Mechanisms of masked priming: a meta-analysis.

Full Abstract

The extent to which unconscious information can influence behavior has been a topic of considerable debate throughout the history of psychology. A frequently used method for studying subliminal processing is the masked priming paradigm. The authors focused on studies in which this paradigm was used. Their aim was twofold: first, to assess the magnitude of subliminal priming across the literature and to determine whether subliminal primes are processed semantically, and second, to examine potential moderators of priming effects. The authors found significant priming in their analyses, indicating that unconsciously presented information can influence behavior. Furthermore, priming was observed under circumstances in which a nonsemantic interpretation could not fully explain the effects, suggesting that subliminally presented information can be processed semantically. Nonetheless, the nonsemantic processing of primes is enhanced and priming effects are boosted when the experimental context allows the formation of automatic stimulus-response mappings. This quantitative review also revealed several moderators that influence the strength of priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Author information

Author/s: Van den Bussche, Eva (E); Van den Noortgate, Wim (W); Reynvoet, Bert (B);

Affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven-Campus Kortrijk, Belgium. Eva.Vandenbussche(-atsign-)kuleuven-kortrijk.be

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Meta-Analysis; Review

Journal: Psychological bulletin (Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-May; vol 135 (issue 3) : pp 452-77

Dates: Created 2009/04/21; Completed 2009/06/24;

PMID: 19379025, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/24/2009, IMS Date: 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

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

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