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Context-dependent semantic priming in number naming. (English)
J. Exp. Psychol.: Learn. Mem. Cogn. 35, No. 6, 1552-1556 (2009).
Summary: Previous research has shown that time to name single-digit Arabic numbers is about 15 ms slower when naming trials are interleaved with simple multiplication (e.g., state product of 2 x 3) than when naming digits is interleaved with magnitude comparison (e.g., state larger; {\it 2\uparrow 3}). To explain this phenomenon, Campbell and Metcalfe proposed that the comparison context enables both semantic and asemantic pathways for digit naming but that number-fact retrieval inhibits the semantic route and slows digit naming relative to the comparison context. To test this hypothesis, the authors modified the naming context paradigm by introducing a semantic priming manipulation. They replicated the digit-naming response time advantage for comparison relative to the multiplication context and observed semantic priming only in the comparison context. In comparison blocks, digit naming was 8 ms faster immediately after naming near digit primes ($\pm 1$) compared to far primes ($\ge 3$), but in multiplication blocks there was no priming. The results reinforce the theory that number-fact retrieval can inhibit the semantic route for digit naming (Cohen, Dehaene) and thereby reconfigure the cognitive architecture for naming digits.
Classification: C30 C80 F30