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Priming in sentence processing: intralexical spreading activation, schemas, and situation models
M J Traxler1, D J Foss, R E Seely
1Psychology Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA. traxlerm@gwm.sc.edu
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|February 24, 2001
Summary
Priming in natural language understanding is primarily driven by direct word repetition (identity priming), not by semantic associations or schemas. This finding challenges existing theories of how we process language in real-time reading.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Computational Linguistics
Background:
- Priming effects in natural language understanding are typically explained by intralexical spreading activation, schema-based activation, or situation model integration.
- Previous research has explored various priming mechanisms, including associative, semantic, and identity priming, often in controlled laboratory settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms of priming during naturalistic language comprehension using eye-tracking.
- To differentiate between intralexical spreading activation, schema-based priming, and situation model accounts.
- To examine the influence of prime type (associates, synonyms, identity) and semantic plausibility on processing times.
Main Methods:
- Eye-tracking experiments were conducted to measure processing times for target words.
- Prime types included associated words, synonyms, and identical words.
- Semantic plausibility was manipulated by varying sentence continuations (plausible vs. implausible).
- Measures included first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total reading time.
Main Results:
- Identity primes significantly speeded target word processing in early measures (first fixation, gaze duration).
- Associates and synonyms did not show significant priming effects in early processing.
- Semantic plausibility effects were more prominent in later processing measures (total reading time), with some early evidence.
- Priming effects were modulated by both prime type and semantic plausibility.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that direct repetition (identity priming) is a key driver of priming in naturalistic reading.
- Intralexical spreading activation and schema-based activation may not fully account for priming observed in realistic language processing.
- Situation model integration plays a role, particularly in later stages of comprehension, influencing how semantic plausibility affects processing.