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Item Backward associative priming relies on an automatic semantic matching process(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Calcaterra, Ryan David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Keith A. HutchisonBackward (BA) priming, which is the facilitated recognition of targets that have a backward association with the prime (e.g., baby-stork), is said to occur due to a semantic matching process that is only engaged in the LDT at long SOAs (Neely, Keefe, & Ross, 1989). However, BA priming occurs at short SOAs and in other tasks (Kahan, Neely, & Forsythe, 1999), suggesting that it may rely on an automatic process. A lexical decision task was administered in which a nonword relatedness proportion (NWRP) was created, such that 50% of nonwords were related to their primes (e.g., boy-girk), and participants were warned that checking for a relation will not be helpful for task performance. For unmasked (but not masked) primes, BA priming occurred even when conditions (i.e., high NWRP and warning) decreased the utility of a semantic matching strategy. This suggests that BA priming relies on an automatic semantic matching process that requires a conscious prime. Furthermore, analyses of integrative priming (e.g., log-house) suggest that INT priming relies on a hybrid prospective/retrospective process.Item Semantic activation without awareness : still no reliable evidence(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Bengson, Jesse Jon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Keith A. HutchisonThree experiments were conducted to examine whether semantic association contributes to unconscious priming. Experiment 1 used exclusion instructions in which participants were told to avoid completing the stem (e.g. mo---) with a word related to a masked prime (e.g. cash) flashed for 0, 38, or 212 ms. Significant semantic priming was found only in the items analysis when data was averaged across participants. In the subjects analysis, this performance was moderated by participantsα ability to report the prime. Experiment 2 used a free association task to examine unconscious semantic priming. Participants were instructed to respond to a target homograph (e.g. pupil) with the first word that came to mind that is not related to the meaning of the flashed word (e.g. student). No significant unconscious semantic priming was found. Experiment 3 replicated the conditions previously used to demonstrate unconscious semantic priming and show that such priming is due to methodological problems. The same methodology as Experiment 2 was used except participants were given inclusion instead of exclusion instructions. Significant priming was found across all trials; however, this priming dissolved when only the trials where participants failed to report the prime were examined. The results of all experiments suggest that unconscious semantic priming from word stimuli is a result of residual conscious awareness of the prime.