Abstract
The present paper describes two attempts to replicate a recent study of ours in the semantic priming domain (Heyman, Van Rensbergen, Storms, Hutchison, & De Deyne, 2015). In that study, we observed that semantic priming for forward associates (e.g., panda-bear) completely evaporated when participants’ working memory was taxed, whereas backward (e.g., baby-stork) and symmetric associates (e.g., cat-dog) showed no ill-effects of a secondary task. This was the case for relatively long and short stimulus onset asynchronies (i.e., 1,200 ms and 200 ms, respectively). The results thus suggested that prospective target activation is, contrary to what some theories of semantic memory posit, not an automatic process. However, the two replication studies reported here cast serious doubt on this conclusion. A Bayesian analysis of all the available data indicated that there is at least substantial evidence for a priming effect in every condition, except for forward associates in the short SOA condition. The null hypothesis is still supported in the latter condition, though the replication studies weakened the evidence for a null effect. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Highlights
The semantic priming effect is an often studied phenomenon by cognitive psychologists, presumably because it tells us something about the structure of semantic memory
Eight participants were omitted from the analyses because they made more than 15% errors on the lexical decision task
In light of a growing call for self-replication (Cesario, 2014), the present study sought to establish the reliability of our previously reported finding that taxing working memory selectively impacts semantic priming (Heyman et al, 2015)
Summary
The semantic priming effect is an often studied phenomenon by cognitive psychologists, presumably because it tells us something about the structure of semantic memory (among other things). It refers to the improvement in speed (and accuracy) when responding to a target stimulus that is preceded by a semantically related prime stimulus (see McNamara, 2005, for a review). Several accounts of the semantic priming effect have been advanced, many of which were inspired by Collins and Loftus’ (1975) spreading activation model of semantic processing According to this model, conceptual knowledge is stored in a network of interconnected nodes, where each node corresponds to a concept (e.g., cat). People respond faster to the target dog when its corresponding node was pre-activated due to the presentation of the word cat
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
