Abstract
Word primes have been successfully used in the past to facilitate the processing of other words (semantic priming), but also to modify mental states such as emotion, cognition and motivation (conceptual priming). This work documented that the direction of motivational drive can be successfully changed, but left open whether its magnitude can be influenced as well. To find out, we asked subjects to point at subliminally presented (30 ms) words that denoted low motivation (13 subjects) or high motivation (13 subjects). Afterwards, subjects completed a questionnaire of learning-specific motivation. No effect of priming was found for pointing parameters such as reaction time, but an effect emerged for self-assessed motivation level. The subject group primed with high-motivation words rated their motivation higher than the group primed with low-motivation words. The results indicate that not only the direction, but also the level of motivation can be manipulated subliminally, and supports the view that motivation can influence behavior without actor’s explicit knowledge.
Highlights
Since the influential work of Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971), it is known that subliminally presented words can facilitate the processing of subsequent, semantically related words
Semantic priming is distinct from another phenomenon called “conceptual priming”: Presented words influence the processing of other words, they can change the reader’s attitudes and cognitive styles
Conceptual priming can be administered in a blocked design, with one block dedicated to the presentation of prime words, and a later block to the measurement of the outcome
Summary
Since the influential work of Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971), it is known that subliminally presented words can facilitate the processing of subsequent, semantically related words. This socalled “semantic priming” has been attributed to spreading activation in brain circuits that store semantically similar words in neighboring locations (Collins & Loftus, 1975): prime words activate an extended region within those circuits and facilitate the processing of subsequent target words (Kiesel, Kunde, & Hoffmann, 2007). Conceptual priming doesn’t require awareness as it was found with subliminally presented targets (Hüttermann et al, 2012) and in completely amnestic patients (Levy, Stark, & Squire, 2004). Conceptual priming can be administered in a blocked design, with one block dedicated to the presentation of prime words, and a later block to the measurement of the outcome
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