Two experiments were conducted to look at the relationship between semantic priming and the word repetition effect in lexical decisions. Although it might be expected that these phenomena are caused by the operation of similar memory processes, given current models of word recognition, the relationship between them has not been empirically investigated.In the present study, the persistence of both effects was observed, and it was found that while facilitation due to semantic priming persists for only a short period of time, the word repetition effect is quite strong and longlasting. The results are discussed in the context of current models of semantic priming and word repetition effects. RESUME Compte rendu de deux experiences sur la relation entre la preparation semantique et I'effet de repetition des mots dans des decisions d'ordre lexical. Meme si, etant donne les modeles actuels de la reconnaissance des mots, Ton peut s'attendre a ce que ces deux effets soient le resultat de processus semblables en memoire, leur relation n'a pas ete experimentalement etudiee. Les deux experiences entreprises ont permis d'observer la persistence des deux effets: alors que la facilitation due a la preparation semantique ne persiste que durant un court laps de temps, I'effet de repetition des mots est puissant et dure longtemps. Les resultats sont discutes a la lumiere des modeles actuels de la preparation semantique et des effets de la repetition des mots.

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A rapid. repeating cycle of alternating high and low tones was presented under three conditions. In the "discrete" condition. transitions between tones were abrupt: in the "ramped" condition. successive tones were connected by frequency glides. In the "semiramped" condition. there were partial glides in frequency (as in speech). "Discrete" sequences were most likely to split perceptually into high and low streams, making order discriminations difficult. The "ramped" condition was least likely to split, and order perception was easiest. Results for the "semiramped" condition were intermediate. The discussion relates these findings to the acoustic properties of speech and to the process of auditory stream formation.Not long ago, Warren, Obusek, Fanner, and Warren (I969) reported what they perceived as a remarkable inability of unpracticed human Ss to make a judgment of order. The stimulus was a repeating cycle of four sounds: hiss, buzz, sine tone, and vowel, each lasting 200 msec, Few SS could name the order of the sounds.This struck them as puzzling in view of the already known capacity of the auditory system to discriminate the order of sounds at a much higher rate. For example, in normal English speech, phonemes occur more quickly-Bu-l Ou msec per phoneme (Efron, 1963). Speech can be reported correctly at rates as fast as 30 msec per phoneme (Foulke & Sticht, 1969). Winckel (1967) reports that temporal order of musical notes is resolvable down to about 50 msec per note. Warren et al (1969) found that the order of short repeating sequences of spoken digits was reported more accurately than unrelated sounds presented at the same rate, and concluded that verbal sounds were related in some fashion that permitted more rapid perceptual following. There is some confirmation for this in the work of Thomas, Hill, Carroll, and Garcia (1970), who found that the order of a repeating cycle of four vowel segments spliced together could be correctly identified at 125 msec per segment (but not at 100 msec per segment). Yet, even this rate is not as fast as we can discriminate the order of sounds in speech. Bregman and Campbell (1971) have proposed that the difficulty experienced by Ss in experiments using repeating cycles of sounds is due to the fact that subsets of the sounds group into separate perceptual streams and

The present experiments looked at the effect of a number of variables on the tendency of an element of a complex tone to either fuse with the other elements of the tone or be "pulled out" into a "horizontal," temporal stream. It was found that such factors as the intensity relationship of the elements of the complex tone, the frequency of the tone being pulled out, and various factors producing temporal asynchronies between elements of the complex, all affect the tendency for either fusion or streaming to occur.

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