Date of Award
2001
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Janet L. McDonald
Abstract
In three experiments the effect of ease of prime word access on semantic priming was investigated. Ease of prime access was manipulated by prime word frequency, by prime degradation, and by prime repetition. Primes accessed faster (high frequency prime words, repeated primes) should produce larger priming than those accessed more slowly (low frequency prime words, degraded prime words). The time course of priming was also examined by comparing a 150 ms SOA to a 500 ms. The results partially supported the hypothesis. There was a prime word frequency effect on priming in both short and long SOA conditions. High frequency prime words tended to produce greater priming than low frequency prime words regardless of available prime processing time. Slowing or accelerating prime processing speed by degradation and repetition respectively did not have effects on priming. The manipulation of word frequency affects both lexical and semantic processes while manipulations of degradation and repetition affect mainly the lexical process of word recognition. These results suggest that semantic access to prime words, rather than lexical access, has an effect on semantic priming.
Recommended Citation
Imai, Satomi, "The Effect of Prime Word Processing on the Semantic Priming Effect." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 241.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/241
ISBN
9780493213828
Pages
140
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.241