Abstract
Compound-cue theory predicts that lexical decisions are slower to word targets preceded by a nonword than to word targets preceded by an unrelated word. This nonword-prime inhibition effect is not predicted by spreading-activation theories. R. Ratcliff and G. McKoon (1995) obtained nonword-prime inhibition, whereas T. P. McNamara (1994b) failed to obtain it. In the present study, for both a 200-ms and 350-ms prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony, nonword-prime inhibition was obtained for participants who, as in Ratcliff and McKoon's research, received instructions that mentioned that prime and target could be related. No nonword-prime inhibition was found for participants who, as in McNamara's research, received instructions that did not mention the possibility of a prime-target relation. Neither compound cue nor spreading activation can explain this pattern. The possibility that nonword-prime inhibition results from response competition is discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1068-1079 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 1998 |
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