Negative priming and stimulus repetition: a reply to Neill and Joordens

Negative priming is reliably obtained with repeated items, but not with novel items. Here, we review why these stimulus repetition effects raise problems for memory based theories of negative priming. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence casting doubt on Neill and Joordens's (2002) claimthat perceptual facilitation masks the effects of episodic retrieval with novel items. Finally, we discuss several theoretical and methodological issues raised in the reply by Neill and Joordens. We conclude that a more straightforward interpretation of these stimulus repetition effects is one based on activation-sensitive inhibition.