Masked Priming Effects Research Articles

An investigation of the time course of category congruence and priming distance effects in number classification tasks.

The issue investigated in the present research is the nature of the information that is responsible for producing masked priming effects (e.g., semantic information or stimulus-response [S-R] associations) when responding to number stimuli. This issue was addressed by assessing both the magnitude of the category congruence (priming) effect and the nature of the priming distance effect across trials using single-digit primes and targets. Participants made either magnitude (i.e., whether the number presented was larger or smaller than 5) or identification (i.e., press the left button if the number was either a 1, 2, 3, or 4 or the right button if the number was either a 6, 7, 8, or 9) judgments. The results indicated that, regardless of task instruction, there was a clear priming distance effect and a significantly increasing category congruence effect. These results indicated that both semantic activation and S-R associations play important roles in producing masked priming effects.

Early, equivalent ERP masked priming effects for regular and irregular morphology

Converging evidence from behavioral masked priming (Rastle & Davis, 2008), EEG masked priming (Morris, Frank, Grainger, & Holcomb, 2007) and single word MEG (Zweig & Pylkkänen, 2008) experiments has provided robust support for a model of lexical processing which includes an early, automatic, visual word form based stage of morphological parsing that applies to all derivationally affixed words. The mechanisms by which regularly (walked, birds) and irregularly (gave, geese) inflected forms are processed are less well established. We combine the masked priming paradigm with EEG recording to directly compare the ERPs evoked by regularly and irregularly inflected forms. We find equivalent N250 priming effects for both types of morphological complexity, which argues for rapid, form based morphological parsing of all morphologically complex word forms.

The "electrophysiological sandwich": a method for amplifying ERP priming effects.

We describe the results of a study that combines ERP recordings and sandwich priming, a variant of masked priming that provides a brief preview of the target prior to prime presentation (S. J. Lupker & C. J. Davis, 2009). This has been shown to increase the size of masked priming effects seen in behavioral responses. We found the same increase in sensitivity to ERP priming effects in an orthographic priming experiment manipulating the position of overlap of letters shared by primes and targets. Targets were 6-letter words and primes were formed of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th letters of targets in the related condition. Primes could be concatenated or hyphenated and could be centered on fixation or displaced by two letter spaces to the left or right. Priming effects with concatenated and/or displaced primes only started to emerge at 250 ms post-target onset, whereas priming effects from centrally located hyphenated primes emerged about 100 ms earlier.

Masked Priming Effects in Aphasia: Evidence of Altered Automatic Spreading Activation

Previous research has suggested that impairments of automatic spreading activation may underlie some aphasic language deficits. The current study further investigated the status of automatic spreading activation in individuals with aphasia as compared with typical adults. Participants were 21 individuals with aphasia (12 fluent, 9 nonfluent) and 31 typical adults. Reaction time data were collected on a lexical decision task with masked repetition primes, assessed at 11 different interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Masked primes were used to assess automatic spreading activation without the confound of conscious processing. The various ISIs were used to assess the time to onset and duration of priming effects. The control group showed maximal priming in the 200-ms ISI condition, with significant priming at a range of ISIs surrounding that peak. Participants with both fluent and nonfluent aphasia showed maximal priming effects in the 250-ms ISI condition and primed across a smaller range of ISIs than did the control group. Results suggest that individuals with aphasia have slowed automatic spreading activation and impaired maintenance of activation over time, regardless of fluency classification. These findings have implications for understanding aphasic language impairment and for development of aphasia treatments designed to directly address automatic language processes.

Orthographic similarity: The case of “reversed anagrams”

How orthographically similar are words such as paws and swap, flow and wolf, or live and evil? According to the letter position coding schemes used in models of visual word recognition, these reversed anagrams are considered to be less similar than words that share letters in the same absolute or relative positions (such as home and hose or plan and lane). Therefore, reversed anagrams should not produce the standard orthographic similarity effects found using substitution neighbors (e.g., home, hose). Simulations using the spatial coding model (Davis, Psychological Review 117, 713-758, 2010), for example, predict an inhibitory masked-priming effect for substitution neighbor word pairs but a null effect for reversed anagrams. Nevertheless, we obtained significant inhibitory priming using both stimulus types (Experiment 1). We also demonstrated that robust repetition blindness can be obtained for reversed anagrams (Experiment 2). Reversed anagrams therefore provide a new test for models of visual word recognition and orthographic similarity.

Task-dependent masked priming effects in visual word recognition.

A method used widely to study the first 250 ms of visual word recognition is masked priming: These studies have yielded a rich set of data concerning the processes involved in recognizing letters and words. In these studies, there is an implicit assumption that the early processes in word recognition tapped by masked priming are automatic, and masked priming effects should therefore be invariant across tasks. Contrary to this assumption, masked priming effects are modulated by the task goal: For example, only word targets show priming in the lexical decision task, but both words and non-words do in the same-different task; semantic priming effects are generally weak in the lexical decision task but are robust in the semantic categorization task. We explain how such task dependence arises within the Bayesian Reader account of masked priming (Norris and Kinoshita, 2008), and how the task dissociations can be used to understand the early processes in lexical access.

Future Morphology? Summary of Visual Word Identification Effects Draws Attention to Necessary Efforts in Understanding Morphological Processing

Future Morphology? Summary of Visual Word Identification Effects Draws Attention to Necessary Efforts in Understanding Morphological Processing

Translation Priming Effect in Spanish-English Bilinguals

This article aims to establish the effects of masked priming by translation equivalents in Spanish-English bilinguals with a high-intermediate level of proficiency in their second language. Its findings serve as evidence to support the hypothesis that semantic representations mediate the mental association among non-cognates from a speaker’s first and second languages as proposed by Grainger and Frenck-Mestre (1998) in their article entitled “Masked Priming by Translation Equivalents in Proficient Bilinguals.” The present article reports the results obtained from a graduation thesis 3 written as a requirement for the M.A. degree in Linguistics at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. This project was finished in 2009 and was funded by the Unit of Research Administration from the School of Human Sciences at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogota, through the contest “Convocatoria de Apoyo a Trabajos de Posgrado 2008-II”.

Can masked priming effects be obtained with words?

One important issue often neglected in the literature on visual-wordrecognition,despiteitsobviousecologicalvalidity,ishowthe cognitive system processes handwritten words. Althoughhandscript wastheinitial and onlyway of writing/reading untilthe 15th century, the vast majority of psycholinguistic experi-ments use spotless printed words in which, unlike inhandwriting, letters are physically separated within each wordand the instances of each letter are identical (e.g., comparedenied vs. ). Not surprisingly, there is some costassociated with the processing of handwritten words (Barnhart& Goldinger, 2010; Manso de Zuniga, Evett, & Humphreys,1991). Given the inherent noise in the bottom-up informationfrom handwritten words, the cognitive system has to relymore on more effortful, top-down processes (Manso deZuniga et al., 1991). Consistent with this interpretation,lexical effects are magnified with handwritten words—including the effects of word frequency, regularity, bidi-rectional consistency, and imageability (see Barnhart G see alsoGrainger, 2008, for a recent review), in which a brieflypresented prime word precedes the presentation of a targetword. One highly robust and replicated phenomenon in thiscontext is the masked repetition priming effect: Identifica-tion times to a target word are consistently faster when it hasbeen briefly preceded by the same word than when it hasbeen preceded by anunrelated word (Forster & Davis,1984;see Dehaene et al., 2001, for fMRI evidence; see Carreiras,Dunabeitia, & Molinaro, 2009, for ERP evidence).Can words produce masked priming effects?Clearly, if masked priming occurs with handwritten primes,it will be possible to examine the impact of handwrittenwords on orthographic, phonological, or morphologicalprocesses at the earliest stages of processing usingbehavioral and/or neurophysiological techniques. There-fore, we believe that it is critical to demonstrate, in the firstplace, the existence of masked repetition priming withhandwritten primes (i.e., the most robust form of maskedpriming). Previous research has found that masked primingeffects are quite abstract in nature; indeed, they can beobtained between upper- and lowercase typed words thatare visually dissimilar (e.g., edge–EDGE; see Bowers,Vigliocco, & Haan, 1998). This would suggest that maskedpriming should extend between written and typed primesand targets—at least for easily readable prime words(e.g., –CABLE). However, the only published experi-ment on the issue, conducted by Qiao et al. (2010), failed tofind a masked repetition priming effect with handwrittenprimes using a semantic categorization task (i.e., wordsreferring to man-made objects vs. words referring to natural

Re-examining dissociations between remembering and knowing: Binary judgments vs. independent ratings

When participants must classify their recognition experiences as remembering or knowing, variables often have dissociative effects on the two judgments. In contrast, when participants independently rate recollection and familiarity only parallel effects have been reported. To investigate this discrepancy we compared the effects of masked priming at test (Experiment 1), and levels-of-processing (LOP) at study (Experiment 2), on recollection and familiarity using both binary judgment and independent-rating methods. With binary judgments, repetition priming selectively increased familiarity, and deeper LOP increased recollection but decreased familiarity. Independent ratings were positively correlated, and priming and LOP both increased recollection and familiarity. This pattern occurred even when each rating was made by a separate group to prevent rating cross-contamination. Thus, how recognition experiences are measured can influence whether dissociations between recollection and familiarity are found. Our findings have implications for the measurement of recognition experiences and for current accounts of recognition memory.

Masked priming effects are modulated by expertise in the script

In a recent study using a masked priming same-different matching task, Garcı´a-Orza, Perea, and Munoz (2010) found a transposition priming effect for letter strings, digit strings, and symbol strings, but not for strings of pseudoletters (i.e., EPRI-ERPI produced similar response times to the control pair EDBI-ERPI). They argued that the mechanism responsible for position coding in masked priming is not operative with those "objects" whose identity cannot be attained rapidly. To assess this hypothesis, Experiment 1 examined masked priming effects in Arabic for native speakers of Arabic, whereas participants in Experiments 2 and 3 were lower intermediate learners of Arabic and readers with no knowledge of Arabic, respectively. Results showed a masked priming effect only for readers who are familiar with the Arabic script. Furthermore, transposed-letter priming in native speakers of Arabic only occurred when the order of the root letters was kept intact. In Experiments 3-7, we examined why masked repetition priming is absent for readers who are unfamiliar with the Arabic script. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of visual-word recognition.

Transliteration and transcription effects in biscriptal readers: The case of Greeklish

In order to overcome limitations associated with script incompatibilities Greek users of the Internet have developed Greeklish, a transliterated version of Modern Greek using Roman characters. The representational status of this artificial writing system was examined in two masked priming lexical decision experiments using Greeklish primes with different degrees of graphemic overlap with their corresponding Greek targets. Results suggested that Greeklish primes were effectively processed and transliterated to their Greek counterparts. Larger masked priming effects were found as a function of increased prime-target graphemic overlap. Interestingly, these Greeklish priming effects were in all cases of smaller magnitude than the pure Greek identity priming effect. Our findings revealed that extensive experience with a recently developed artificial writing system leads to its non-effortful processing, but that even for highly experienced Greeklish users the Greeklish-to-Greek conversion is modulated by the graphemic properties of the input stimulus.

Phonology by itself: Masked phonological priming effects with and without orthographic overlap

The activation of the phonological code plays a central role in visual word recognition. However, it is still unclear how this activation is integrated within this mainly bottom-up process. In the present masked priming study we combined Greek and Spanish, two languages with common phonemes and partially overlapping graphemes to investigate this issue. Greek-Spanish bilinguals performed lexical decisions on Greek and Spanish targets, briefly preceded by either phonologically related or orthographically and phonologically related prime words of the nontarget language. Results revealed significant bidirectional cross-script masked phonological priming effects which disappeared under the influence of nearly overlapping orthographic representations. This pattern of effects suggests that there is fast and automatic language nonselective activation of the phonological code during the initial stages of visual word recognition but that this is clearly dependent on the orthographic properties of the input stimulus. The implications of our findings are discussed within the framework of current models of monolingual and bilingual visual word recognition.

The Flexibility of Nonconsciously Deployed Cognitive Processes: Evidence from Masked Congruence Priming

BackgroundIt is well accepted in the subliminal priming literature that task-level properties modulate nonconscious processes. For example, in tasks with a limited number of targets, subliminal priming effects are limited to primes that are physically similar to the targets. In contrast, when a large number of targets are used, subliminal priming effects are observed for primes that share a semantic (but not necessarily physical) relationship with the target. Findings such as these have led researchers to conclude that task-level properties can direct nonconscious processes to be deployed exclusively over central (semantic) or peripheral (physically specified) representations.Principal FindingsWe find distinct patterns of masked priming for “novel” and “repeated” primes within a single task context. Novel primes never appear as targets and thus are not seen consciously in the experiment. Repeated primes do appear as targets, thereby lending themselves to the establishment of peripheral stimulus-response mappings. If the source of the masked priming effect were exclusively central or peripheral, then both novel and repeated primes should yield similar patterns of priming. In contrast, we find that both novel and repeated primes produce robust, yet distinct, patterns of priming.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that nonconsciously elicited cognitive processes can be flexibly deployed over both central and peripheral representations within a single task context. While we agree that task-level properties can influence nonconscious processes, our findings sharply constrain the extent of this influence. Specifically, our findings are inconsistent with extant accounts which hold that the influence of task-level properties is strong enough to restrict the deployment of nonconsciously elicited cognitive processes to a single type of representation (i.e. central or peripheral).

Age-related deficits in low-level inhibitory motor control.

Inhibitory control functions in old age were investigated with the "masked prime" paradigm in which participants executed speeded manual choice responses to simple visual targets. These were preceded--either immediately or at some earlier time--by a backward-masked prime. Young adults produced positive compatibility effects (PCEs)--faster and more accurate responses for matching than for nonmatching prime-target pairs--when prime and target immediately followed each other, and the reverse effect (negative compatibility effect, NCE) for targets that followed the prime after a short interval. Older adults produced similar PCEs to young adults, indicating intact low-level motor activation, but failed to produce normal NCEs even with longer delays (Experiment 1), increased opportunity for prime processing (Experiment 2), and prolonged learning (Experiment 3). However, a fine-grained analysis of each individual's time course of masked priming effects revealed NCEs in the majority of older adults, of the same magnitude as those of young adults. These were significantly delayed (even more than expected on the basis of general slowing), indicating a disproportionate impairment of low-level inhibitory motor control in old age.

Interwoven functionality of the brain’s action and language systems

Theories of embodied cognition consider language understanding as intimately linked to sensory and motor processes. Here we review evidence from kinematic and electrophysiological studies for the idea that processing of words referring to bodily actions, even when subliminally presented, recruits the same motor regions that are involved in motor control. We further discuss the functional role of the motor system in action word retrieval in light of neuropsychological data showing modulation of masked priming effects for action verbs in Parkinson’s patients as a function of dopaminergic treatment. Finally, a neuroimaging study revealing semantic somatotopy in the motor cortex during reading of idioms that include action words is presented. Altogether these findings provide strong arguments that semantic mechanisms are grounded in action-perception systems of the brain. They support the existence of common brain signatures to action words, even when embedded in idiomatic sentences, and motor action. They further suggest that motor schemata reflecting word meaning contribute to lexico-semantic retrieval of action words.

Masked singleton effects

In the present study, we tested whether visual singletons remaining outside awareness are processed. Singletons differ by at least one feature from their more homogeneous neighbors. Here, we used backward masking to prevent awareness of shape singleton primes (Experiments 1-4) or color singleton primes (Experiment 5). Masked singleton primes nonetheless produced a congruence effect: Congruent singletons indicating the location of subsequent visible targets facilitated responses, in comparison with incongruent singletons at positions away from the targets. This congruence effect was found with singletons defined by feature presence or feature absence. It was at least partly due to attentional capture by singletons remaining outside of the participants' awareness. Results are discussed in light of theories pertaining to singleton effects and masked-priming effects.

Masked nonword repetition effects in yes/no and go/no-go lexical decision: A test of the evidence accumulation and deadline accounts

The pattern of masked repetition priming effects for word and nonword targets differs across tasks: Masked-priming effects in lexical decision occur for positive responses (i.e., words), but not for negative responses (nonwords), whereas masked-priming effects in the cross-case same-different task occur for positive responses (same), but not for negative responses (different)--regardless of lexical status. Here, we examined whether masked nonword priming effects are greater when the task involves an active go response to nonwords than when it involves the standard yes/no procedure in lexical decision. The obtained masked repetition priming effect for nonwords was of similar size in yes/no and go/no-go tasks. This finding is compatible with accounts of nonword priming that posit that nonword responses are produced by actively accumulating evidence for the nonword alternative in yes/no and go/no-go procedures, whereas it is inconsistent with the assumption of a deadline for no responses in the yes/no task.

Can the dual-route cascaded computational model of reading offer a valid account of the masked onset priming effect?

The masked onset priming effect (MOPE) refers to the empirical finding that target naming is faster when the target (SIB) is preceded by a briefly presented masked prime that starts with the same letter/phoneme (suf) than when it does not (mof; Kinoshita, 2000, Experiment 1). The dual-route cascaded (DRC) computational model of reading (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001) has offered an explanation for how the MOPE might occur in humans. However, there has been some empirical discrepancy regarding whether for nonword items the effect is limited to the first-letter/phoneme overlap between primes and targets or whether orthographic/phonological priming effects occur beyond the first letter/phoneme. Experiment 1 tested these two possibilities. The human results, which were successfully simulated by the DRC model, showed priming beyond the first letter/phoneme. Nevertheless, two recent versions of the DRC model made different predictions regarding the nature of these priming effects. Experiment 2 examined whether it is facilitatory, inhibitory, or both, in order to adjudicate between the two versions of the model. The human results showed that primes exert both facilitatory and inhibitory effects.

Computational modelling of the masked onset priming effect in reading aloud

The masked onset priming effect (MOPE) was first defined by Forster and Davis (1991) as the finding that human naming latencies are faster when a target word (e.g., BREAK) is preceded by a briefly presented masked prime word that shares its initial sound with the target (e.g., belly) compared to when it does not (e.g., merry) or when it rhymes with it (e.g., stake). The present paper presents a review of empirical findings on the MOPE in the English language and their simulations by the DRC computational model of reading (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001), which offers an explicit account of how the effect might occur in humans. A new version of DRC, called DRC 1.2, which differs from the previous downloadable DRC version mainly in the way its nonlexical route operates, has been recently developed. The performance of DRC 1.2 on simulating the MOPE is evaluated in this paper.