Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulate Electrophysiological Correlates of Semantic Negative Priming From Single Words.

In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were registered during a semantic negative priming (NP) task in participants with higher and lower working memory capacity (WMC). On each trial participants had to actively ignore a briefly presented single prime word, which was followed either immediately or after a delay by a mask. Thereafter, either a semantically related or an unrelated target word was presented, to which participants made a semantic categorization judgment.

Spatial Recognition Memory: Differential Brain Strategic Activation According to Sex.

Human spatial memory research has significantly progressed since the development of computerized tasks, with many studies examining sex-related performances. However, few studies explore the underlying electrophysiological correlates according to sex. In this study event-related potentials were compared between male and female participants during the performance of an allocentric spatial recognition task.

Working memory capacity modulates expectancy-based strategic processing: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence.

The present research measured participants' event-related brain activity while they performed a Stroop-priming task that induced the implementation of expectancy-based strategic processes. Participants identified a colored (red vs. green) target patch preceded by a prime word (GREEN or RED), with incongruent prime-target pairings being more frequent (75 %) than congruent pairs (25 %).

Implicit outcomes expectancies shape memory process: Electrophysiological evidence.

The simple manipulation of pairing specific outcomes with the sample stimuli strongly affects discriminative learning and memory processes. This procedure has been named the Differential Outcomes Procedure (DOP) and is usually compared to a control condition (the non-differential procedure, NOP) consisting in the random administration of the outcomes after each correct response. Recent research has revealed that the DOP effect arises even under unconscious conditions.

Electrophysiological correlates of the differential outcomes effect in visual short-term memory.

The differential outcomes procedure (DOP) consists in applying a specific outcome after each discriminative stimulus-correct response pairing, leading to improved performance in both memory and learning tasks (faster acquisition and/or higher response accuracy), compared to the non-differential outcomes procedure (NOP). The main aim of this study was to explore the electrophysiological correlates (ERPs) of the DOP in a visual short-term memory task, and to test whether a differential activation pattern would be observed depending on the outcomes condition (DOP vs. NOP).

Semantic Negative Priming From an Ignored Single-Prime Depends Critically on Prime-Mask Inter-Stimulus Interval and Working Memory Capacity.

The aim of this study is to examine the link between working memory capacity and the ability to exert cognitive control. Here, participants with either high or low working memory capacity (WMC) performed a semantic negative priming (NP) task as a measure of cognitive control. They were required to ignore a single prime word followed by a pattern mask appearing immediately or after a delay.

The implementation of expectancy-based strategic processes is delayed in normal aging.

The present research examined if the time needed to implement expectancy-based strategic processes is different in younger and healthy older adults. In four experiments participants from both age groups performed different strategic priming tasks. These included a greater proportion of incongruent (or unrelated; 80%) than of congruent (or related; 20%) trials.

Expectancy-Based Strategic Processes Are Influenced by Spatial Working Memory Load and Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity.

The present research examined whether imposing a high (or low) working memory (WM) load in different types of non-verbal WM tasks could affect the implementation of expectancy-based strategic processes in a sequential verbal Stroop task. Participants had to identify a colored (green vs. red) target patch that was preceded by a prime word (GREEN or RED), which was either incongruent or congruent with the target color on 80% and 20% of the trials, respectively.

The Influence of Working Memory Load on Expectancy-Based Strategic Processes in the Stroop-Priming Task.

The present study investigated whether a differential availability of cognitive control resources as a result of varying working memory (WM) load could affect the capacity for expectancy-based strategic actions. Participants performed a Stroop-priming task in which a prime word (GREEN or RED) was followed by a colored target (red vs. green) that participants had to identify.

Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulates Semantic Negative Priming from Single Prime Words.

The present study investigated whether semantic negative priming from single prime words depends on the availability of cognitive control resources. Participants with high vs. low working memory capacity (as assessed by their performance in complex span and attentional control tasks) were instructed to either attend to or ignore a briefly presented single prime word that was followed by either a semantically related or unrelated target word on which participants made a lexical decision.

The semantic origin of unconscious priming: Behavioral and event-related potential evidence during category congruency priming from strongly and weakly related masked words.

The mechanisms underlying masked congruency priming, semantic mechanisms such as semantic activation or non-semantic mechanisms, for example response activation, remain a matter of debate. In order to decide between these alternatives, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in the present study, while participants performed a semantic categorization task on visible word targets that were preceded either 167 ms (Experiment 1) or 34 ms before (Experiment 2) by briefly presented (33 ms) novel (unpracticed) masked prime words. The primes and targets belonged to different categories (unrelated), or they were either strongly or weakly semantically related category co-exemplars.

Subliminal Gestalt grouping: evidence of perceptual grouping by proximity and similarity in absence of conscious perception.

Previous studies making use of indirect processing measures have shown that perceptual grouping can occur outside the focus of attention. However, no previous study has examined the possibility of subliminal processing of perceptual grouping. The present work steps forward in the study of perceptual organization, reporting direct evidence of subliminal processing of Gestalt patterns.

Unconscious congruency priming from unpracticed words is modulated by prime-target semantic relatedness.

Participants performed a 2-choice categorization task on visible word targets that were preceded by novel (unpracticed) prime words. The prime words were presented for 33 ms and followed either immediately (Experiments 1-3) or after a variable delay (Experiments 1 and 4) by a pattern mask. Both subjective and objective measures of prime visibility were used in all experiments.

Influence of spatial attention on conscious and unconscious word priming.

We used a qualitative dissociation procedure to assess semantic priming from spatially attended and unattended masked words. Participants categorized target words that were preceded by parafoveal prime words belonging to either the same (20%) or the opposite (80%) category as the target. Using this paradigm, only non-strategic use of the prime would result in facilitation of the target responses in related trials.

Semantic priming effects from single words in a lexical decision task.

The present research examines the semantic priming effects of a centrally presented single prime word to which participants were instructed to either "attend and remember" or "ignore". The prime word was followed by a central probe target on which the participants made a lexical decision task. The main variables manipulated across experiments were prime duration (50 or 100 ms), the presence or absence of a mask following the prime, and the presence (or absence) and type of distractor stimulus (random set of consonants or pseudowords) on the probe display.

Semantic activation in the absence of perceptual awareness.

Participants performed a semantic categorization task on a target that was preceded by a prime word belonging either to the same category (20% of trials) or to a different category (80% of trials). The prime was presented for 33 msec and followed either immediately or after a delay by a pattern mask. With the immediate mask, reaction times (RTs) were shorter on related than on unrelated trials.

Repetition priming effects from attended vs. ignored single words in a semantic categorization task.

The present research examines priming effects from a centrally presented single-prime word to which participants were instructed to either attend or ignore. The prime word was followed by a single central target word to which participants made a semantic categorization (animate vs. inanimate) task.

Influence of prime-target relationship on semantic priming effects from words in a lexical-decision task.

The present research examines the influence of prime-target relationship (associative and categorical versus categorical only) on priming effects from attended and ignored parafoveal words. Participants performed a lexical-decision task on a single central target, which was preceded by two parafoveal prime words, one of which (the attended prime) was spatially precued. The results showed reliable positive and negative priming effects from attended and ignored words, respectively.

Perception without awareness: further evidence from a Stroop priming task.

In the present research, we examined the influence of prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) on Stroop-priming effects from masked words. Participants indicated the color of a central target, which was preceded by a 33-msec prime word followed either immediately or after a variable delay by a pattern mask. The prime word was incongruent or congruent with the target color on 75% and 25% of the trials, respectively.