Automatic processes in lexical access and spreading activation.

Abstract

The semantic priming effect can be reduced or eliminated depending on how the prime word is processed. The experiments reported here investigate this prime task effect. Two experiments used identity and semantic priming tasks to determine whether the prime word is encoded at a lexical level under letter-search conditions. When the prime task was naming, both identity and semantic priming occurred; however, when a letter-search task was performed on the prime word, only identity priming occurred, thus supporting the argument that the search task affects activation of semantic associates rather than lexical access of the prime word. Another experiment demonstrated that this identity priming was the result of lexical processes rather than of letter-by-letter priming. A cross-modal priming technique demonstrated that the letter-search prime task does not actively suppress activation of semantic associates. The implications of these results for automaticity and for proposed mechanisms of priming are discussed.

Divided attention modulates semantic activation: Evidence from a nonletter-level prime task

“…This model proposes that activation spreads interactively among three levels during visual word recognition (i.e., letter level, word level, and semantic level). In repetition priming, in which a word is facilitated by its own prior presentation, activation between the letter level and the word level would be important, unlike in semantic priming, which has been shown to be unaffected when the letter search task was used as the prime task in the previous studies (Friedrich et al, 1991;Heil, Rolke, & Pecchinenda, 2004;Smith & Besner, 2001), indicating that activation was blocked from the word level to the semantic level. Smith and Besner (2001) conducted an experiment involving both semantic and repetition priming in which participants performed either a lexical decision or a letter search task on the prime, depending on the color of the target.…”

“…This result suggests that semantic activation is influenced by the level of prime word processing (Besner, Smith, & MacLeod, 1990;Chiappe, Smith, & Besner, 1996;Friedrich, Henik, & Tzelgov, 1991;Henik et al, 1983;Henik, Friedrich, Tzelgov, & Tramer, 1994;Hoffman & MacMillan, 1985;Kahneman & Henik, 1981;Kaye & Brown, 1985;Marí-Beffa, Fuentes, Catena, & Houghton, 2000;Smith, 1979;Smith, Meiran, & Besner, 1996Smith, Theodor, & Franklin, 1983;Stolz & Besner, 1996, 1998. Besner et al (1990) investigated the influence of the letter search task on priming when the prime and target were presented simultaneously.…”

Simple arithmetic processing: The question of automaticity

“…Finally, similar arguments to those levelled at verification procedures in the single-word semantic priming literature (i.e., lexical decision tasks) can be made with regard to those employed in studying simple arithmetic. Specifically, it has been suggested that 'attentional' decision processes, that occur after the simple matching of a stimulus with its lexical representation, may confound the overall reaction time measured in the lexical decision task Friedrich, Henik & Tzelgov, 1991;Lorch, Balota & Stamm, 1986;Neely, 1991;Sereno, 1991;Slowiaczek, 1994;Smith, Besner & Myoshi, 1994). In the case of the aforementioned studies then, it could be argued that the requirement to actively make a binary decision as to the relationship between the prime and the target might interfere with the automatic processes, essentially thought to occur without intention or awareness, that they purport to measure.…”

Phonological and conceptual activation in speech comprehension

“…As we shall see below, Williams (1988) and Tabossi (1988a) both failed to Wnd cross-modal associative priming from words in spoken sentences when the targets were not related to the overall meaning of the sentence. Likewise, in the reading literature, Friedrich, Henik, and Tzelgov (1991) have shown that when subjects are required to perform a letter search task on a prime word, this eliminates semantic priming but not identity priming. Results such as these cast doubt on simple accounts of priming based on spreading activation.…”