Lexical Access and Semantic Priming

Lexical access is the retrieval of a word's stored information, and semantic priming is the finding that this retrieval is faster when a related word has just been processed.

Definition

The retrieval of lexical-semantic information from the mental lexicon and the facilitation of that retrieval by related prior context (priming).

Scope

This topic covers how stored lexical-semantic information is retrieved, the priming phenomena used to probe lexical organization, and the mechanisms (automatic spreading activation versus strategic, expectancy-based processes) proposed to explain them. It describes the experimental findings and theories of semantic memory organization.

Core questions

• How is lexical-semantic information retrieved during word recognition?
• Why does a related prime speed recognition of a target word?
• Which priming effects are automatic and which are strategic?

Key concepts

• spreading activation
• semantic priming
• prime and target
• stimulus-onset asynchrony
• automatic versus strategic processing

Key theories

Spreading-activation theory of semantic memory

Collins and Loftus's model in which concepts are nodes in a network and activation spreads along links, so related concepts become more available, explaining semantic priming.

Automatic and strategic priming

Neely's framework distinguishing fast, automatic spreading-activation priming from slower, attention-dependent expectancy and post-lexical processes.

History

Meyer and Schvaneveldt's 1971 discovery of semantic priming and Collins and Loftus's 1975 spreading-activation theory established the paradigm; Neely's 1991 review systematized the automatic-strategic distinction that organizes later work.

Debates

Automatic spreading activation versus strategic priming

Whether semantic priming reflects automatic activation spreading through a semantic network or controlled, expectancy-based and post-lexical processes.

Key figures

• David Meyer
• Roger Schvaneveldt
• Allan Collins
• James Neely

Seminal works

• meyerschvaneveldt1971
• collinsloftus1975
• neely1991

Frequently asked questions

What is semantic priming?

It is the speeding of recognition of a word (such as 'nurse') when it is preceded by a related word (such as 'doctor'), used to study how meanings are organized and accessed.