ERIC Number: EJ1110215
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Aug
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Long-Term Priming of Visual Search Prevails against the Passage of Time and Counteracting Instructions
Kruijne, Wouter; Meeter, Martijn
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v42 n8 p1293-1303 Aug 2016
Studies on "intertrial priming" have shown that in visual search experiments, the preceding trial automatically affects search performance: facilitating it when the target features repeat and giving rise to switch costs when they change--so-called (short-term) intertrial priming. These effects also occur at longer time scales: When 1 of 2 possible target colors is more frequent during an experiment block, this results in a prolonged and persistent facilitation for the color that was biased, long after the frequency bias is gone--so-called long-term priming. In this study, we explore the robustness of such long-term priming. In Experiment 1, participants were fully informed of the bias and instructed to prioritize the other unbiased color. Despite these instructions, long-term priming of the biased color persisted in this block, suggesting that guidance by long-term priming is an implicit effect. In Experiment 2, long-term priming was built up in 1 experimental session and was then assessed in a second session a week later. Long-term priming persisted across this week, emphasizing that long-term priming is truly a phenomenon of long-term memory. The results support the view that priming results from the automatic and implicit retrieval of memory traces of past trials.
Descriptors: Priming, Color, Bias, Long Term Memory, Visual Perception, College Students, Foreign Countries, Time, Statistical Analysis, Reaction Time, Accuracy, Bayesian Statistics
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands (Amsterdam)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A