Prime Words Research Articles

L1 and L2 Spoken Word Processing: Evidence from Divided Attention Paradigm.

The present study aims to reveal some facts concerning first language (L1) and second language (L2) spoken-word processing in unbalanced proficient bilinguals using behavioral measures. The intention here is to examine the effects of auditory repetition word priming and semantic priming in first and second languages of these bilinguals. The other goal is to explore the effects of attention manipulation on implicit retrieval of perceptual and conceptual properties of spoken L1 and L2 words. In so doing, the participants performed auditory word priming and semantic priming as memory tests in their L1 and L2. In a half of the trials of each experiment, they carried out the memory test while simultaneously performing a secondary task in visual modality. The results revealed that effects of auditory word priming and semantic priming were present when participants processed L1 and L2 words in full attention condition. Attention manipulation could reduce priming magnitude in both experiments in L2. Moreover, L2 word retrieval increases the reaction times and reduces accuracy on the simultaneous secondary task to protect its own accuracy and speed.

Trans-saccadic repetition priming: ERPs reveal on-line integration of information across words

We used a trans-saccadic priming paradigm combined with ERP recordings to track the time-course of integration of information across a prime word briefly presented at fixation and a subsequent target word presented 4 degrees to the right of fixation. Trans-saccadic repetition priming effects (Experiments 1 and 2) were compared with priming effects obtained with centrally located targets (Experiment 3). In Experiment 2, target stimuli were preceded by a 100ms forward mask at the target location, hence allowing an attention shift to the target location prior to target onset. Compared with centrally located targets, repetition priming effects were found to onset later in Experiment 2 and even later in Experiment 1, and the growth of priming effects was slower in both Experiments 1 and 2 compared with Experiment 3. The results demonstrate integration of information across spatially distinct primes and targets, with the time-course of trans-saccadic priming being determined by the speed with which attention can be allocated to peripheral targets plus the quality of information available in peripheral vision prior to fixation of target stimuli.

Are individual levels of pain anxiety related to negative interpretation bias? An examination using an ambiguous wordpriming task.

Cognitive processes like attentional and interpretation biases have been suggested to play a vital role in the onset and exacerbation of chronic pain. Research consistently supports the occurrence of interpretation bias (IB) in pain patients and healthy individuals high in pain anxiety. Nevertheless, studies on the indirect assessment of IB or the relation between IB and responses to pain are limited. The present studies examined the association between indirect assessed IB and pain anxiety, while Study 2 additionally examined IB as a mediator in the relation between pain anxiety and pain responses. In Study 1 (N=125) and Study 2 (N=73), anxiety sensitivity, injury/illness sensitivity (IS) and pain catastrophizing were assessed with questionnaires. IB was indirectly derived from performance on an ambiguous word priming task. In Study 2, an experimental heat pain induction was used to assess pain responses (i.e. tolerance and subjective pain experience). Results showed a positive correlation between pain anxiety and IB, albeit that the strength of the observed associations differed between both studies. Furthermore, IB was inversely related to pain tolerance, and found to mediate the relation between IS and pain tolerance in Study 2. Current findings underscore the importance of interpretational processes in the context of physical health threat. Furthermore, the ambiguous word priming task is proposed as a suitable paradigm for further research on the indirect assessment of IB. Nevertheless, further research is warranted to deepen our understanding of IB and its contribution to the experience of (chronic) pain.

The semantic origin of unconscious priming: Behavioral and event-related potential evidence during category congruency priming from strongly and weakly related masked words

The mechanisms underlying masked congruency priming, semantic mechanisms such as semantic activation or non-semantic mechanisms, for example response activation, remain a matter of debate. In order to decide between these alternatives, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in the present study, while participants performed a semantic categorization task on visible word targets that were preceded either 167ms (Experiment 1) or 34ms before (Experiment 2) by briefly presented (33ms) novel (unpracticed) masked prime words. The primes and targets belonged to different categories (unrelated), or they were either strongly or weakly semantically related category co-exemplars. Behavioral (RT) and electrophysiological masked congruency priming effects were significantly greater for strongly related pairs than for weakly related pairs, indicating a semantic origin of effects. Priming in the latter condition was not statistically reliable. Furthermore, priming effects modulated the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component, an electrophysiological index of semantic processing, but not ERPs in the time range of the N200 component, associated with response conflict and visuo-motor response priming. The present results demonstrate that masked congruency priming from novel prime words also depends on semantic processing of the primes and is not exclusively driven by non-semantic mechanisms such as response activation.

Investigating the role of semantic priming in query expression: A framework and two experiments

Modern search systems often meet their users' information needs, but when the system fails, searchers struggle to formulate effective queries. Query suggestions may help, but research suggests these often go unused. Although much is known about how searchers scan results pages when assessing relevance, little is known about the processes searchers use when struggling to reformulate queries. Investigating how searchers overcome query difficulties, and how search systems help and hinder that process, requires enquiry into the cognitive procedures searchers use to select words for queries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate one cognitive process involved: semantic priming of words in memory. A framework for conceptualizing the role of semantic priming in search interaction is presented, along with results from two experiments that applied research methods from cognitive psychology, in an investigation of word selection and subsequent search for selected words. The results show that word selection activates related words in memory and that looking for a selected word among related words is effortful. The finding suggests that semantic priming may play a role in the difficulties people experience when reformulating queries. Ideas for continued development of semantic priming methods and their use in future research are also presented.

Phonology contributes to writing: evidence from a masked priming task

ABSTRACTIs written word production affected by phonological properties of target words? We report three experiments using masked priming to investigate this issue. Chinese was chosen as the target script because sound and spelling can be largely dissociated. Participants wrote down names of objects, and latencies were measured on a graphic tablet. Objects were preceded by masked prime words which were either phonologically and orthographically related (PO) to the picture name, phonologically related but orthographically unrelated (P), or unrelated. Priming effects were found for both types of related primes with prime exposure durations of 58 ms (Experiment 1) and 33 ms (Experiment 2), with PO priming larger than P priming. Priming disappeared in Experiment 3 when a manual semantic judgment was required instead of written naming, suggesting that facilitation in the earlier experiments originated at the orthographic output level. These findings strengthen the existing evidence for the involvement of phonology in written word production.

The role of selection in the comprehension of focus alternatives

ABSTRACTSuccessful language comprehension often requires comprehenders to infer contrastive focus alternatives, but the mechanisms used to establish contrastive alternatives are still poorly understood. We propose that comprehenders establish contrastive alternatives by using selection mechanisms that distinguish contrastive from non-contrastive candidates. To examine this proposal, we investigated the time course of contrastive alternatives in two cross-modal priming experiments, manipulating contrastive focus on prime words and the contrastiveness of visual targets. Experiment 1 examined early processing where comprehenders are entertaining candidates for contrastive alternatives. Experiment 2 examined later processing where comprehenders have selected contrastive alternatives from the candidate set. Results demonstrated that when primes were contrastively focused, initially both contrastive and non-contrastive associates were facilitated, but, in subsequent processing, non-contrastive associates became deactivated while contrastive associates maintained facilitation. We argue that selection mechanisms distinguish contrastive from non-contrastive candidates by deactivating non-contrastive candidates, enabling comprehenders to draw proper inferences about speakers’ implicit meanings.

Morpho-orthographic segmentation without semantics.

Masked priming studies have repeatedly provided evidence for a form-based morpho-orthographic segmentation mechanism that blindly decomposes any word with the mere appearance of morphological complexity (e.g., corn + er). This account has been called into question by Baayen et al. Psychological Review, 118, 438-482 (2011), who pointed out that the prime words previously tested in the morpho-orthographic condition vary in the extent to which the suffix conveys regular meaning. In the present study, we investigated whether evidence for morpho-orthographic segmentation can be obtained with a set of tightly controlled prime words that are entirely semantically opaque. Using a visual lexical decision task, we compared priming from truly suffixed primes (hunter-HUNT), completely opaque pseudo-suffixed primes (corner-CORN), and non-suffixed primes (cashew-CASH). The results show comparable magnitudes of priming for the truly suffixed and pseudo-suffixed primes, and no priming from non-suffixed primes, and therefore provide further important evidence in support of morpho-orthographic segmentation processes operating in the absence of any possible role for semantics.

Semantic processing of unattended speech in dichotic listening.

This study investigated whether unattended speech is processed at a semantic level in dichotic listening using a semantic priming paradigm. A lexical decision task was administered in which target words were presented in the attended auditory channel, preceded by two prime words presented simultaneously in the attended and unattended channels, respectively. Both attended and unattended primes were either semantically related or unrelated to the attended targets. Attended prime-target pairs were presented in isolation, whereas unattended primes were presented in the context of a series of rapidly presented words. The fundamental frequency of the attended stimuli was increased by 40 Hz relative to the unattended stimuli, and the unattended stimuli were attenuated by 12 dB [+12 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)] or presented at the same intensity level as the attended stimuli (0 dB SNR). The results revealed robust semantic priming of attended targets by attended primes at both the +12 and 0 dB SNRs. However, semantic priming by unattended primes emerged only at the 0 dB SNR. These findings suggest that the semantic processing of unattended speech in dichotic listening depends critically on the relative intensities of the attended and competing signals.

Separate Brain Circuits Support Integrative and Semantic Priming in the Human Language System

Semantic priming is a crucial phenomenon to study the organization of semantic memory. A novel type of priming effect, integrative priming, has been identified behaviorally, whereby a prime word facilitates recognition of a target word when the 2 concepts can be combined to form a unitary representation. We used both functional and anatomical imaging approaches to investigate the neural substrates supporting such integrative priming, and compare them with those in semantic priming. Similar behavioral priming effects for both semantic (Bread-Cake) and integrative conditions (Cherry-Cake) were observed when compared with an unrelated condition. However, a clearly dissociated brain response was observed between these 2 types of priming. The semantic-priming effect was localized to the posterior superior temporal and middle temporal gyrus. In contrast, the integrative-priming effect localized to the left anterior inferior frontal gyrus and left anterior temporal cortices. Furthermore, fiber tractography showed that the integrative-priming regions were connected via uncinate fasciculus fiber bundle forming an integrative circuit, whereas the semantic-priming regions connected to the posterior frontal cortex via separated pathways. The results point to dissociable neural pathways underlying the 2 distinct types of priming, illuminating the neural circuitry organization of semantic representation and integration.

The lexical inhibition of the phonological information in Korean visual word recognition

Two Experiments using a primed lexical decision task investigated what types of linguistic information elicits lexical inhibition during visual word recognition of Korean. We measured participants’ reaction times for this task and three prime-target conditions were used: 1) orthographically related 2) phonologically related and 3) control condition. We attempted to examine how lexical competition occurs when prime words had phonological change and whether the inhibition is modulated by word frequency of prime words (Experiment 1), and investigate whether the lexical competition is modulated by lexical status of the prime stimuli (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we showed that the reaction times were slower in the phonologically related condition as compared to the control condition, whereas they were faster in the orthographically related condition relative to the control condition. Moreover, this tendency was more noticeable in the low frequency prime condition relative to the high frequency prime condition. However, neither the inhibitory effect by the phonologically related prime nor the facilitative effect of the orthographically related prime were observed in Experiment 2 in which nonword primes were used, suggesting that the inhibitory priming effect is generated due to lexical competition between the prime and the target within a lexical level, not via a pre-lexical level in Korean visual word recognition.

High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability Linked to Affiliation with a New Group.

This study tests the hypothesis that high levels of high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) predisposes individuals to affiliate with new groups. Resting cardiac physiological recordings were taken before and after experimental sessions to measure trait high-frequency heart rate variability as an index of dispositional autonomic influence on heart rate. Following an experimental manipulation of priming of caring-related words, participants engaged in a minimal group paradigm, in which they imagined being a member of one of two arbitrary groups, allocated money to members of the two groups, and rated their affiliation with the groups. High levels of HF-HRV were associated with ingroup favouritism while allocating money, an effect largely attributable to a positive relationship between HF-HRV and allocation of money to the ingroup, and less due to a negative relationship between HF-HRV and money allocation to the outgroup. HF-HRV was also associated with increased self-reported affiliation feelings for the ingroup but was unrelated to feelings towards the outgroup. These effects remained substantial even after controlling for age, gender, BMI, mood, caffeine consumption, time of day of data collection, smoking and alcohol behaviour, and respiration rate. Further, the effects were observed regardless of whether participants were primed with caring-related words or not. This study is the first to bridge a long history of research on ingroup favouritism to the relatively recent body of research on cardiac vagal tone by uncovering a positive association between HF-HRV and affiliation with a novel group.

Effects of reading proficiency on embedded stem priming in primary school children

Prior evidence from masked morphological priming has revealed conflicting findings regarding the acquisition of morpho-orthographic segmentation mechanisms in developing readers. Here, we examined changes in masked morphological priming across grade within a large sample of French primary school children (n=191, Grades 2–5) and how these effects are modulated by individual differences in reading proficiency, spelling proficiency, and morphological awareness. Target words were preceded by either (a) a suffixed word prime (e.g., tristesse–TRISTE), (b) a suffixed nonword prime (e.g., tristerie–TRISTE), (c) a non-suffixed nonword prime (e.g., tristald–TRISTE), or (d) an unrelated prime (e.g., direction–TRISTE) using very short prime durations (50ms). Moreover, a frequency manipulation was included for suffixes and non-suffixes. The results revealed robust suffixed word priming across all children independent of grade and proficiency. On the other hand, priming in the suffixed and non-suffixed nonword conditions was modulated by reading proficiency, with high-proficiency children showing facilitation and low-proficiency children showing inhibition. The effects of suffix and non-suffix frequency were modulated by grade, with decreasing effects as grade increased. None of the observed priming effects were modulated by grade, spelling proficiency, or morphological awareness. The results suggest that reading proficiency is an important predictor for embedded stem activation mechanisms in primary school children, which we discuss in the context of recent theories of morphological processing.

Gesture and word analysis: the same or different processes?

The present study aimed at determining whether elaboration of communicative signals (symbolic gestures and words) is always accompanied by integration with each other and, if present, this integration can be considered in support of the existence of a same control mechanism. Experiment 1 aimed at determining whether and how gesture is integrated with word. Participants were administered with a semantic priming paradigm with a lexical decision task and pronounced a target word, which was preceded by a meaningful or meaningless prime gesture. When meaningful, the gesture could be either congruent or incongruent with word meaning. Duration of prime presentation (100, 250, 400 ms) randomly varied. Voice spectra, lip kinematics, and time to response were recorded and analyzed. Formant 1 of voice spectra, and mean velocity in lip kinematics increased when the prime was meaningful and congruent with the word, as compared to meaningless gesture. In other words, parameters of voice and movement were magnified by congruence, but this occurred only when prime duration was 250 ms. Time to response to meaningful gesture was shorter in the condition of congruence compared to incongruence. Experiment 2 aimed at determining whether the mechanism of integration of a prime word with a target word is similar to that of a prime gesture with a target word. Formant 1 of the target word increased when word prime was meaningful and congruent, as compared to meaningless congruent prime. Increase was, however, present for whatever prime word duration. Experiment 3 aimed at determining whether symbolic prime gesture comprehension makes use of motor simulation. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation was delivered to left primary motor cortex 100, 250, 500 ms after prime gesture presentation. Motor Evoked Potential of First Dorsal Interosseus increased when stimulation occurred 100 ms post-stimulus. Thus, gesture was understood within 100 ms and integrated with the target word within 250 ms. Experiment 4 excluded any hand motor simulation in order to comprehend prime word. Thus, the same type of integration with a word was present for both prime gesture and word. It was probably successive to understanding of the signal, which used motor simulation for gesture and direct access to semantics for words.

When abuse primes addiction — Automatic activation of alcohol concepts by child maltreatment related cues in emotionally abused alcoholics

IntroductionRecent research indicates that there is a link between emotional maltreatment and alcohol dependence (AD), but the underlying mechanisms still need to be clarified. There is reason to assume that maltreatment related cues automatically activate an associative memory network comprising cues eliciting craving as well as alcohol-related responses. The current study aimed to examine this network in AD patients who experienced emotional abuse using a priming paradigm. MethodsA specific priming effect in emotionally abused AD subjects was hypothesized for maltreatment related words that preceded alcohol related words. 49 AD subjects (n=14 with emotional abuse vs. n=35 without emotional abuse) and 34 control subjects performed a priming task with maltreatment related and neutral prime words combined with alcohol related and neutral target words. Maltreatment related words consisted of socially and physically threatening words. ResultsAs hypothesized, a specific priming effect for socially threatening and physically threatening cues was found only in AD subjects with emotional abuse. ConclusionsThe present data are the first to provide evidence that child maltreatment related cues automatically activate an associative memory network in alcoholics with emotional abuse experiences.

Suggestion-Induced Modulation of Semantic Priming during Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a primed visual lexical decision task, we investigated the neural and functional mechanisms underlying modulations of semantic word processing through hypnotic suggestions aimed at altering lexical processing of primes. The priming task was to discriminate between target words and pseudowords presented 200 ms after the prime word which was semantically related or unrelated to the target. In a counterbalanced study design, each participant performed the task once at normal wakefulness and once after the administration of hypnotic suggestions to perceive the prime as a meaningless symbol of a foreign language. Neural correlates of priming were defined as significantly lower activations upon semantically related compared to unrelated trials. We found significant suggestive treatment-induced reductions in neural priming, albeit irrespective of the degree of suggestibility. Neural priming was attenuated upon suggestive treatment compared with normal wakefulness in brain regions supporting automatic (fusiform gyrus) and controlled semantic processing (superior and middle temporal gyri, pre- and postcentral gyri, and supplementary motor area). Hence, suggestions reduced semantic word processing by conjointly dampening both automatic and strategic semantic processes.

A New View on Foreign Language Learning - 2: A Strong Motor Theory of Language

Three findings from the last years are united into a strong motor theory of language that posits that lexical access in all modalities is performed by executing motor plans on the speech articulators. This theory is used to create a model of novel word learning that distinguishes between words and semiwords to account for the lack of implicit word priming in novel word learning. Semiwords are also used to model L2 words for most learners, as the consequence of having approached L2 learning relying on translation and visual text. This L2 word model is used to illustrate several translation phenomena.

The bolstering effect of conceptual priming on psychological help-seeking attitudes in men

Background: It is a well-established finding that men are often unwilling to engage with mental health services, and that they hold negative attitudes toward psychological help-seeking. Consequently, men’s psychological problems often remain untreated, which in turn can compromise their quality of life.Aims: The present experiment addresses this problem using a conceptual priming paradigm from social psychology called Scrambled Sentence Test as an intervention to change men’s negative attitudes toward psychological help-seeking.Method: The Scrambled Sentence Test works by asking participants to unscramble sentences that unbeknownst to them include priming words – in this case, openness and communication-related words. Sixty-nine men completed the task (with priming or control words) under the instructions of a condition-blind experimenter.Results: The primed group showed more positive attitudes (Mdn = 56.5) toward seeking psychological help compared to controls (Mdn = 40.0), p < 0.01; r = 0.38.Conclusion: The findings are the first to suggest that conceptual priming of this kind can be used an as effective and time-efficient intervention by mental health professionals to encourage men to seek help for psychological problems.

Partial sleep deprivation does not alter processes involved in semantic word priming: Event-related potential evidence

Sleep deprivation has generally been observed to have a detrimental effect on tasks that require sustained attention for successful performance. It might however be possible to counter these effects by altering cognitive strategies. A recent semantic word priming study indicated that subjects used an effortful predictive-expectancy search of semantic memory following normal sleep, but changed to an automatic, effortless strategy following total sleep deprivation. Partial sleep deprivation occurs much more frequently than total sleep deprivation. The present study therefore employed a similar priming task following either 4h of sleep or following normal sleep. The purpose of the study was to determine whether partial sleep deprivation would also lead to a shift in cognitive strategy to compensate for an inability to sustain attention and effortful processing necessary for using the predicative expectancy strategy. Sixteen subjects were presented with word pairs, a prime and a target that were either strongly semantically associated (cat…dog), weakly associated (cow…barn) or not associated (apple…road). The subject’s task was to determine if the target word was semantically associated to the prime. A strong priming effect was observed in both conditions. RTs were slower, accuracy lower, and N400 larger to unassociated targets, independent of the amount of sleep. The overall N400 did not differ as a function of sleep. The scalp distribution of the N400 was also similar following both normal sleep and sleep loss. There was thus little evidence of a difference in the processing of the target stimulus as a function of the amount sleep. Similarly, ERPs in the period between the onset of the prime and the subsequent target also did not differ between the normal sleep and sleep loss conditions. In contrast to total sleep deprivation, subjects therefore appeared to use a common predictive expectancy strategy in both conditions. This strategy does however require an effortful sustaining of attention, and may not have been entirely successful when sleep was restricted. A slight but significant decrease in accuracy was noted.

Women’s Mental Rotation Abilities as a Function of Priming

This study examined how verbal priming of success or failure words influenced the Mental Rotation (MR) performance of women under stereotype threat. Women athletes and non-athletes (N = 67) completed several MR tasks after doing a word scramble that included positive or negative sports terms. The MR performance of athletes was diminished in relation to that of non-athletes when primed with negative sports-related actions. Negative primes also enhanced the performance of non-athletes in relation to their peers who had positive primes, but there were no differences in MR performances under positive priming. Thus, those who identified with a group experienced threat that negatively impacted performance, but non-athletes were unlikely to have been affected by evaluative performance concerns.