The Effect of Target Repetition on Semantic Priming in a Three-Target RSVP Task

Abstract

This study used a rapid serial visual presentation task to examine the impact of target relatedness on report accuracy. In this task participants were shown a series of briefly presented words and were required to identify the three colored target words from the stream of distractor words. In two experiments participants either recalled the three targets words from memory at the end of each trial or recognized the targets from a list of all possible targets. The first target shown on each trial was unrelated to the second or third target. The second and third targets within each stream were semantically related (e.g., dog and cat) on half the trials and unrelated on the other half the trials (e.g., table and cat). The effect of the second and third targets sharing a relationship was examined for Target 3 accuracy. Target 3 accuracy was greater if it was preceded by a related Target 2, compared to when Targets 2 and 3 were unrelated. This shows a semantic priming effect (facilitation effect) for Target 3 accuracy, when the both Target 2 and 3 were identified. In contrast, when Target 2 was missed or incorrectly reported there was no difference in accuracy for related or unrelated target contexts (no priming or facilitation effect for Target 3). These semantic priming effects were evident in the recall and recognition tasks in Experiment 1 and 2. This study shows that a target presented during a rapid serial visual presentation task must be consciously processed to facilitate the report of a subsequently presented target word.

What processes are disrupted during the attentional blink? An integrative review of event-related potential research

“…However, this theoretical consensus may be unwarranted. In contradiction with the postperceptual account, several behavioral studies showed that semantic priming from blinked items is either severely reduced or entirely eliminated (e.g., Martens et al, 2002;Murphy & Bloom, 2015;Zivony & Lamy, 2016). These findings raise the possibility that although semantic processing may occur during the blink, it is weakened to the extent that it may have little effect on downstream processes.…”

“…The findings from N400 studies reviewed here show that semantic processing is most often disrupted during the blink period (Batterink et al, 2010;Giesbrecht et al 2007;Peressotti et al, 2012;Pesciarelli et al, 2007;Rolke et al, 2001;Weller et al, 2018). Considering that many behavioral studies demonstrated that semantic priming is also reduced (e.g., Martens et al, 2002;Murphy & Bloom, 2015;Zivony & Lamy, 2016), it is surprising that the post-perceptual account of the AB was so widely embraced. This state of affairs is likely to result from the implicit assumption that at any given moment, semantic information is either fully represented or not at all, and accordingly, that it should be either unaffected or entirely suppressed by the blink.…”

What processes are disrupted during the attentional blink? An integrative review of event-related potential research

“…However, this theoretical consensus may be unwarranted. In contradiction with the postperceptual account, several behavioral studies showed that semantic priming from blinked items is either severely reduced or entirely eliminated (e.g., Martens et al, 2002;Murphy & Bloom, 2015;Zivony & Lamy, 2016). These findings raise the possibility that although semantic processing may occur during the blink, it is weakened to the extent that it may have little effect on downstream processes.…”

“…The findings from N400 studies reviewed here show that semantic processing is most often disrupted during the blink period (Batterink et al, 2010;Giesbrecht et al 2007;Peressotti et al, 2012;Pesciarelli et al, 2007;Rolke et al, 2001;Weller et al, 2018). Considering that many behavioral studies demonstrated that semantic priming is also reduced (e.g., Martens et al, 2002;Murphy & Bloom, 2015;Zivony & Lamy, 2016), it is surprising that the post-perceptual account of the AB was so widely embraced. This state of affairs is likely to result from the implicit assumption that at any given moment, semantic information is either fully represented or not at all, and accordingly, that it should be either unaffected or entirely suppressed by the blink.…”

Perceptual Processing is Not Spared During the Attentional Blink

“…Likewise, in many behavioral studies, semantic priming either was reduced (Martens, Wolters & van Raamsdonk, 2002; Zivony & Lamy, 2016) or disappeared altogether (Murphy & Bloom, 2015; Rolke et al, 2001; Peressotti et al, 2012) during the blink. For instance, Peressotti et al (2012) used the three-target paradigm developed by Shapiro et al (1997), in which three targets are presented in one stream.…”