From the Guidelines
Priming in memory is a cognitive process where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious awareness, as seen in the word completion task where seeing the word "nurse" makes you more likely to complete the fragment "do_t_r" as "doctor" rather than "duster". This happens because the first word activates related concepts in your semantic network, making them more accessible. Another everyday example is when hearing a song on the radio triggers memories of events that occurred when you last heard that song. Priming works through spreading activation in neural networks, where neurons associated with the prime become partially activated, requiring less additional stimulation to reach full activation when related concepts are encountered.
Key Points
- Priming is a fundamental concept in cognitive psychology that influences our perceptions and responses without conscious awareness.
- The word completion task is a classic example of priming, where the first word activates related concepts in the semantic network.
- Priming occurs through spreading activation in neural networks, making related concepts more accessible.
- Everyday examples of priming include hearing a song on the radio triggering memories of past events.
According to the study by 1, priming nudges were the most frequently evaluated, and were applied in various clinical settings, including hospitals and primary care practices. The study found that priming nudges had a consistent effect on handwashing and test ordering, and were more effective in habitual behaviors.
Clinical Applications
- Priming nudges can be used to improve healthcare providers' implementation of evidence-based guidelines and policies.
- Priming can be applied in various clinical settings, including hospitals and primary care practices.
- The use of priming nudges can lead to improved outcomes, such as increased handwashing and test ordering.
Overall, priming is a powerful cognitive process that can influence our perceptions and responses without conscious awareness, and has important implications for clinical practice and everyday life.
From the Research
Priming in Memory
Priming is a phenomenon in which exposure to a stimulus influences an individual's response to a subsequent stimulus.
- An example of priming in memory can be seen in word association tasks, where the presentation of a cue word can influence the response to a subsequent word 2.
- In one study, participants were presented with semantically ambiguous target words in sentences that biased their interpretation, and then asked to complete a word association task 2.
- The results showed that priming occurred when the cue word was congruent with the interpretation of the target word, but not when it was incongruent.
- Another study found that word association responses can be primed by the participants' own response to the preceding cue, with the proportion of participants providing a particular association increasing when their response to the previous cue is also associated with the current cue 3.
Types of Priming
There are different types of priming, including:
- Repetition priming, where the same word is presented multiple times 4
- Associative priming, where a word is presented that is semantically related to the target word 5, 6
- Conceptual priming, where a word is presented that is conceptually related to the target word 6
Factors Influencing Priming
Priming can be influenced by various factors, including:
- The directionality of associations between words, with bidirectionally associated word pairs showing greater priming than unidirectionally associated pairs 5
- The type of retrieval process, with explicit retrieval processes being more influenced by associative primes than implicit retrieval processes 6