The role of short-term memory in semantic priming.
Two theories of priming were compared: spreading activation theories, in particular ACT, and compound-cue theories. Whereas ACT assumes that priming is a result of diffusing activation in long-term memory, compound-cue models suggest that priming results from a formation process of prime and target in short-term memory. Thirty-eight participants took part in a study that combined a digit span task with a double lexical decision task consisting of a prime and a target item. Digit span length (low, medium, and high) and prime type (related or unrelated word or nonword) were both within-subject variables. As expected, results showed significant priming effects. In favor of ACT, no interaction between digit span length and prime type was found. Additionally, a nonword inhibition effect (unrelated versus nonword prime) was found, which was predicted by compound-cue theories. This finding is discussed in terms of the process interference and response competition hypotheses.
Beer
A L
AL
Philipps-Universitaet Marburg, Germany. beer@mailer.uni-marburg.de
Diehl
V A
VA
D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011897:Random Allocation; D012660:Semantics