Feature integration in masked priming

Is there room for the BBC in the mental lexicon? On the recognition of acronyms

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1080/17470210802585471 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 62 (9) ◽

pp. 1832-1842 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Marc Brysbaert ◽

Sara Speybroeck ◽

Dieter Vanderelst

Keyword(s):

Masked Priming ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Feature Integration ◽

Matching Task ◽

Visual Feature ◽

N400 Component ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Letter Case ◽

Onset Asynchrony

It has been suggested that acronyms like BBC are processed like real words. This claim has been based on improved performance with acronyms in the Reicher–Wheeler task, the letter string matching task, the visual feature integration task, and the N400 component in event-related potential (ERP) studies. Unfortunately, in all these tasks performance on acronyms resembled performance on pseudowords more than performance on words. To further assess the similarity of acronyms and words, we focused on the meaning of the acronyms and used masked priming to examine whether target words can be primed to the same extent with associatively related acronyms as with associatively related words. Such priming was possible at a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 84 ms. In addition, the priming of the acronyms did not depend on the letter case in which they were presented: The target word “books” was primed as much by isbn and iSbN as by ISBN.

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Prime Proportion Affects Masked Priming of Fixed and Free-Choice Responses

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000043 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 360-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Glen E. Bodner ◽

Rehman Mulji

Keyword(s):

Decision Process ◽

Free Choice ◽

Masked Priming ◽

Local Context ◽

Previous Trial ◽

Target Response ◽

Global Context ◽

Sequential Trial

Left/right “fixed” responses to arrow targets are influenced by whether a masked arrow prime is congruent or incongruent with the required target response. Left/right “free-choice” responses on trials with ambiguous targets that are mixed among fixed trials are also influenced by masked arrow primes. We show that the magnitude of masked priming of both fixed and free-choice responses is greater when the proportion of fixed trials with congruent primes is .8 rather than .2. Unconscious manipulation of context can thus influence both fixed and free choices. Sequential trial analyses revealed that these effects of the overall prime context on fixed and free-choice priming can be modulated by the local context (i.e., the nature of the previous trial). Our results support accounts of masked priming that posit a memory-recruitment, activation, or decision process that is sensitive to aspects of both the local and global context.

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Masked Translation Priming Effects With Highly Proficient Simultaneous Bilinguals

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000013 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 98-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 90

Author(s):

Jon Andoni Duñabeitia ◽

Manuel Perea ◽

Manuel Carreiras

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Hierarchical Model ◽

Priming Effect ◽

Masked Priming ◽

The Other ◽

Memory Organization ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Bilingual Memory ◽

Translation Priming ◽

Masked Translation Priming

One essential issue for models of bilingual memory organization is to what degree the representation from one of the languages is shared with the other language. In this study, we examine whether there is a symmetrical translation priming effect with highly proficient, simultaneous bilinguals. We conducted a masked priming lexical decision experiment with cognate and noncognate translation equivalents. Results showed a significant masked translation priming effect for both cognates and noncognates, with a greater priming effect for cognates. Furthermore, the magnitude of the translation priming was similar in the two directions. Thus, highly fluent bilinguals do develop symmetrical between-language links, as predicted by the Revised Hierarchical model and the BIA+ model. We examine the implications of these results for models of bilingual memory.

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