title: Priming effects in a letter-by-letter reader depend upon access to the word form system.
abstract: Several types of cognitive and neuropsychological evidence suggest that priming effects on such implicit memory tests as word identification are mediated by a pre-semantic visual word form system that can operate independently of episodic memory. We investigate priming in a letter-by-letter reader, P.T., whose pattern of performance on neuropsychological tests indicates preservation of the word form system. Experiment 1 revealed robust priming on a word identification test following letter-by-letter study of target words, despite P.T.'s great difficulty in identifying non-studied words. Experiment 2 showed that the priming effect was modality specific whereas Experiment 3 indicated that recall of previously studied words was not modality specific, thus indicating that the observed priming could not be attributed to explicit memory strategies. Experiment 4 revealed no priming of illegal nonwords on a letter identification test. The results support the notion that priming on the word identification test depends on access to the word form system.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
authors: D L
authors: DL
authors: Schacter
authors: S Z
authors: SZ
authors: Rapscak
authors: A B
authors: AB
authors: Rubens
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Tharan
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Laguna
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000523:psychology; D003463:Cues; D004411:Dyslexia, Acquired / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006423:Hemianopsia / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011932:Reading; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning