (the prime task effect). In two experiments, prime distractor words produced semantic priming in a subsequent lexical decision task, but with the direction of priming (positive or negative) depending on the prime task. Lexico-semantic tasks produced negative semantic priming, whereas letter search produced positive semantic priming. These results are discussed in terms of task-based inhibition. We argue that, given the results from the distractors, the absence of semantic priming does not indicate an absence of semantic activation but reflects the action of control processes on prepotent responses when less practiced responses are needed.
Journal of Cognitive …, 2006
Semantic priming has been a widely used paradigm in research about semantic memory. In this study we tested the effects of the degree of semantic similarity between primes and targets (defined in terms of shared features) in semantic priming. We selected pairs of semantically related words to be used as primes and targets by using a similarity rating task and a feature generation task. Through these two tasks we obtained prime±target pairs that were more or less related in meaning (very close and close pairs). We tested these pairs in a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) and in a semantic decision task (Experiment 2). In both experiments, we obtained evidence of automatic semantic priming in both the very close and the close semantic conditions. Furthermore, in both tasks we found that priming was higher for very close than close semantic words. On the basis of these findings, we can conclude that the amount of automatic semantic priming appears to depend on the degree of semantic similarity between primes and targets. We are grateful to Urbano Lorenzo for his assistance in the statistical procedure to calculate the semantic distances of the word pairs. We are also grateful to reviewers Ken McRae and David Vinson for their valuable comments.
Priming effects on lexical access and decision processes: A signal-detection analysis
Psychological Research, 1992
to examine the assumption that in a lexical-decision task context effects are primarily the result of post-access processes. Experiment 1, in which prime-relatedness was varied within subjects, found changes in target sensitivity (d') without corresponding changes in the response criterion. This outcome was interpreted as evidence that prior context facilitates lexical access, whereas post-access contributions remain constant across conditions. When primerelatedness was varied between subjects in Experiment 2, the lexical-decision task showed differing context effects on access processes as well as on post-access processes. It was concluded that subjects adopt a single response criterion suited to maximize task performance. The particular response criterion adopted is a function of the stimulus set rather than a function of the relationship between prime and target on any single trial. Finally, it was concluded that post-access strategies alone are insufficient to account for context effects obtained when typical lexical-decision-task procedures are used, or to account for the magnitude of the differences obtained between the present experiments.
Three-step priming in lexical decision
Memory & Cognition, 2002
In two experiments, we investigated mediated two-step priming (e.g., from LION to STRIPES via TIGER) and three-step priming (e.g., from MANE to STRIPES via LION and TIGER). Experiment 1 showed robust twostep priming in the double lexical decision task. In Experiment 2, we tested for three-step priming and investigated the possibility that it is not association strength based on free association, but frequency of co-occurrence, that causes three-step priming. Co-occurrence has been proposed as a measure of familiarityand semantic relatedness. Significant three-step priming was obtained. Lexical co-occurrence could not account for the effect. However, a more global measure of semantic similarity that includes the similarity of the contexts in which concepts occur revealed that the three-step pairs were semantically related. If this global measure provides a proper estimate of the semantic relatedness of our items, then three-step priming is consistent not only with spreading activation models, but also with distributed memory models and the compound cue model.
The effects of inter-stimulus interval and prime modality in a semantic priming task
Aphasiology, 2011
Background: Semantic priming studies are employed in order to examine how various semantic contexts can influence visual word recognition processes. Although research has shown numerous factors can have an influence on the magnitude of the semantic priming effects found in lexical decision tasks, the majority of these factors have been related to the prime-target relationship itself. However, other factors have also been shown to alter the priming effect. Two such factors are the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) and presentation modality. The inter-stimulus interval may be used to independently assess automatic and strategic processes, whereas presentation modality is typically used to assess the different processing time courses that occur with spoken or written words. These factors have not been adequately investigated in the normal population. A more in-depth understanding of the relationships between prime modality, inter-stimulus interval, and word recognition processes in a sample of individuals with typical language abilities may provide valuable when examining lexical access and storage in language disordered populations such as those with aphasia. Aims: The focus of the present study was to examine the impact of relatively short and long inter-stimulus intervals on processing time in a visual and cross-modal lexical decision task. Previous research has not fully addressed whether convergent processes occur during cross-modal tasks or if an amodal semantic system exists. The utilisation of slow and fast inter-stimulus intervals should allow for a clearer distinction relative to processing.
Journal of Experimental Psychology-learning Memory and Cognition, 1998
Compound-cue theory predicts that lexical decisions are slower to word targets preceded by a nonword than to word targets preceded by an unrelated word. This nonword-prime inhibition effect is not predicted by spreading-activation theories. R. obtained nonword-prime inhibition, whereas T. P. failed to obtain it. In the present study, for both a 200-ms and 350-ms prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony, nonword-prime inhibition was obtained for participants who, as in Ratcliff and McKoon's research, received instructions that mentioned that prime and target could be related. No nonword-prime inhibition was found for participants who, as in McNamara's research, received instructions that did not mention the possibility of a prime-target relation. Neither compound cue nor spreading activation can explain this pattern. The possibility that nonword-prime inhibition results from response competition is discussed.
Integrative Priming Occurs Rapidly and Uncontrollably During Lexical Processing
Journal of Experimental Psychology-general, 2009
Lexical priming, whereby a prime word facilitates recognition of a related target word (e.g., nurse 3 doctor), is typically attributed to association strength, semantic similarity, or compound familiarity. Here, the authors demon- strate a novel type of lexical priming that occurs among unassociated, dissimilar, and unfamiliar concepts (e.g.,horse 3 doctor). Specifically, integrative priming occurs when a prime word can be
Memory and attention in lexical semantic priming: A literature review and analysis
M.S., Dept Psychology, University of Oregon, 2003
Semantic priming effects are extremely robust, with a tradition dating to the early 1970s, and have achieved an important status in cognitive psychology (Neely, 1991). In a typical version of this paradigm, subjects view a sequence of two or more words, and are asked to make a speeded response (word/nonword, semantic categorization, etc.) to the final word (the target). When the target is preceded by a word (prime) that is semantically related, response times (RT) are faster than when the prime and target words are unrelated.1 This difference in RT is referred to as the semantic priming effect. This paradigm has been an important tool for probing the nature of human memory and attention, as discussed in the present paper. Moreover, the significance of priming research reaches beyond the traditional boundaries of psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology.2 In social psychology, for instance, semantic priming has been used to examine the nature of stereotypes: responses to social categories (race, gender, age) are elicited in different contexts to determine how “automatic” they are, and under what circumstances biases can be eliminated or reversed (Bargh, 1982; Bargh & Chartrand,1999).Clearly, semantic priming has been recognized as a powerful tool for investigating not only the nature of conceptual (semantic) processing, but also the development, organization, and stability of cognitive, affective, and social functions. However, despite these widespread applications, there is still a lack of consensus about the core mechanisms of semantic priming, and about the timing and relative importance of factors such as attention, prime awareness, and the relationship between nonsemantic associations (e.g., stimulus-response mappings) and semantic priming effects. Often, researchers have claimed to isolate different cognitive functions through manipulation of one or more of these variables. However, the lack of knowledge about basic mechanisms makes it hard to evaluate these claims. What can we conclude from differences in the time course or the size of semantic priming effects in different contexts, or across different populations? What do these effects imply about the structure of semantic representations, and about the functions of memory and attention in semantic access? Do semantic disorders reflect damage or disorganization of meaning representations, or difficulties in retrieval from memory? The aim of the present paper is to address these and other issues in a systematic review of the semantic priming literature. By understanding mechanisms of single-word semantic priming, it will be possible to evaluate more critically the results from studies using this paradigm, both within cognitive psychology and across diverse clinical, social, and psycholinguistic applications. Further, understanding the locus of semantic priming effects is important for its own sake, because it has direct implications for theories about the representation and organization of meaning in memory, and for understanding the cognitive and linguistic mechanisms of semantic processing.
Masked and Unmasked Priming Effects as a Function of Semantic Relatedness and Associative Strength.
Spanish Journal of Psychology, 15, 891-900.
The study presented in this paper aimed to investigate the pattern of semantic priming effects, under masked and unmasked conditions, in the lexical decision task, manipulating type of semantic relation and associative strength. Three different kinds of word relations were examined in two experiments: only-semantically related words [e.g., codo (elbow)-rodilla (knee)] and semantic/associative related words with strong [e.g., mesa (table)-silla (chair) and weak association strength [e.g., sapo (toad)-rana (frog)]. In Experiment 1 a masked priming procedure was used with a prime duration of 56 ms, and in Experiment 2, the prime was presented unmasked for 150 ms. The results showed that there were masked priming effects with strong associates, but no evidence of these effects was found with weak associates or only-semantic related word pairs. When the prime was presented unmasked, the three types of relations produced significant priming effects and they were not influenced by association strength. Keywords: masked and unmasked priming, lexical decision task, semantic and associative relations, association strength.
Memory & Cognition, 2008
The initial demonstration by Meyer, Schvaneveldt, and Ruddy (1972, 1974) that the identification of a word is accelerated by the prior processing of a word semantically or associatively related to it has since been the topic of numerous studies. One long-debated question concerns the amount of actual semantic processing that is involved in priming. This issue involves both the type of relationship that produces priming and the type of task best-suited to test for semantic processing (for reviews, see Forster, 2004; Hutchison, 2003; Lucas, 2000; McRae & Boisvert, 1998). The present series of experiments provides insight concerning both of these subjects.
Effects of Semantic and Associative Relatedness on Automatic Priming
Journal of Memory and Language, 1998
Models of automatic priming of word identification can be divided into those based on associative relations (e.g., spreading activation) and others based on semantic similarity (e.g., distributed models). In three experiments, associative relatedness was manipulated by presenting asymmetrically associated word pairs in both their forward and backward directions. Priming was comparable in both directions for semantically related pairs. Furthermore, priming was not obtained in either direction when pairs were associated but not semantically similar. The absence of inhibition, practice, and nonword ratio effects suggested that priming was not the result of nonsemantic, controlled processes. These results indicate that semantic similarity, and not associative relatedness, is both necessary and sufficient to produce automatic priming. ᭧ 1998 Academic Press
Long-term semantic priming: a computational account and empirical evidence
1997
Semantic priming is traditionally viewed as an effect that rapidly decays. A new view of long-term word priming in attractor neural networks is proposed. The model predicts long-term semantic priming under certain conditions. That is, the task must engage semantic-level processing to a sufficient degree. The predictions were confirmed in computer simulations and in 3 experiments. Experiment 1 showed that when target words are each preceded by multiple semantically related primes, there is long-lag priming on a semanticdecision task but not on a lexical-decision task. Experiment 2 replicated the long-term semantic priming effect for semantic decisions with only one prime per target. Experiment 3 demonstrated semantic priming with much longer word lists at lags of 0, 4, and 8 items. These are the first experiments to demonstrate a semantic priming effect spanning many intervening items and lasting much longer than a few seconds. Many forms of priming have been studied (for reviews, see Monsell, 1985; Richardson-Klavehn & Bjork, 1988; Schacter, 1987). Whereas in repetition priming the priming stimulus is identical to the target, in similarity-based priming tests (e.g., form priming, morphological priming, and semantic priming), the prime and target are different words sharing some surface features, semantic features, or both. Repetition priming and form priming have been found to produce long-lasting effects ranging from hours to weeks or even months (e.g.
Examining Semantic Priming in a Delayed Naming Task
International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2012
Semantic priming refers to the finding that a word response is facilitated if it is preceded by a related word compared to when it is preceded by an unrelated word. Research has shown that semantic priming effects still occur under task conditions which would permit ample time for the completion of word recognition processes prior to response production. This study sought to examine the impact of a related prime-target context on word production. Participants completed an immediate word naming task and a delayed word naming task. There was a semantic priming effect for the immediate naming task. For the delayed naming task semantic priming was only evident at the 500 ms cue delay. This suggests a limited time frame in which a semantic context is able to facilitate word production.