Linguistic Context and the Priming of Semantic Information

Two experiments were carried out to demonstrate that linguistic context (in the form of a sentence) influences the interpretation of unambiguous words. Experiment I established that subjects read a sentence which primes a particular aspect of the meaning of one of the words it contains faster than they read a sentence which primes no particular aspect of the word's meaning. It also showed that subjects produce semantic characteristics of the word faster following the priming sentence than following the sentence that primes no particular semantic component. Experiment II corroborated these results using a task in which subjects read a sentence and then answered a question about the meaning of a word that occurred in it. Given a particular question, responses were faster when it followed a sentence that primed a characteristic relevant to the question than when it followed a sentence that primed no particular characteristic of the word. Responses were reliably slowest when the question followed a sentence that primed a characteristic that was not relevant to the question. Semantic priming is known to affect the identification of words and their disambiguation; the present study confirms that it also affects the specific interpretation of words.

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Hemispheric processing of semantic information: The effects of the semantic priming task and working memory capacity

Laterality Asymmetries of Body Brain and Cognition ◽

10.1080/13576500802434593 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 345-361 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Laura Motyka Joss ◽

Sandra Virtue

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Semantic Priming ◽

Semantic Information ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Hemispheric Processing ◽

Priming Task

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Formal and semantic derivation of the Proto-Slavic verbal root *dvig- in the Macedonian language

Juznoslovenski filolog ◽

10.2298/jfi2002015m ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 15-25

Author(s):

Marjan Markoviḱ

Keyword(s):

Basic Concept ◽

Semantic Information ◽

Language Evolution ◽

Language Theory ◽

Spatial Language ◽

Semantic Component ◽

Broad Concept ◽

The Subject ◽

Derivatives Of ◽

Basic Semantic

The subject of analysis in this paper is the verbal root *dvig-, whose formal and semantic development can be followed ever since the Proto-Slavic period. The research is based on anthropocentric-spatial language theory, which enables the analysis of how basic semantic component? embedded in some verbal roots representing basic human positions, movements and activities with hand, can be transferred and elevated by the evolving conceptualisation (of the material and mental world). The author analyses the derivatives of the Proto-Slavic verbal root *dvig- / *dig- with the embedded semantic components ?human relocation in space? and ?relocation in space upwards?, which during language evolution have been transferred into the mental domain, preserving only the basic concept of ?relocation? and the broad concept that ?upwards? refers to ?a higher level?, which is perceived as ?better, more desired? in the mental world. The author also analyses how these formal verbal and nominal derivatives carry this semantic information through language evolution, both in real and in mental world.

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Semantic priming of person recognition: Categorial priming may be a weaker form of the associative priming effect

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A ◽

10.1080/713756003 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 1155-1179 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Derek R. Carson ◽

A. Mike Burton

Keyword(s):

Semantic Memory ◽

Semantic Priming ◽

Priming Effect ◽

Semantic Information ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Associative Priming ◽

Person Recognition ◽

Reliable Effect ◽

Semantic Priming Effect ◽

Interactive Activation

An interactive activation and competition account (Burton, Bruce, & Johnston, 1990) of the semantic priming effect in person recognition studies relies on the fact that primes and targets (people) have semantic information in common. However, recent investigations into the type of relationship needed to mediate the semantic priming effect have suggested that the prime and target must be close associates (e.g., Barry, Johnston, & Scanlan, 1998; Young, Flude, Hellawell, & Ellis, 1994). A review of these and similar papers suggests the possibility of a small but non-reliable effect based purely on categorial relationships. Experiment 1 provided evidence that when participants were asked to make a name familiarity decision it was possible to boost this small categorial effect when multiple (four) primes were presented prior to the target name. Results from Experiment 2 indicated that the categorial effect was not due to the particular presentation times of the primes. This boosted categorial effect was shown to cross domains (names to faces) in Experiment 3 and persist in Experiment 4 when the task involved naming the target face. The similarity of the pattern of results produced by the associative priming effect and this boosted categorial effect suggests that the two may be due to the same underlying mechanism in semantic memory.

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Combining the Post-Cue Task and the Perceptual Identification Task to Assess Parallel Activation and Mutual Facilitation of Related Primes and Targets

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000396 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 84-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Demian Scherer ◽

Dirk Wentura

Keyword(s):

Semantic Priming ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

The Other ◽

Perceptual Identification ◽

Identification Task ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Priming Paradigm ◽

Parallel Activation ◽

Prime Target

Abstract. Recent theories assume a mutual facilitation in case of semantic overlap for concepts being activated simultaneously. We provide evidence for this claim using a semantic priming paradigm. To test for mutual facilitation of related concepts, a perceptual identification task was employed, presenting prime-target pairs briefly and masked, with an SOA of 0 ms (i.e., prime and target were presented concurrently, one above the other). Participants were instructed to identify the target. In Experiment 1, a cue defining the target was presented at stimulus onset, whereas in Experiment 2 the cue was not presented before the offset of stimuli. Accordingly, in Experiment 2, a post-cue task was merged with the perceptual identification task. We obtained significant semantic priming effects in both experiments. This result is compatible with the view that two concepts can both be activated in parallel and can mutually facilitate each other if they are related.

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What Does It Take to Activate Stereotypes? Simple Primes Don’t Seem Enough

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000183 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 187-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Florian Müller ◽

Klaus Rothermund

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Semantic Priming ◽

Response Priming ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Stereotype Activation

According to social cognition textbooks, stereotypes are activated automatically if appropriate categorical cues are processed. Although many studies have tested effects of activated stereotypes on behavior, few have tested the process of stereotype activation. Blair and Banaji (1996) demonstrated that subjects were faster to categorize first names as male or female if those were preceded by gender congruent attribute primes. The same, albeit smaller, effects emerged in a semantic priming design ruling out response priming by Banaji and Hardin (1996) . We sought to replicate these important effects. Mirroring Blair and Banaji (1996) we found strong priming effects as long as response priming was possible. However, unlike Banaji and Hardin (1996) , we did not find any evidence for automatic stereotype activation, when response priming was ruled out. Our findings suggest that automatic stereotype activation is not a reliable and global phenomenon but is restricted to more specific conditions.

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