Strength and duration of word-completion priming as a function of word repetition and spacing

Abstract

We assessed the effects of stimulus repetition and spacing on the strength and duration of word-completion priming. Subjects studied words presented 4, 16, or 32 times and were then given tests of word-stem completion and recognition memory. The words were presented in one session with an immediate, 2-h, or 24-h test; or in four sessions spaced 2 h apart with a test 24 h after the final session. Other subjects were presented the same set of words 1, 2, or 4 times and were tested immediately after word-list presentation. The subjects tested in the immediate conditions exhibited priming, but the subjects in the delay or spaced conditions did not. The subjects exhibited stronger priming effects after four repetitions of the list words than after only one or two repetitions; however, priming effects were not further increased by 16 or 32 repetitions. In contrast, recognition memory performance declined only slightly across 24 h and improved as the number of repetitions increased from 1 to 32. Word-completion priming following presentation of single words appears to be short-lived and may reach a maximum after a few presentations. © 1990, The psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.