Masked form priming is moderated by the size of the letter-order-free orthographic neighbourhood

University students made lexical decisions to targets preceded by masked primes. In Experiment 1, transposed-letter primes were used also in the sandwich priming paradigm, in which the target is briefly pre-presented prior to the prime. The priming effects in the masked paradigm, but not in the sandwich paradigm, were moderated by the density of the letter-order-free neighbourhood of the target. In Experiment 2, letter-order-free neighbour prime words produced a priming cost in masked priming. These results are consistent with the idea that sandwich priming attenuates letter-order-free neighbour competition in target identification. Unexpectedly, no priming cost was produced by conventional (letter-position-preserving) word neighbour primes. Order-free neighbours may produce facilitation of target processing less, and more variably, than conventional neighbours.     

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.     

Effects of the degree of meaning similarity on cross-language semantic priming in highly proficient bilinguals

This study aimed to determine if access to meaning can be directly achieved from the words in the two languages, examining the influence of the degree of semantic overlap between related words across languages in the pattern of priming effects. Nonassociative semantically related words (members of the same category) were used, avoiding explicitly associative relationships. Using a priming paradigm, highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals were visually presented with pairs of words that either were translations of each other, had a very close semantic relationship (in terms of shared features), a close semantic relationship, or no semantic relationship at all. Participants performed either a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) or a semantic decision task (Experiment 2). The main results of the study were the same in both language directions (Spanish–Catalan and Catalan–Spanish), showing that the degree of semantic overlap (in terms of shared features) between words in different languages can modulate priming effects, regardless of the language of the prime and the task used. These results demonstrate that there is cross-language activation of shared semantic representations and, thus, that highly proficient bilinguals can have direct access to word meaning from the two languages.     

On the role of the upper part of words in lexical access: Evidence with masked priming

More than 100 years ago, Huey (1908/1968) indicated that the upper part of words was more relevant for perception than the lower part. Here we examined whether mutilated words, in their upper/lower portions (e.g., ), can automatically access their word units in the mental lexicon. To that end, we conducted four masked repetition priming experiments with the lexical decision task. Results showed that mutilated primes produced a sizeable masked repetition priming effect. Furthermore, the magnitude of the masked repetition priming effect was greater when the upper part of the primes was preserved than when the lower portion was preserved—this was the case not only when the mutilated words were presented in lower case but also when the mutilated words were presented in upper case. Taken together, these findings suggest that the front-end of computational models of visual-word recognition should be modified to provide a more realistic account at the level of letter features.     

Conceptual and non-conceptual repetition priming in category exemplar generation: Evidence from bilinguals

One measure of conceptual implicit memory is repetition priming in the generation of exemplars from a semantic category, but does such priming transfer across languages? That is, do the overlapping conceptual representations for translation equivalents provide a sufficient basis for such priming? In Experiment 1 (N=96) participants carried out a deep encoding task, and priming between languages was statistically reliable, but attenuated, relative to within-language priming. Experiment 2 (N=96) replicated the findings of Experiment 1 and assessed the contributions of conceptual and non-conceptual processes using a levels-of-processing manipulation. Words that underwent shallow encoding exhibited within-language, but not between-language, priming. Priming in shallow conditions cannot therefore be explained by incidental activation of the concept. Instead, part of the within-language priming effect, even under deep-encoding conditions, is due to increased availability of language-specific lemmas or phonological word forms.     

Masked cross-modal priming turns on a glimpse of the prime

We examined if cross-modal priming (print to speech) was greater for participants who were aware of the presence of letters in the experiment. Experiment 1 determined that word primes displayed at 47 ms were adequately masked. In Experiment 2 (a, b) with primes displayed at 47 ms masked priming occurred for within-mode printed targets but not for spoken ones. Experiment 3, with spoken targets, presented primes at two different durations (59, 71 ms) and priming was found for participants who reported seeing letters but not for those who did not. The results are discussed in terms how the link between prime and target representations might be strengthened even by cursory awareness of the prime and what this tells us about priming.     

Tracking the acquisition of orthographic skills in developing readers: masked priming effects

A masked priming procedure was used to explore developmental changes in the tuning of lexical word recognition processes. Lexical tuning was assessed by examining the degree of masked form priming and used two different types of prime-target lexical similarity: one letter different (e.g., rlay-->PLAY) and transposed letters (e.g., lpay-->PLAY). The performance of skilled adult readers was compared with that of developing readers in Grade 3. The same children were then tested again two years later, when they were in Grade 5. The skilled adult readers showed no form priming, indicating that their recognition mechanisms for these items had become finely tuned. In contrast, the Grade 3 readers showed substantial form priming effects for both measures of lexical similarity. When retested in Grade 5, the developing readers no longer showed significant one letter different priming, but transposed letter priming remained. In general, these results provide evidence for a transition from more broadly tuned to more finely tuned lexical recognition mechanisms and are interpreted in the context of models of word recognition.     

Effects of perceptual and conceptual similarity in lexical priming of young children who stutter: preliminary findings

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of conceptual and perceptual properties of words on the speed and accuracy of lexical retrieval of children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS) during a picture-naming task. Participants consisted of 13 3–5-year-old CWS and the same number of CWNS. All participants had speech, language, and hearing development within normal limits, with the exception of stuttering for CWS. Both talker groups participated in a picture-naming task where they named, one at a time, computer-presented, black-on-white drawings of common age-appropriate objects. These pictures were named during four auditory priming conditions: (a) a neutral prime consisting of a tone, (b) a word prime physically related to the target word, (c) a word prime functionally related to the target word, and (d) a word prime categorically related to the target word. Speech reaction time (SRT) was measured from the offset of presentation of the picture target to the onset of participant's verbal speech response. Results indicated that CWS were slower than CWNS across priming conditions (i.e., neutral, physical, function, category) and that the speed of lexical retrieval of CWS was more influenced by functional than perceptual aspects of target pictures named. Findings were taken to suggest that CWS tend to organize lexical information functionally more so than physically and that this tendency may relate to difficulties establishing normally fluent speech and language.

Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to (1) communicate the relevance of examining lexical retrieval in relation to childhood stuttering and (2) describe the method of measuring speech reaction times of accurate and fluent responses during a picture-naming task as a means of assessing lexical retrieval skills.     

Masked semantic priming effects from the prime's orthographic neighbours

The present research involved masked priming lexical decision experiments using, in the crucial condition, masked primes with an orthographic neighbour that was semantically related to the target. Regardless of the lexicality of the prime, a significant priming effect was observed when the relatedness proportion (RP, that is, the proportion of primes and targets that were directly related on the “word” trials) was 2/3 (Experiments 1 and 2). No effect emerged, however, when the RP was 0 (Experiment 3). These results indicate that lexical/semantic activation arises automatically for both the prime and its neighbours. This activated lexical/semantic information appears to be evaluated together with the lexical/semantic information activated by the target, creating a decision bias during the decision-making process, but only when that information often provides a clue as to the nature of the correct decision. Our results, therefore, also provide support for the retrospective account of masked semantic priming.     

Iconic gestures prime words

Using a cross-modal semantic priming paradigm, both experiments of the present study investigated the link between the mental representations of iconic gestures and words. Two groups of the participants performed a primed lexical decision task where they had to discriminate between visually presented words and nonwords (e.g., flirp). Word targets (e.g., bird) were preceded by video clips depicting either semantically related (e.g., pair of hands flapping) or semantically unrelated (e.g., drawing a square with both hands) gestures. The duration of gestures was on average 3,500 ms in Experiment 1 but only 1,000 ms in Experiment 2. Significant priming effects were observed in both experiments, with faster response latencies for related gesture-word pairs than unrelated pairs. These results are consistent with the idea of interactions between the gestural and lexical representational systems, such that mere exposure to iconic gestures facilitates the recognition of semantically related words.     

Masked priming effect reflects evidence accumulated by the prime

In the same–different match task, masked priming is observed with the same responses but not different responses. Norris and Kinoshita's (2008) Bayesian reader account of masked priming explains this pattern based on the same principle as that explaining the absence of priming for nonwords in the lexical decision task. The pattern of priming follows from the way the model makes optimal decisions in the two tasks; priming does not depend on first activating the prime and then the target. An alternative explanation is in terms of a bias towards responding “same” that exactly counters the facilitatory effect of lexical access. The present study tested these two views by varying both the degree to which the prime predicts the response and the visibility of the prime. Unmasked primes produced effects expected from the view that priming is influenced by the degree to which the prime predicts the response. In contrast, with masked primes, the size of priming for the same response was completely unaffected by predictability. These results rule out response bias as an explanation of the absence of masked priming for different responses and, in turn, indicate that masked priming is not a consequence of automatic lexical access of the prime.     

Masked priming is abstract in the left and right visual fields

Two experiments assessed masked priming for words presented to the left and right visual fields in a lexical decision task. In both Experiments, the same magnitude and pattern of priming was obtained for visually similar (kiss-KISS) and dissimilar (read-READ) prime-target pairs. These findings provide no support for the hypothesis that word identification is mediated by separate and lateralized abstract and specific visual form systems. Strikingly, equivalent priming was observed when primes and targets were presented to the same or opposite visual fields, suggesting that priming occurs after visual information from the two hemispheres is integrated.     

Reading spoken words: orthographic effects in auditory priming

Three experiments examined the involvement of orthography in spoken word processing using a task - unimodal auditory priming with offset overlap - taken to reflect activation of prelexical representations. Two types of prime-target relationship were compared; both involved phonological overlap, but only one had a strong orthographic overlap (e.g., dream-gleam vs. scheme-gleam). In Experiment 1, which used lexical decision, phonological overlap facilitated target responses in comparison with an unrelated condition (e.g., stove-gleam). More importantly, facilitation was modulated by degree of orthographic overlap. Experiment 2 employed the same design as Experiment 1, but with a modified procedure aimed at eliciting swifter responses. Again, the phonological priming effect was sensitive to the degree of orthographic overlap between prime and target. Finally, to test whether this orthographic boost was caused by congruency between response type and valence of the prime-target overlap, Experiment 3 used a pseudoword detection task, in which participants responded "yes" to novel words and "no" to known words. Once again phonological priming was observed, with a significant boost in the orthographic overlap condition. These results indicate a surprising level of orthographic involvement in speech perception, and provide clear evidence for mandatory orthographic activation during spoken word recognition.     

汉语听觉阈下启动效应：来自听觉掩蔽启动范式的证据

使用汉语双字词为实验材料,采用听觉掩蔽启动范式,通过3个实验考察汉语听觉阈下启动效应。结果发现,真词的听觉阈下重复启动效应显著,并且听觉阈下重复启动效应不受启动、目标发音者性别一致性的影响。但真词的阈下语音、语素和语义启动效应及假词的阈下重复和首字启动效应都不显著。这些结果说明,听觉通道阈下呈现的汉语双字词的词汇水平信息可以得到无意识加工。汉语双字词的听觉阈下启动效应可能是基于启动词整词表征的无意识激活。     

Syntactic processing in Korean-English bilingual production: Evidence from cross-linguistic structural priming

A structural priming experiment investigated whether grammatical encoding in production consists of one or two stages and whether oral bilingual language production is shared at the functional or positional level [Bock, J. K., Levelt, W. (1994). Language production. Grammatical encoding. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 945-984). San Diego, CA: Academic Press] by manipulating syntactic structure and argument order in structurally parallel Korean and English dative sentences. The results revealed that structural priming across languages can occur when both languages share syntactic structure, independent of argument order. Specifically, cross-linguistic argument-order-independent structural priming in canonical Korean postpositional and English prepositional dative structures was observed, providing evidence for shared bilingual syntactic processing occurring at the abstract, functional level within a two-stage grammatical encoding process. This is the first demonstration of cross-linguistic priming of argument-order-independent structural information.     

The relationship between the objective identification threshold and priming effects does not provide a definitive boundary between conscious and unconscious perceptual processes

The Objective Threshold/Strategic Model (OT/S) proposes that strong, qualitative inferences of unconscious perception can be made if the relationship between perceptual sensitivity (typically priming effects) and stimulus visibility is nonlinear and nonmonotonic. The model proposes a nadir in priming effects at the objective identification threshold (identification d′ = 0). These predictions were tested with masked semantic priming and repetition priming of a lexical decision task. The visibility of the prime stimuli was systematically varied above and below the objective identification threshold. The obtained relationship between prime visibility and priming facilitation was nonlinear, but the results failed to confirm a nadir in priming effects at the objective identification threshold. We conclude that the objective identification threshold does not necessarily indicate the point where presumably unconscious priming effects might be inhibited by conscious cognitive processes.     

Unconscious and out of control: Subliminal priming is insensitive to observer expectations

We asked whether the influence of an invisible prime on movement is dependent on conscious movement expectations. Participants reached to a central target, which triggered a directional prime–mask arrow sequence. Participants were instructed that the visible arrows (masks) would most often signal a movement modification in a specific (biased) direction. Kinematic analyses revealed that responses to the visible mask were influenced by participants’ intentional bias, as movements were fastest when the more probable mask was displayed. In addition, responses were influenced by the invisible prime without regard to its relationship to the more probable mask. Analysis of the time of initial trajectory modifications revealed that both primes influenced responses in a similar manner after accounting for participants’ bias. These results imply that invisible stimuli automatically activate their associated responses and that unconscious priming of the motor system is insensitive to the conscious expectations of the participant making the pointing movements.     

The suffix priming effect: Further evidence for an early morpho-orthographic segmentation process independent of its semantic content

This work presents the results of a masked lexical decision experiment in which we explore the morphological parsing of Spanish suffixed or pseudosuffixed words through the suffix priming effect. Priming the bases or pseudobases with their suffixed or pseudosuffixed forms is the standard process in experiments aimed at understanding the processes underlying morphological parsing in visual word recognition with masked priming lexical decision (e.g., darkness–DARK; corner–CORN). We, however, compare the effect of suffix priming on the lexical decision of suffixed (ero–JORNALERO) and pseudosuffixed words (ero–CORDERO), as well as the effect of orthographic priming on nonsuffixed words (eba–PRUEBA). The results show that in the case of suffixed and pseudosuffixed words, related primes (ero–JORNALERO; ero–CORDERO) significantly accelerated response latencies in comparison to unrelated primes (ista–JORNALERO; ura–CORDERO), while for simple words there was no facilitation from the orthographically related prime in comparison to the unrelated prime (eba–PRUEBA; afo–PRUEBA). These results are consistent with the so-called morpho-orthographic segmentation process in the course of visual word recognition, which might also be independent of orthographic and purely semantic factors. Our results also support the view that morphological parsing takes place regardless of whether a stem is present in a word. These results complement findings from studies dealing with CORNER- and BROTHEL-like stimuli.