Activating Situation Schemas: The Effects of Multiple Thematic Roles on Related Verbs in a Continuous Priming Paradigm

Extensive evidence has shown that presentation of a word (target) following a related word (prime) results in faster reaction times compared to unrelated words. Two primes preceding a target have been used to examine the effects of multiple influences on a target. Several studies have observed greater, or additive, priming effects of multiple related primes compared to single related primes. The present study aims to eliminate attentional factors that may have contributed to findings in previous studies that used explicitly presented primes and targets. Thus, a continuous priming paradigm where targets are unknown to participants is used with noun-noun-verb triads filling agent, patient, and action roles in situation schemas (tourist, car, rent). Results replicate priming of single nouns preceding related verbs but do not suggest an additive effect for two nouns versus one. The absence of additive priming suggests that attentional processes may have been a factor in previous research.