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Semantic Priming Effects in a Lexical Decision Task: Comparing third Graders and College Students in two Different Stimulus Onset Asynchronies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Candice Steffen Holderbaum  and
Jerusa Fumagalli de Salles
Candice Steffen Holderbaum*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
Jerusa Fumagalli de Salles
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
*
Corresponding concerning this article should be addressed to: Candice Steffen Holderbaum. Instituto de Psicologia – UFRGS -Rua Ramiro Barcellos, 2600, Bairro Santa Cecília. 90690-300. Porto Alegre – RS. (Brazil). Phone: +55-51-33085111. E-mail: candibaum@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Differences in the semantic priming effect comparing child and adult performance have been found by some studies. However, these differences are not well established, mostly because of the variety of methods used by researchers around the world. One of the main issues concerns the absence of semantic priming effects on children at stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) smaller than 300ms. The aim of this study was to compare the semantic priming effect between third graders and college students at two different SOAs: 250ms and 500ms. Participants performed lexical decisions to targets which were preceded by semantic related or unrelated primes. Semantic priming effects were found at both SOAs in the third graders' group and in college students. Despite the fact that there was no difference between groups in the magnitude of semantic priming effects when SOA was 250ms, at the 500ms SOA their magnitude was bigger in children, corroborating previous studies. Hypotheses which could explain the presence of semantic priming effects in children's performance when SOA was 250ms are discussed, as well as hypotheses for the larger magnitude of semantic priming effects in children when SOA was 500ms.

Algunos estudios han encontrado diferencias en la comparación del efecto de facilitación semántica entre adultos y niños. No obstante, estas diferencias no están bien establecidas, mayoritariamente debido a la variedad de métodos utilizados por los investigadores de todo el mundo. Uno de los aspectos principales concierne a la ausencia de efectos de facilitación semántica en niños con intervalos entre estímulos (stimulus onset asynchrony; SOA) menores de 300ms. El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar el efecto de facilitación semántica entre alumnos de tercer grado y alumnos de bachillerato con dos SOAs: 250 ms y 500ms. Los participantes completaron decisiones léxicas ante objetivos que fueron precedidos por primes relacionados o no relacionados. Se encontraron efectos de facilitación semántica en los dos SOAs en alumnos de tercer grado y de bachillerato. Pese al hecho de que no hubo diferencias entre los grupos en la magnitud del efecto de facilitación cuando el SOA era de 250 ms, con SOA de 500 ms la magnitud era mayor en niños, corroborando previos estudios. Se discuten las hipótesis que podrían explicar la presencia de efectos de facilitación semántica en la ejecución de niños cuando el SOA era de 250ms, así como las hipótesis para mayor magnitud de efectos de facilitación semántica en niños cuando el SOA era de 500ms.

Keywords

semantic priminglexical decisionchildrenadultsstimulus onset asynchronyfacilitación semánticadecisión léxicaniñosadultosasincronía de presentación de estímulos
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , November 2011 , pp. 589 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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