| Description |
Researchers have investigated automatic human information processing using a variety of different paradigms. Different theories have been proposed to account for automaticity in these various domains. Not only do these theories differ conceptually, but their methodologies differ substantially. The present research investigates whether two methods of studying automaticity (i.e., semantic priming (Neely, 1977) and consistent practice in a memory search task (Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977) share an underlying relationship. This study combines both paradigms to test for such a relation. Both before and after extended practice in a memory search task, subjects performed a semantic priming task with the same stimulus materials used in the memory search task. Consistently mapped practice in the memory search task (which leads to automatic processing) produced changes in semantic priming whereas variably mapped practice in the memory search task (which does not develop into automatic processes) did not. These results provide support for our hypothesis that there is an underlying relationship between these two ways of studying automaticity. |
