scholarly journals The Mechanism Underlying Backward Priming in a Lexical Decision Task: Spreading Activation versus Semantic Matching

1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothee J. Chwilla ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
C.M. Brown

Koriat (1981) demonstrated that an association from the target to a preceding prime, in the absence of an association from the prime to the target, facilitates lexical decision and referred to this effect as “backward priming”. Backward priming is of relevance, because it can provide information about the mechanism underlying semantic priming effects. Following Neely (1991), we distinguish three mechanisms of priming: spreading activation, expectancy, and semantic matching/ integration. The goal was to determine which of these mechanisms causes backward priming, by assessing effects of backward priming on a language-relevant ERP component, the N400, and reaction time (RT). Based on previous work, we propose that the N400 priming effect reflects expectancy and semantic matching/ integration, but in contrast with RT does not reflect spreading activation. Experiment 1 shows a backward priming effect that is qualitatively similar for the N400 and RT in a lexical decision task. This effect was not modulated by an ISI manipulation. Experiment 2 clarifies that the N400 backward priming effect reflects genuine changes in N400 amplitude and cannot be ascribed to other factors. We will argue that these backward priming effects cannot be due to expectancy but are best accounted for in terms of semantic matching/integration.

1988 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Briand ◽  
Ken den Heyer ◽  
Gary L. Dannenbring

The present study reports two experiments that required subjects to name target items preceded by a masked prime. Additionally, and subsequent to the naming task, subjects were required to indicate whether or not the prime was a word, along with a confidence rating of their lexical decision. Experiment 1 demonstrates that the processing of masked primes is facilitated by related targets when such targets are presented either 100 or 200 msec after the onset of the prime. Experiment 2 extends the finding of “retroactive” priming to a 1000=msec separation in prime–target presentation (SOA). The extent of retroactive priming is not dependent on SOA between prime and target, nor is it affected by the prime–mask SOA, which varied from 10 to 180 msec. Priming of targets was also independent of prime–target and prime–mask SOA, providing that primes had been classified as words. For word primes classified as non-words there was no semantic priming on target naming reaction time. Implications of these findings with respect to the nature of retroactive priming and the current controversy concerning subliminal priming effects were discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-97
Author(s):  
Candice Steffen Holderbaum ◽  
Letícia Lessa Mansur ◽  
Jerusa Fumagalli de Salles

ABSTRACT Investigations on the semantic priming effect (SPE) in patients after left hemisphere (LH) lesions have shown disparities that may be explained by the variability in performance found among patients. The aim of the present study was to verify the existence of subgroups of patients after LH stroke by searching for dissociations between performance on the lexical decision task based on the semantic priming paradigm and performance on direct memory, semantic association and language tasks. All 17 patients with LH lesions after stroke (ten non-fluent aphasics and seven non aphasics) were analyzed individually. Results indicated the presence of three groups of patients according to SPE: one exhibiting SPE at both stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), one with SPE only at long SOA, and another, larger group with no SPE.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Romanova ◽  
Kira Gor

The study investigated the processing of Russian gender and number agreement by native (n= 36) and nonnative (n= 36) participants using a visual lexical decision task with priming. The design included a baseline condition that helped dissociate the underlying components of priming (facilitation and inhibition). The results showed no differences in the magnitude of priming between native and nonnative participants, and between gender and number agreement. However, whereas the priming effect in native participants consisted of both facilitation and inhibition, in second language (L2) learners it was characterized by facilitation in the absence of inhibition. Furthermore, the nonnative processing failed to demonstrate the default form bias, which optimized gender and number processing in native participants. Taken together, the findings indicate that although highly proficient L2 learners are able to demonstrate nativelike priming effects, their processing of morphosyntactic information engages different processing mechanisms.


2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Noguera ◽  
Juan J. Ortells ◽  
María J.F. Abad ◽  
Encarnación Carmona ◽  
M. Teresa Daza

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
YISRAEL SMITH ◽  
JOEL WALTERS ◽  
ANAT PRIOR

The current study examined within- and cross-language connectivity in four priming conditions: repetition, translation, within-language semantic and cross-language semantic priming. Unbalanced Hebrew–English bilinguals (N = 89) completed a lexical decision task in one of the four conditions in both languages. Priming effects were significantly larger from L1 to L2 for translation priming and marginally so for cross-language semantic priming. Priming effects were comparable for L1 and L2 in repetition and within-language semantic priming. These results support the notion that L1 words are more effective primes but also that L2 targets benefit more from priming. This pattern of results suggests that the lower frequency of use of L2 lexical items in unbalanced bilinguals contributes to asymmetrical cross-language priming via lower resting-level activation of targets and not only via less efficient lexical activation of primes, as highlighted by the BIA+ model.


1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Richards ◽  
Christopher C. French

Three experiments are reported comparing high and low-trait anxious subjects in terms of their patterns of semantic activation in response to ambiguous primes, with one threat-related and one neutral meaning. Such primes were followed by targets related to either their threat or neutral meaning, or by unrelated targets, in a lexical decision task. Experiments 1 to 3 employed stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 750 msec, 500 msec, and 1250 msec, respectively. At 500-msec SOA all subjects showed facilitation for both meanings. At 750-msec SOA the only significant priming effect was that for the threat-related meaning in the high-anxiety group, and a similar trend was found at 1250-msec SOA. Consideration of the patterns of priming for targets following ambiguous threat/neutral primes suggest that at the longer SOAs, high-anxiety subjects consciously “lock on” to a threatening interpretation if one has been made available by earlier automatic spreading activation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Ансарін Алі Акбар ◽  
Джаваді Шалал

Статтю присвячено спробі дослідити двомовний ментальний лексикон. Головне питання дослідження – встановити, чи персько-англійські білінгви можуть досягнути ефекту семантичного / асоціативного або перекладацького праймінгу. Для відповіді на це питання було застосовано масковану праймінгову парадигму як техніку, що відображає автоматичні когнітивні процеси, що тривають під час семантичної обробки, а не стратегічного використання прайму. Із метою вирішення лексичного завдання було сформовано чотири типи цільових пар праймінгу (перекладацькі еквіваленти, семантично подібні, асоціативно та семантично пов’язані пари). Загалом у дослідженні взяло участь 85 персько-англійських білінгвів. Хоча ефекту праймінгу не було виявлено для перших трьох груп, респонденти із семантично пов’язаних пар (найміцніше пов’язаних слів) відповіли приблизно на 29 мс швидше. Результати засвідчили, що білінгви мають спільні уявлення для асоціативних семантично пов’язаних слів. Отже, навчання новим словам другої мови, шляхом поєднання їх із асоціативно пов’язаними словами першої мови, може привести до кращих результатів. Література References Balota, D. A., & Lorch, R. F. (1986). Depth of automatic spreading activation: Mediated priming effects in pronunciation but not in lexical decision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, Cognition, 12, 336–345. Chiarello, C., Burgess, C., Richards, L., & Pollock, A. (1990). Semantic and associative priming in the cerebral hemispheres: Some words do, some words don’t…Sometimes, some places. Brain and Language, 38, 75–104. Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic priming. Psychological Review, 82, 407–428. Coltheart, M. (1981). The MRC Psycholinguistic Database. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33A, 497–505. Costa, A., Colome, A., & Caramazza, A. (2000). Lexical access in speech production: The bilingual case. Psicologica, 21, 403–437. de Groot, A. M. 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