Masked Repetition Priming Effects Research Articles

Can You Identify These Celebrities? A Network Analysis on Differences between Word and Face Recognition

Face recognition is located in the fusiform gyrus, which is also related to other tasks such word recognition. Although these two processes have several similarities, there are remarkable differences that include a vast range of approaches, which results from different groups of participants. This research aims to examine how the word-processing system processes faces at different moments and vice versa. Two experiments were carried out. Experiment 1 allowed us to examine the classical discrimination task, while Experiment 2 allowed us to examine very early moments of discrimination. In the first experiment, 20 Spanish University students volunteered to participate. Secondly, a sample of 60 participants from different nationalities volunteered to take part in Experiment 2. Furthermore, the role of sex and place of origin were considered in Experiment 1. No differences between men and women were found in Experiment 1, nor between conditions. However, Experiment 2 depicted shorter latencies for faces than word names, as well as a higher masked repetition priming effect for word identities and word names preceded by faces. Emerging methodologies in the field might help us to better understand the relationship among these two processes. For this reason, a network analysis approach was carried out, depicting sub-communities of nodes related to face or word name recognition, which were replicated across different groups of participants. Bootstrap inferences are proposed to account for variability in estimating the probabilities in the current samples. This supports that both processes are related to early moments of recognition, and rather than being independent, they might be bilaterally distributed with some expert specializations or preferences.

Masked repetition priming effect in an episodic recognition task

Masked repetition priming effect in an episodic recognition task

Are individual differences in masked repetition and semantic priming reliable?

ABSTRACTDespite the robustness of semantic priming (e.g., cat–DOG), the test-retest and internal reliabilities of semantic priming effects within individuals are surprisingly low. In contrast, repetition priming (e.g., dog–DOG) appears to be far more reliable across a range of conditions. While Stolz and colleagues attribute the low reliability in semantic priming to uncoordinated automatic processes in semantic memory, their use of unmasked priming paradigms makes it difficult to fully rule out the influence of strategic processes. In the present study, we explored the reliability of semantic and repetition priming when primes were heavily masked and cannot be consciously processed. We found that masked repetition, but not semantic, priming effects showed some degree of reliability. Interestingly, skilled lexical processors (as reflected by vocabulary knowledge and spelling ability) also produced larger masked repetition priming effects.

Thresholds of visibility for masked lexical, non-lexical, and non-linguistic items in aphasia

Thresholds of visibility for masked lexical, non-lexical, and non-linguistic items in aphasia

Masked repetition priming effects on naming in aphasia: A Phase I treatment study

Background: It has been suggested that lexical access deficits in aphasia may be the result of impaired automatic activation of the networks that support language processing, a system that operates implicitly, outside conscious awareness. This raises the question of whether there might be a way to address rebuilding these implicit networks directly, rather than through the explicit treatment protocols that are typical of aphasia therapy. Masked priming is one method by which the language system can be automatically activated, while limiting or preventing the influence of conscious, explicit processing. Aims: This Phase I study was undertaken to investigate the potential effectiveness of masked repetition priming as a treatment for anomia. Methods & Procedures: This study used a single-participant, ABA, multiple-baseline repeated-probe design. A total of 22 training sessions were completed across 4 weeks. Training involved repeated presentation of masked repetition primes paired with target pictures prior to attempts at naming those pictures. Untrained items were presented an equal number of times, but without prime words. Repeated naming probes administered before, during, and after treatment were used to measure effects of training (naming trained stimuli) and generalisation (naming within and across semantic categories). Pre- and post-training assessment with broader tests of language function and conversation were also completed. Outcomes & Results: Results revealed a small effect of training on naming of trained items in one category, as well as a pattern of improvement in the other category that did not quite meet the criterion for a small effect. There was also a medium cross- category generalisation effect, although no generalisation effect was seen to untrained items within semantic categories. Improvements were seen on some measures of general language function. Conclusions: Masked priming can elicit changes in naming ability over time, and may have potential as a tool for improving word retrieval in individuals with anomia. Results warrant further investigation.

Priming of abstract letter representations may be universal: The case of Arabic

Recent research on the Roman alphabet has demonstrated that the magnitudes of masked repetition priming are equivalent for letter pairs that have similar visual features across cases (e.g., c-C) and for letter pairs with dissimilar features (e.g., g-G). Here, we examined whether priming of abstract letter representations occurs in an orthographic system, Arabic, in which the letters show an intricate number of contextual forms. Arabic does not have a lowercase/uppercase distinction, but the letters exhibit different forms that depend on their position (initial, medial, final, or isolated) and their connectivity. Importantly, some letters look quite different across positions (e.g., (symbol in text) and (symbol in text), which correspond to the letter 'ayn), whereas others look very similar (e.g. (symbol in text), and (symbol in text), which correspond to the letter fā'). We employed a masked priming same-different task, in which native speakers of Arabic decided whether a target letter was the same as or different from a reference letter presented in a different position (middle vs. isolated). The results showed masked repetition priming effects of the same magnitude for letter pairs with similar and with dissimilar visual features across letter positions. These data support the view that priming of abstract letter representations is a universal phenomenon.

On the role of the upper part of words in lexical access: Evidence with masked priming

More than 100 years ago, Huey (1908/1968) indicated that the upper part of words was more relevant for perception than the lower part. Here we examined whether mutilated words, in their upper/lower portions (e.g., ), can automatically access their word units in the mental lexicon. To that end, we conducted four masked repetition priming experiments with the lexical decision task. Results showed that mutilated primes produced a sizeable masked repetition priming effect. Furthermore, the magnitude of the masked repetition priming effect was greater when the upper part of the primes was preserved than when the lower portion was preserved-this was the case not only when the mutilated words were presented in lower case but also when the mutilated words were presented in upper case. Taken together, these findings suggest that the front-end of computational models of visual-word recognition should be modified to provide a more realistic account at the level of letter features.

How word frequency modulates masked repetition priming: An ERP investigation

The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to provide precise temporal information about the modulation of masked repetition priming effects × word frequency during the course of target word recognition. Contrary to the pattern seen with behavioral response times in prior research, we predicted that high-frequency words should generate larger and earlier peaking repetition priming effects than low-frequency words in the N400 time window. This prediction was supported by the results of two experiments. Furthermore, repetition priming effects in the N250 time window were found for low-frequency words in both experiments, whereas for high-frequency words these effects were seen only at the shorter (50 ms stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]) used in Experiment 2, and not in Experiment 1 (70 ms SOA). We explain this pattern as resulting from reset mechanisms operating on the form representations activated by prime stimuli when primes and targets are processed as separate perceptual events.

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

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.

Masked repetition priming and proportion effects under cognitive load.

The authors used a cognitive load manipulation (rehearsing a string of digits during the trial) to test the automaticity of (a) masked repetition priming and (b) the masked repetition proportion (RP) effect (i.e., greater priming when the proportion of repetition-prime trials is higher) in the lexical decision task. The RP (.2 vs. .8) was varied across blocks. Masked priming was not reduced under load compared with a no-load group. Surprisingly, only the load group showed an RP effect in response latencies, although the no-load group showed an RP effect in the error rates. Our results show that masked priming is automatic, yet the influence of masked primes can nonetheless be adjusted at an unconscious level. Implications for accounts of masked priming are discussed.

Unconscious cognition isn’t that smart: Modulation of masked repetition priming effect in the word naming task

Masked repetition primes produce greater facilitation in naming in a block containing a high, rather than low proportion of repetition trials. [Bodner, G. E., & Masson, M. E. J. (2004). Beyond binary judgments: Prime-validity modulates masked repetition priming in the naming task. Memory & Cognition, 32, 1–11] suggested this phenomenon reflects a strategic shift in the use of masked prime as a function of its validity. We propose an alternative explanation based on the Adaptation to the statistics of the environment (ASE) framework, which suggests the proportion effect reflects adaptation of response-initiation processes to recent trial difficulty. Consistent with ASE’s prediction, (1) stimuli that produce the proportion effect also produced an “asymmetric blocking effect”, showing a smaller fall in response latencies of hard items than the rise of easy items when the two item types were intermixed relative to pure blocks comprised of only one item type, and (2) manipulation of prime validity was neither necessary nor sufficient to modulate the size of masked-priming effect.

Additive and interactive effects of word frequency and masked repetition in the lexical decision task

In previous studies, additive effects of masked repetition and word frequency on lexical decision latency have been reported. This additive pattern was replicated in Experiment 1 with the use of low-frequency words (range, 1-7 per million) selected at random. In contrast, in Experiment 2, in which low-frequency words known to be familiar to the subjects were used, the masked repetition priming effect was greater for low-frequency than for high-frequency words. It is suggested that the absence of an interaction between masked repetition and frequency observed in previous studies and in the present Experiment 1 was due to the fact that very-low-frequency words often have an unstable representation in the subjects' lexicon and, consequently, sometimes fail to produce repetition priming effects in full.

Effets de distribution du voisinage orthographique et d'amorçage par répétition masqué.

This research centres on the effect that the orthographic neighbourhood has in the visual recognition of words. Specifically, we studied to what extent orthographic neighbourhood distribution, that is, the number of letter positions allowing formation of at least one neighbour (Pugh, Rexer, Peter, & Katz, 1994), influences the masked repetition priming effect. In a previous study (Mathey, Robert, & Zagar, 2004), interaction between neighbourhood distribution and orthographic priming was obtained in the lexical decision task. The Interactive Activation Model (IA; McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981) simulated this interaction. With the orthographic priming effect modified for distribution of the neighbourhood of target words, it was necessary to study whether the repetition priming effect also varied as a function of this indicator. Studying this interaction presents a major theoretical issue in specifying the activating and inhibiting processes presented in the IA model. Simulations were produced to obtain precise model predictions regarding the neighbourhood distribution effect in a repetitive priming situation for our experimental material. Target words all had two neighbours that were most frequent. These neighbours were isolated, that is, distributed over two letter positions (e.g.: TAUX/faux-toux), or associated, i.e., concentrated on one single position (e.g., SEAU/beau-peau). Targets were preceded by an identical priming (repetitive priming; e.g.: seau-SEAU) or by controlled priming (e.g., &&&&-SEAU). The simulation results obtained using the IA model show the facilitating effects of neighbourhood distribution and repetitive priming, but no interaction between these factors. The experimental results obtained in a lexical decision task confirm these predictions. Thus, the empirical data replicate the neighbourhood distribution's facilitating effect (Mathey & Zagar, 2000) as well as the facilitating effect of masked repetition (Forster & Davis, 1984). Finally, the most interesting result is that the facilitating effect of repetition is comparable for target words with associated neighbours and target words with isolated neighbours. An explanation of the combined effects of the orthographic neighbourhood and orthographic masked repetition priming, integrating data from literature as well as from the current study, is proposed within the framework of the IA model.

Category size effects revisited: Frequency and masked priming effects in semantic categorization

Previous work indicates that semantic categorization decisions for nonexemplars (e.g., deciding that TURBAN is not an animal name) are faster for high-frequency words than low-frequency words. However, there is evidence that this result might depend on category size. When narrow categories are used (e.g., Months, Numbers), there is no frequency effect for nonexemplars. This result is confirmed, and is explained in terms of a category search model, which allows a “No” decision to be generated without access to the lexical entry for the target word. This explains the absence of a frequency effect, but not the presence of a strong masked repetition priming effect, which is assumed to have a lexical source. It is shown that this effect may not be lexical, since nonwords also show similar priming. Both of these priming effects disappear when a larger category is used. This pattern of results is explained on the assumption that category search is only possible with small categories, and that tentative category decisions are generated for the unconsciously perceived prime, which leads to a marked response congruence effect.

Masked repetition priming and word frequency effects across different types of Japanese scripts: An examination of the lexical activation account

In these experiments, cross-script masked repetition priming and word frequency effects were examined for Japanese words and nonwords as a function of script familiarity and the nature of the task (lexical decision or naming). In the lexical decision task, masked repetition priming effects were observed only for word targets and those effects were larger for targets presented in an orthographically unfamiliar script than for targets presented in an orthographically familiar script. In contrast, in the naming task, masked repetition priming effects were observed for both word and nonword targets and, for word targets, the repetition priming effects were similar regardless of the orthographic familiarity of the targets. In addition, large word frequency effects were observed when the targets were presented in a familiar script, but the effects were diminished or eliminated when the targets were presented in an unfamiliar script in both tasks. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of the possible loci of the priming effects in the two tasks.

The masked repetition priming effect dissipates when increasing the inter-stimulus interval: Evidence from word naming

We report a word naming experiment that investigated the life duration of the masked repetition priming effect for high- and low-frequency words across a range of five inter-stimulus intervals (0, 50, 150, 500 and 1000 ms). The results clearly demonstrate that the masked repetition priming effect is a very short-lived phenomenon since, while it remains robust for ISIs up to and including 150 ms, it dissipates with ISIs of 500 ms and 1000 ms. Moreover, we replicated the classical additive effect of target frequency and masked repetition priming. These results are discussed in relation to different explanations of masked repetition priming effects in visual word recognition.

Amorçage phonologique masqué et dénomination

Résumé II a été montré précédemment (Ferrand, Grainger et Segui, 1994) que le temps de dénomination du dessin d'un objet est facilité quand celui-ci est précédé par la présentation masquée de son nom ou d'un pseudo-homophone de celui-ci. Le but de la recherche présentée ici est de confirmer la nature phonologique de l'effet de facilitation en utilisant comme item amorce masqué un mot homophone mais non homographe du nom de l'objet. Les résultats obtenus montrent des effets de facilitation analogues pour les conditions de répétition et d'homophonie. Les mots «roue» et « roux » facilitent de manière comparable la dénomination du dessin d'une roue. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'effet de facilitation observé est indépendant de la relation sémantique existant entre le mot amorce et le nom de l'image. C'est le partage des propriétés phonologiques qui serait responsable de cette facilitation. Mots-clés : dénomination de dessins, amorçage phonologique, masquage.

Dissociative masked repetition priming and word frequency effects in lexical decision and episodic recognition tasks

After encoding a study list under either intentional or shallow incidental learning instructions, subjects received either a lexical decision or an episodic recognition task in which each target was preceded by a masked prime that was either the target itself or an unrelated item. The four main findings were: (1) For lexical decisions, a facilitatory masked repetition priming effect occurred for both intentionally and incidentally studied words and nonwords and for nonstudied words, but not for nonstudied nonwords. (2) For episodic recognition, a facilitatory masked repetition priming effect occurred for both intentionally and incidentally studied words and nonwords but for neither nonstudied words nor nonwords. (3) Lexical decision performance was better for high- than low-frequency words. (4) This word-frequency effect for lexical decisions was not attenuated by masked repetition priming but was attenuated by prior study of the target, even under conditions in which episodic recognition was equivalent for the low- and high-frequency words. These results were discussed in terms of Forster's ( Language and Cognitive Processes 1 (1985), 87–108) relevant-search-set hypothesis and familiarity-based processing theories of repetition priming effects in the lexical decision task.