Priming works by activating anassociationor representation inmemoryjust before another stimulus or task is introduced.
It can affect how you perceive things in the real-world, like influencing how you hear song lyrics.
It can also shape your behavior and how you feel about yourself and others.
Verywell / Hilary Allison
What Is Priming?
There are many different examples of how this priming works.
Priming can work with stimuli that are related in a variety of ways.
For example, priming effects can occur with perceptually, linguistically, or conceptually related stimuli.
Priming can have promising real-world applications as a learning and study aid as well.
Priming is named as such to evoke the imagery of a water well being primed.
Once the well has been primed, water can then be subsequently produced whenever it is turned on.
Once the information has been primed in memory, it can be retrieved into awareness more readily.
Types of Priming in Psychology
There are several different types of priming inpsychology.
Each one works in a specific way and may have different effects.
Positive and Negative Priming
Positive and negative priming describes how priming influences processing speed.
Positive priming makes processing faster and speeds up memory retrieval, while negative priming slows it down.
Semantic Priming
Semantic priming involves words that are associated in a logical or linguistic way.
Associative Priming
Associative priming involves using two stimuli that are normally associated with one another.
Repetition Priming
Repetition priming shows up when a stimulus and response are repeatedly paired.
Perceptual Priming
Perceptual priming involves stimuli that have similar forms.
Conceptual Priming
Conceptual priming involves a stimulus and response that are conceptually related.
Even though the entire stimulus is not visible, it still evokes a response.
Priming suggests that certain schemas tend to be activated in unison.
By activating some units of information, related or connected units also become active.
So, why would it be useful for related schemas to become activated and more accessible?
For example, schemas related to rainstorms and slick roads may be linked closely in memory.
When you see it raining, memories of possible slick road conditions may also come to mind.
Priming Affects Perceptions
The2018 Yanny/Laurel viral phenomenonis one example of how priming can influencehow you perceive information.
An ambiguous sound sample was uploaded by an online user with a poll asking what people heard.
Some people distinctly heard “Yanny,” while others clearly heard “Laurel.”
Some people even reported being able to switch back and forth between the words they heard.
Instead, we utilize what is known astop-down processing.Our brains first recognize some sounds like speech.
Then, our brains utilize context cues to interpret the meaning of these speech sounds.
Why You Mishear Song Lyrics
This can help explain why people often misinterpret song lyrics.
When the sound is ambiguous, your brain fills in the missing information as best it can.
Priming effects can then come into play.
In this case, factors related to sound quality and hearing ability also played a role.
Those who heard Laurel tended to only hear lower-frequency sounds.
Priming participants with these negative aging stereotypes led to increased feelings oflonelinessand an increased frequency of help-seeking.
They then asked participants to recall a list of 30 words.
Adults who had been primed with negative messages had worse memory performance than those who received positive messages.
Being aware of it can help you better recognize when it is happening.
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I’m old!'
How negative aging stereotypes create dependency among older adults.Aging Ment Health.
