Priming is a phenomenon in psychology where the exposure to a stimulus (priming stimulus) influences the subsequent response to a related stimulus (target stimulus). It is an essential concept in understanding how our brain processes information and how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be subtly influenced by external factors.
Priming effects play a significant role in various aspects of everyday life, from advertising and media consumption to social interactions and decision-making processes. While often subtle and unconscious, these effects can have a profound impact on our thoughts and actions.
Priming effect creation is generally dependent on the existence of some positive or negative link between priming and target stimuli. For example, the term “drill” may be recognized more quickly after the word “fire” than after the word “chandelier”.
Types of Priming
As a topic in psychology, priming has been subjected to considerable scrutiny and debate. Despite the challenges in replicating some priming studies, the phenomenon holds significant value in understanding the complexity of the human brain and its capability to process and integrate vast amounts of information from the environment.
There are two main types of priming: semantic priming and perceptual priming.
Perceptual Priming
Perceptual priming is a type of priming in which a stimulus influences the processing of a later encountered stimulus through shared perceptual features. This phenomenon occurs when exposure to the initial stimulus facilitates the recognition or processing of a related stimulus.
For example, if a person sees the word “apple,” they might be quicker to recognize the word “fruit” in a subsequent task due to the shared perceptual features, such as shape and colour, between the two stimuli.
Conceptual Priming
Conceptual priming occurs when a priming stimulus affects the processing of a later encountered target stimulus based on a shared meaning or concept. It differs from perceptual priming as it involves activating related concepts rather than shared perceptual features.
An example would be if a person reads about cars, they may be more likely to recognize the word “automobile” in a word recognition task because the concepts of cars and automobiles are categorically related.
Semantic Priming
Semantic priming is a specific type of conceptual priming that involves the facilitation in processing a target word due to its semantic relationship with a prior word. In this type of priming, the association between the prime and the target is based on their shared meaning.
For instance, if the word “dog” is presented as a prime, participants may respond faster to the target word “cat” since both words are semantically related as they belong to the same category of animals.
When an individual processes a word, that word may be influenced if the preceding word is semantically related. Previous research has concentrated on priming effects with a rapid rise time and a rapid fade period.
Donald Foss, for example, conducted an experiment in the early nineteen eighties on the decay duration of semantic facilitation in lists and phrases. Three studies were conducted, and it was discovered that semantic links between words alter when they appear in sentences rather than lists. As a result, the ongoing dialogue model is supported.
Positive and Negative Priming
Positive and negative priming refer to the effects of priming on processing speed. A positive prime accelerates processing, whereas a negative prime slows it down to unprimed levels.
Negative priming is caused by experiencing the stimulus and then ignoring it. Positive priming is caused by merely experiencing the stimulus. Positive priming effects occur regardless of whether or not the prime is consciously perceived.
Numerous models have been proposed to explain negative priming, but the distractor inhibition and episodic retrieval models are presently the most widely accepted. In the distractor inhibition model, the brain inhibits the activation of neglected stimuli.
The episodic retrieval model postulates that the brain flags neglected items with a ‘do-not-respond’ label. When the brain attempts to retrieve this information in the future, the marker creates a conflict. The length of time required to resolve this conflict induces negative priming.
Masked Priming
Masked priming is a technique where the prime is presented very briefly and followed immediately by a mask, making it difficult or impossible for the participant to perceive the prime consciously. This type of priming allows researchers to study the effects of unconscious processing on various cognitive tasks, such as word recognition or decision-making.
For example, when a masked prime word “flower” is briefly presented before a target word “rose,” the participant may be quicker to recognize the target word despite being unaware of the presence of the prime.
Associative Priming
Associative priming occurs when a prime stimulus is linked to a target stimulus through an associative relationship, such as a common action or function. This type of priming can be observed when exposure to a prime, like “hammer,” leads to a faster recognition of a target word, such as “nail,” due to the association between the two stimuli.
Associative priming can involve both perceptual and conceptual links between the prime and target stimuli, making it a versatile mechanism for understanding how our cognitive processes are interconnected.
Priming and Memory
One of the key aspects of priming involves its connection to long-term memory., which can be divided into declarative memory and non-declarative memory, also known as implicit memory. Declarative (explicit) memory involves consciously recalling facts or events, while implicit memory is unconscious and includes skills, habits, and priming.
When a stimulus activates a mental representation in long-term memory, it can affect the processing of subsequent stimuli. For example, if a person is exposed to the word “dog,” it might activate a memory representation of dogs in their brain. If they are then asked to complete the word fragment “_ _g,” they are more likely to fill in the blanks with “do” to form “dog” than to choose another option such as “fog.”
Priming research has provided insights into how our brain stores information and how the accessibility of memory influences our behaviour and decision-making. It can help us better understand the automatic processes that shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions without our conscious awareness.
Priming and Sensory Perception
Priming can influence our auditory senses by temporarily enhancing our ability to perceive and process sounds. In a 2022 study on the effects of experimentally priming attachment security, it was found that security priming led to more accurate sensory perception and improved thresholds for both young and older adults. This indicates that priming can have a notable impact on hearing ability and the processing of auditory information.
Facial Recognition
Priming also plays a significant role in face recognition, as it can affect our perceptual processing of facial features and contribute to the ease with which we identify and categorize faces.
Pareidolia is a phenomenon related to face recognition and priming, where ambiguous visual stimuli are perceived as containing meaningful patterns, such as faces. One study on paranormal experiences and sensory-processing sensitivity demonstrated that a simple instructional prime could lead to a perceptual shift, resulting in more instances of pareidolia.
In addition, priming can influence our perception and processing of faces in certain visual-spatial contexts. For example, visual-spatial priming has been shown to result in changes to sensory-evoked brain potentials, indicating adjustments in perceptual processing. This suggests that priming may affect our ability to efficiently recognize faces in various spatial contexts.
Word Recognition
Priming occurs in the perceptual context of word recognition when exposure to a particular word or set of words influences the way a person processes or responds to subsequent words. This phenomenon can be observed in both positive and negative priming.
For instance, when a person encounters a stimulus (repetition priming), it activates certain mental pathways that facilitate the recognition of related words and concepts. Alternatively, in negative priming, the processing of a word is inhibited due to the initial exposure to an ignored or incompatible word.
Factors that contribute to priming effects on word recognition include:
- Interstimulus interval: The time between stimulus presentations can impact the strength of the priming effect
- Stimulus consistency: The more closely related the prime and target words are, the stronger the priming effect.
- Contextual factors: The presence of other words or images within the context may alter the priming effect one would experience in isolation
Linguistics in Priming
In the language processing field, priming emerges through the facilitation of word recognition and the activation of related concepts, ultimately impacting how information is processed and retrieved. One key aspect of linguistic priming involves the recognition of words and non-words.
Words are meaningful strings of letters, while non-words are letter combinations that do not carry meaning. During linguistic processing, individuals can identify words more quickly if they have been primed with semantically related words or word fragments.
For instance, if a person is exposed to the word “cat,” they are more likely to recognize the word “dog” faster compared to an unrelated word like “chair.” This phenomenon demonstrates the interconnected nature of semantic processing in which concepts are linked within the brain, allowing for faster retrieval and comprehension.
Priming not only occurs with real words but also with non-words, as the brain processes strings of letters regardless of their meaning. Similar to word priming, non-word recognition can be facilitated through exposure to related letter strings or phonological patterns. This indicates that both semantic and phonological processing contribute to priming effects in language.
Moreover, linguistic priming extends beyond individual words, influencing various aspects of language processing such as lexical selection, syntactic processing, and sentence comprehension. For example, priming can occur at the sentence level, where a sentence with certain structures or phrases can facilitate the processing of subsequent sentences with similar structures.
Priming in Social Behaviour
Priming can sometimes lead to the formation or perpetuation of moral panics ─ an exaggerated or irrational fear of deviant social behaviours. These panics often arise from sensationalist news coverage or the manipulation of stereotypes by influential figures. Moral panics can exacerbate prejudice and discrimination within society by activating particular negative thoughts or fears.
For instance, stereotype activation in media portrayals of certain groups can lead to the association of these groups with negative behaviours, even if such portrayals do not accurately reflect the reality of these individuals or communities. When moral panics are sparked by priming, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to remain objective and rational in their assessment of the situation.
Another aspect of social behaviour that priming can affect is the way people perceive money and its influence on their attitudes and decision-making processes. Simply being exposed to money-related stimuli can alter one’s political views and overall attitudes toward various issues.
In some cases, nonconscious priming with monetary symbols or concepts may elicit a more conservative mindset in individuals, leading them to prioritize materialistic values and potentially disregard the needs of others. This could result in decreased empathy and a stronger focus on self-interest when making decisions. Conversely, the absence of money-related cues can foster more prosocial behaviour, enabling individuals to be more attuned to others’ needs and encouraging cooperation.
References:
- Bargh JA, Chartrand TL (2000). Studying the Mind in the Middle: A Practical Guide to Priming and Automaticity Research. In Reis H, Judd C (eds.). Handbook of Research Methods in Social Psychology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press
- Doyen, S., Klein, O., Simons, D. J., & Cleeremans, A. (2014). On the other side of the mirror: Priming in cognitive and social psychology. In D. C. Molden (Ed.), Understanding priming effects in social psychology. The Guilford Press ISBN: 978-1462519293
- Dijksterhuis, A., Chartrand, T. L., & Aarts, H. (2007). Effects of Priming and Perception on Social Behavior and Goal Pursuit. In J. A. Bargh (Ed.), Social psychology and the unconscious: The automaticity of higher mental processes. Psychology Press
- Foss, Donald (April 23, 1982). A discourse on semantic priming. Cognitive Psychology. 14 (4): 590–607. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(82)90020-2
- Kruglanski AW, Higgins ET (2007). Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. Guilford Press. ISBN 9781572309180
- Molden, D. C. (2014). Understanding priming effects in social psychology: What is “social priming” and how does it occur? In D. C. Molden (Ed.), Understanding priming effects in social psychology. The Guilford Press
- Nagar, S., Mikulincer, M., Nitsan, G., & Ben-David, B. M. (2022). Safe and Sound: The Effects of Experimentally Priming the Sense of Attachment Security on Pure-Tone Audiometric Thresholds Among Young and Older Adults. Psychological Science, 33(3), 424–432
- Williams JM, Blagrove M (2022) Paranormal experiences, sensory-processing sensitivity, and the priming of pareidolia. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0274595.
Last Updated on September 15, 2023