Critical role of top-down processes and the push-pull mechanism in semantic single negative priming

The present study investigated the roles of bottom-up mask-triggered inhibition and top-down inhibition in semantic categorization using the single negative priming (NP) paradigm. The masking (bottom-up) and ignore instructions (top-down, i.e., instructing participants to ignore the primes) were manipulated in Experiments 1-3 and Experiment 4, respectively. No priming was observed when only the masking was manipulated (Experiments 2 and 3), but NP was observed when a possible top-down ignore strategy (Experiment 1) or an ignore instruction (Experiment 4) was added. The results indicate that bottom-up mask-triggered inhibition cannot elicit semantic single NP by itself. However, top-down inhibition from an ignore instruction or ignore strategy is critical for triggering reliable semantic single NP. The findings suggest that semantic single NP originates from a push-pull mechanism by facilitating responses to unrelated trials and inhibiting responses to related trials. The experimental evidence also suggests that unconscious processes can be modulated by top-down control.