Evidence for multiple mechanisms of conceptual priming on implicit memory tests

J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1997 Nov;23(6):1324-43. doi: 10.1037//0278-7393.23.6.1324.

Abstract

The authors examined effects of encoding manipulations on 4 conceptual-implicit memory tasks: word-cued association, category-cued association, category verification, and abstract/concrete classification. Study-phase conceptual elaboration enhanced priming for word-cued association with weakly associated words (Experiment 3), and for category-cued association with high- and low-dominance exemplars (Experiments 4 and 5), but did not enhance priming for word-cued association with strongly associated words (Experiments 1 and 2), for category verification with high- and low-dominance exemplars (Experiment 5), or for abstract/concrete classification (Experiment 7). Forms of priming that were unaffected by conceptual elaboration were not mediated by perceptual processes because they were unaffected by study-test modality changes (Experiments 6 and 8). The dissociative effects of conceptual elaboration on conceptual-implicit tasks suggest that at least 2 dissociable mechanisms mediate conceptual priming.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Memory*
  • Mental Recall
  • Psychological Tests*
  • Vocabulary