Semantic priming effects from single words in a lexical decision task.

Full Abstract

The present research examines the semantic priming effects of a centrally presented single prime word to which participants were instructed to either "attend and remember" or "ignore". The prime word was followed by a central probe target on which the participants made a lexical decision task. The main variables manipulated across experiments were prime duration (50 or 100 ms), the presence or absence of a mask following the prime, and the presence (or absence) and type of distractor stimulus (random set of consonants or pseudowords) on the probe display. There was a consistent interaction between the instructions and the semantic priming effects. Relative to the "attend and remember" instruction, an "ignore" instruction produced reduced positive priming from single primes presented for 100 ms, irrespective of the presence or absence of a prime mask, and regardless of whether the probe target was presented with or without distractors. Additionally, reliable negative priming was found from ignored primes presented for briefer durations (50 ms) and immediately followed by a mask. Methodological and theoretical implications of the present findings for the extant negative priming literature are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Noguera, Carmen (C); Ortells, Juan J (JJ); Abad, María J F (MJ); Carmona, Encarnación (E); Daza, M Teresa (MT);

Affiliation: Departamento de Neurociencia y Ciencias de la Salud, Facultad Humanidades y C.C. Educación, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain. cnoguera(-atsign-)ual.es

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Acta psychologica (Acta Psychol (Amst)), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jun; vol 125 (issue 2) : pp 175-202

Dates: Created 2007/05/22; Completed 2007/08/17;

PMID: 16950164, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attention - physiology
Cues
Decision Making - physiology
Humans
Memory, Short-Term - physiology

Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Perceptual Masking - physiology
Photic Stimulation - methods
Reaction Time - physiology
Semantics
Students - psychology
Task Performance and Analysis
Time Factors

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