Context effects in auditory implicit memory

The context effect in implicit memory is the finding that presentation of words in meaningful context reduces or eliminates repetition priming compared to words presented in isolation. Virtually all of the research on the context effect has been conducted in the visual modality but preliminary results raise the question of whether context effects are less likely in auditory priming. Context effects in the auditory modality were systematically examined in five experiments using the auditory implicit tests of word-fragment and word-stem completion. The first three experiments revealed the classical context effect in auditory priming: Words heard in isolation produced substantial priming, whereas there was little priming for the words heard in meaningful passages. Experiments 4 and 5 revealed that a meaningful context is not required for the context effect to be obtained: Words presented in an unrelated audio stream produced less priming than words presented individually and no more priming than words presented in meaningful passages. Although context effects are often explained in terms of the transfer-appropriate processing (TAP) framework, the present results are better explained by Masson and MacLeod's (2000) reduced-individuation hypothesis.     

Boundary conditions for the influence of unfamiliar non-target primes in unconscious evaluative priming: The moderating role of attentional task sets

Evaluative priming by masked emotional stimuli that are not consciously perceived has been taken as evidence that affective stimulus evaluation can also occur unconsciously. However, as masked priming effects were small and frequently observed only for familiar primes that there also presented as visible targets in an evaluative decision task, priming was thought to reflect primarily response activation based on acquired S–R associations and not evaluative semantic stimulus analysis. The present study therefore assessed across three experiments boundary conditions for the emergence of masked evaluative priming effects with unfamiliar primes in an evaluative decision task and investigated the role of the frequency of target repetition on priming with pictorial and verbal stimuli. While familiar primes elicited robust priming effects in all conditions, priming effects by unfamiliar primes were reliably obtained for low repetition (pictures) or unrepeated targets (words), but not for targets repeated at a high frequency. This suggests that unfamiliar masked stimuli only elicit evaluative priming effects when the task set associated with the visible target involves evaluative semantic analysis and is not based on S–R triggered responding as for high repetition targets. The present results therefore converge with the growing body of evidence demonstrating attentional control influences on unconscious processing.     

Priming effects on temporal order judgments about words: Perceived temporal priority or response bias?

In a temporal order judgment task, in which observers select which of two words appeared first, Stolz (1999) found that observers were more likely to select the word that had been semantically primed. Using repetition priming, we replicated Stolz’s finding and extended her results by demonstrating that the effect was due to both (1) repetition priming causing the primed item to be perceived as having occurred earlier and (2) a response bias to guess the repetition primed item as the correct response. We discuss our new finding that priming induces an attentional precedence effect in the context of previous research suggesting that exogenous spatial cuing induces an attentional precedence effect but identity or semantic priming may not.     

Is a pre-change object representation weakened under correct detection of a change?

We investigated whether a pre-change representation is inhibited or weakened under correct change detection. Two arrays of six objects were rapidly presented for change detection in three experiments. After detection, the perceptual identification of degraded stimuli was tested in Experiments 1 and 2. The weakening of a pre-change representation was not observed under correct detection. The repetition priming effect was observed for a pre-change object and the magnitude was equivalent to the effect for a post-change object. Under change blindness, repetition priming for a pre-change representation was observed when detection did not require report of location in Experiment 1 and was not observed when location was required to be reported in Experiment 2. The results of Experiment 3 showed that a pre-change representation was recognized at a higher rate under correct detection than under change blindness, reflecting a stronger rather than a weaker pre-change representation in the former context.     

反应选项对时序知觉重复启动效应的影响

先前研究采用两项反应任务发现了时序知觉重复启动效应, 这可能是反应选项导致的虚假效应, 本研究采用三项反应任务对此进行了检验。实验1运用三项判断任务以消除缺乏中间选项所致的反应偏向, 结果发现重复启动显著影响“哪个图形先出现”和“两个图形同时出现”的时序判断; 实验2在实验1的基础上对“同时出现”反应选项进行两种指导语操作, 实验结果不仅与实验1一致, 而且“有把握时判断为同时出现”和“有无把握都判断为同时出现”之间没有显著差异, 说明被试能够识别时序加以判断, 不支持反应偏向的前提条件。因此, 时序知觉重复启动效应不是反应选项产生的反应偏向引发的虚假效应, 重复启动对“系列性”和“同时性”时序知觉都存在显著影响。     

Abstractionist versus episodic theories of repetition priming and word identification

This paper reviews research relevant to the question of whether words are identified through the use of abstract lexical representations, specific episodic representations, or both. Several lines of evidence indicate that specific episodes participate in word identification. First, pure abstractionist theories can explain short-term but not long-term repetition priming. Second, long-term repetition priming is sensitive to changes in surface features or episodic context between presentations of a word. Finally, long-term priming for pseudowords is also difficult for pure abstractionist theories to explain. Alternative approaches to word identification are discussed, including both pure episodic theories and theories in which both episodes and abstract representations play a role.     

Best face forward: Similarity effects in repetition priming of face recognition

Two experiments examined the graded similarity effect in the repetition priming of familiar face recognition. From the model of repetition priming proposed by Burton, Bruce, and Johnston (1990) it was predicted that similarity effects may be a confound of stimulus preparation. Experiment 1 was used to discount this hypothesis, but failed to replicate a pattern of graded priming related to the similarity of prime and target faces. Experiment 2 attempted a more extensive investigation using two different measures of prime-target similarity. The results replicated Ellis, Young, Flude, and Hay's (1987) finding that similar primes confer more priming than dissimilar ones, but found no correlation between amount of priming and the degree of prime-target resemblance for either similarity metric used. In view of these findings the mechanism of repetition priming in familiar face recognition is discussed.     

Learning what to expect: context-specific control over intertrial priming effects in singleton search

The present study explored the degree to which repetition effects in color pop-out search from trial n ? 1 to trial n are subject to the attentional control settings of the observer. Intertrial priming effects were compared between two contexts that differed in terms of the utility of immediate prior experience for current performance; in one context, the target was likely to repeat, and in the other context, the target was likely to alternate from one trial to the next. Across two experiments, priming of pop-out (PoP) effects (Malkjovic & Nakayama; Memory & Cognition 22:657-672, 1994) were modulated in accord with the probability of target color repetition in a given trial context. Importantly, this modulation persisted when trial history preceding trial n ? 1 was controlled for. Furthermore, this control over PoP seems not to derive from explicit strategies and is not an artifact of randomly occurring strings of same-target trials. We argue that priming effects in singleton search from trial n ? 1 to trial n are subject to a form of implicit top-down control.     

Context and repetition effects in recognition memory

The demonstration of a repetition effect in recognition memory when context at the time of test is different from that occurring during presentation places limits on the role played by context in interpretations of recognition memory. Four experiments are reported that explore those limits, including a situation in which the repetition effect does not obtain due to the nature of the context. The data are interpreted in terms of the important interaction between item information and contextual information in theoretical accounts of recognition memory.     

Repetition effects on word fragment completion: The role of competition among responses

Four experiments examined the effect of spaced repetition of study words on completion of word fragments with only one solution and word fragments with multiple solutions. Recognition was used as test of explicit memory in the first two experiments. The study words were presented either once or three times. Repetition was found to increase recognition memory substantially, and to affect fragment completion performance only marginally. This was true for both single- and multiple-solution fragments, showing that competition among responses is not critical for the magnitude of the repetition effect in fragment completion. This finding, that the repetition effect is marginal also when the type of cues provides an occasion for repetition effects to show up, suggests that the real effect of repetition on perceptual priming is borderline. It is proposed that memory from the first presentation eliminates necessary processing of items when they are re-exposed, and that the repetition effect thereby is reduced.     

Category size effects revisited: frequency and masked priming effects in semantic categorization

Previous work indicates that semantic categorization decisions for nonexemplars (e.g., deciding that TURBAN is not an animal name) are faster for high-frequency words than low-frequency words. However, there is evidence that this result might depend on category size. When narrow categories are used (e.g., Months, Numbers), there is no frequency effect for nonexemplars. This result is confirmed, and is explained in terms of a category search model, which allows a "No" decision to be generated without access to the lexical entry for the target word. This explains the absence of a frequency effect, but not the presence of a strong masked repetition priming effect, which is assumed to have a lexical source. It is shown that this effect may not be lexical, since nonwords also show similar priming. Both of these priming effects disappear when a larger category is used. This pattern of results is explained on the assumption that category search is only possible with small categories, and that tentative category decisions are generated for the unconsciously perceived prime, which leads to a marked response congruence effect.     

Priming effects under correct change detection and change blindness

In three experiments, we investigated the priming effects induced by an image change on a successive animate/inanimate decision task. We studied both perceptual (Experiments 1 and 2) and conceptual (Experiment 3) priming effects, under correct change detection and change blindness (CB). Under correct change detection, we found larger positive priming effects on congruent trials for probes representing animate entities than for probes representing artifactual objects. Under CB, we found performance impairment relative to a “no-change” baseline condition. This inhibition effect induced by CB was modulated by the semantic congruency between the changed item and the probe in the case of probe images, but not for probe words. We discuss our results in the context of the literature on the negative priming effect.     

Words translated in sentence contexts produce repetition priming in visual word comprehension and spoken word production

Previous research with words read in context at encoding showed little if any long-term repetition priming. In Experiment 1, 96 Spanish–English bilinguals translated words in isolation or in sentence contexts at encoding. At test, they translated words or named pictures corresponding to words produced at encoding and control words not previously presented. Repetition priming was reliable in all conditions, but priming effects were generally smaller for contextualized than for isolated words. Repetition priming in picture naming indicated priming from production in context. A componential analysis indicated priming from comprehension in context, but only in the less fluent language. Experiment 2 was a replication of Experiment 1 with auditory presentation of the words and sentences to be translated. Repetition priming was reliable in all conditions, but priming effects were again smaller for contextualized than for isolated words. Priming in picture naming indicated priming from production in context, but the componential analysis indicated no detectable priming for auditory comprehension. The results of the two experiments taken together suggest that repetition priming reflects the long-term learning that occurs with comprehension and production exposures to words in the context of natural language.     

Blinks of the mind: memory effects of attentional processes

If 2 words are presented successively within 500 ms, subjects often miss the 2nd word. This attentional blink reflects a limited capacity to attend to incoming information. Memory effects were studied for words that fell within an attentional blink. Unrelated words were presented in a modified rapid serial visual presentation task at varying stimulus-onset asynchronies, and attention was systematically manipulated. Subsequently, recognition, repetition priming, and semantic priming were measured separately in 3 experiments. Unidentified words showed no recognition and no repetition priming. However, blinked (i.e., unidentified) words did produce semantic priming in related words. When, for instance, ring was blinked, it was easier to subsequently identify wedding than apple. In contrast, when the blinked word itself was presented again, it was not easier to identify than an unrelated word. Possible interpretations of this paradoxical finding are discussed.     

Subliminal repetition primes help detection of phonemes in a picture: Evidence for a phonological level of the priming effects

In this research, we combine a cross-form word–picture visual masked priming procedure with an internal phoneme monitoring task to examine repetition priming effects. In this paradigm, participants have to respond to pictures whose names begin with a prespecified target phoneme. This task unambiguously requires retrieving the word-form of the target picture's name and implicitly orients participants' attention towards a phonological level of representation. The experiments were conducted within Spanish, whose highly transparent orthography presumably promotes fast and automatic phonological recoding of subliminal, masked visual word primes. Experiments 1 and 2 show that repetition primes speed up internal phoneme monitoring in the target, compared to primes beginning with a different phoneme from the target, or sharing only their first phoneme with the target. This suggests that repetition primes preactivate the phonological code of the entire target picture's name, hereby speeding up internal monitoring, which is necessarily based on such a code. To further qualify the nature of the phonological code underlying internal phoneme monitoring, a concurrent articulation task was used in Experiment 3. This task did not affect the repetition priming effect. We propose that internal phoneme monitoring is based on an abstract phonological code, prior to its translation into articulation.     

The incremental priming technique: A method for determining within-condition priming effects

A novel priming technique is applied in two experiments using an alphabetic decision and a lexical decision task to study effects of repetition, and form-related priming on letter and word recognition. The incremental priming technique consists of a gradual increase of the prime’s informational value (operationalized as prime intensity). The minimum prime-intensity level serves as a within-condition baseline for each priming condition. Thus, we can define any priming effect with respect to two baseline conditions: one is the minimum-intensity condition of the particular priming condition (within-condition baseline), and the other is a different priming condition (across-condition baseline). This double-baseline approach makes measuring of priming effects more reliable and imposes stronger constraints on our interpretations of these effects.     

Semantic priming effects, lexical repetition effects, and contextual disambiguation effects in healthy aged individuals and individuals with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type

An experiment is reported that addresses semantic priming effects, lexical repetition effects, and the influence of context on meaning selection for ambiguous words in 32 healthy aged individuals and 32 individuals with Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT). On each of 232 trials, subjects pronounced each of three words. The four major conditions were concordant (music-organ-piano), discordant (kidney-organ-piano), neutral (ceiling-organ-piano), and unrelated (kidney-ceiling-piano). In order to address lexical repetition effects, target words were repeated across Blocks 1 and 2 but not in Block 3. Analyses of naming latencies indicated that semantic priming effects and lexical repetition effects were slightly larger in SDAT individuals than in healthy aged individuals. More importantly, healthy aged individuals produced normal selective access of the contextually biased meaning whereas SDAT individuals produced evidence consistent with nonselective meaning access. These results are discussed within both an attentional and a connectionist account of homograph disambiguation.     

Attentional modulation of masked repetition and categorical priming in young and older adults

Three experiments examined the effects of temporal attention and aging on masked repetition and categorical priming for numbers and words. Participants' temporal attention was manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (i.e., constant or variable SOA). In Experiment 1, participants performed a parity judgment task and a lexical decision task in which categorical priming and repetition priming were, respectively, tested. Experiment 2 used a semantic categorization task testing categorical priming. In Experiment 3, repetition and categorical priming were tested in the same semantic categorization task with the same stimuli. The results of the three experiments showed that masked repetition priming is insensitive to manipulations of temporal attention whereas categorical priming is. Furthermore, no differences were found between young and older adults in repetition priming effects, again contrasting with the categorical priming results for which older adults were more sensitive to attentional manipulations than young adults.