title: Priming is independent of skill learning.
abstract: This study examined the relation between repetition priming and skill learning. Priming refers to facilitation in processing a specific item as a result of previous exposure to that item. Skill learning refers to general improvement in task performance as a function of practice. In Experiment 1 (N = 60), skill acquisition occurred in partial-word identification and inverted reading tasks but not in a word-fragment completion task. However, the amount of priming was the same in all three tasks. In Experiment 2 (N = 52), priming effects in partial-word identification did not vary as a function of practice with degraded words. In Experiment 3 (N = 40), skill learning was greater with high- than with low-frequency words, whereas priming was unaffected by word frequency. Experiment 4 (N = 20) ruled out the possibility that explicit retrieval was involved in the implicit memory tasks. These results suggest that priming can be independent of skill learning.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Psychiatry Service, Washington, DC 20422.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hashtroudi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis