Associative Priming: Fact or Artifact

Abstract

In a series of experiments on the remembering of a list of words, Schwartz and Rouse demonstrated what they call “associative priming.” By using a special multiple-choice recognition form on which the correct word was mixed with four of its associates they showed that, when Ss make errors, they are more likely to pick stronger associates. They attribute this to unconscious priming of associates. The present series of six experiments suggests that “priming” is an artifact of the multiple-choice form, that Ss grasp the rule by which the incorrect words were selected and apply it when they have forgotten a word.