Two loci of repetition priming in the recognition of familiar faces

Four experiments examining the repetition priming of familiar face recognition are reported. The experiments showed that the speed of deciding whether a face is familiar was facilitated by prior presentation of the face, but not by reading the written name or by producing the name in response to a definition. In contrast, reading names and producing names to definitions both primed subsequent naming of the corresponding faces (Experiments 1 and 2). Face naming was primed more by face naming than by either familiarity decisions or naming from description (Experiments 3 and 4). The authors propose that repetition priming of familiar face recognition occurs at 2 distinct loci. The first involves the perceptual recognition of a face as familiar and is domain-specific. The second involves name retrieval and is susceptible to both within- and cross-domain priming.