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Shared neighborhood effects in masked orthographic priming
W J van Heuven1, T Dijkstra, J Grainger
1NICI, University of Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. heuven@nici.kun.nl
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|May 9, 2001
Summary
This study reveals that shared neighbors between masked primes and target words significantly influence form-priming effects in lexical decision tasks. The density of these shared neighbors predicts the magnitude of priming observed.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Computational Linguistics
Background:
- Masked form-priming effects are influenced by orthographic relationships between primes and target words.
- Previous explanations focused on target word neighborhood characteristics, but prime-target interactions are also crucial.
- The interactive activation model suggests shared neighbors play a key role in priming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and test a new account of masked form-priming effects based on shared prime-target neighborhoods.
- To investigate how shared neighbors, activated by both prime and target, impact lexical decisions.
- To determine if shared neighborhood density predicts the size of priming effects.
Main Methods:
- A masked priming experiment was conducted.
- The experiment manipulated the shared neighborhood density of complete primes.
- Lexical decisions to target words served as the primary measure.
Main Results:
- The study confirmed that shared neighborhood density significantly influences masked form-priming effects.
- A greater density of shared neighbors led to larger priming effects.
- The findings support the interactive activation model's predictions.
Conclusions:
- Shared neighborhood density is a critical factor in masked form-priming.
- This provides a new framework for understanding orthographic priming.
- The interactive activation model effectively explains these observed priming effects.