February 1984
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62 Reads
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97 Citations
Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior
Cross-form priming of words by pictures was compared to within-form priming of words by words in a lexical decision task. For prime—target pairs containing repetitions of a concept or semantically related concepts, pictures provided priming of word targets in magnitudes at least as large as the priming provided by words themselves. Such equivalent priming by surface forms occurred for concrete word targets and for abstract word targets in pairs comprising a variety of semantic associations. Recognition memory for pairs in the lexical decision task revealed both form-dependent and form-independent components in the episodic trace. The results are interpreted as consistent with a single system of semantic representation accessed in common by both surface forms, rather than separate form-specific semantic systems.