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| Research article summary (published 27 Feb 2003): |
Are implicitly activated associates selectively activated?
Full Abstract
What constitutes a word's associative past? Words differ in how many associates they activate in memory and, following a brief encounter, those with fewer associates are more likely to be recalled in the presence of related cues. The issue addressed in the present article is whether associative set size effects are produced through the selective activation of strong associates or through the activation of both strong and weak associates. The set size of the strongest associates was varied factorially with the set size of the associates of these associates. We assume that associate set size indexes a word's weaker associates. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that recall varied inversely with both target and associate set sizes. Such results held over variations in study time and participant age. Experiment 3 showed that weak associates of the target had a greater effect on recall when there were more connections among the strongest associates in the set. The findings suggest that activation is not strength selective but includes both weak and strong associates.
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Author information
Author/s: Nelson, Douglas L (DL); McKinney, Vanesa M (VM); McEvoy, Cathy L (CL);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620-8200, USA. dnelson2(-atsign-)chuma1.cas.usf.edu
Grants: AG13973 (Agency:United States NIA) ; MH16360 (Agency:United States NIMH)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Journal: Psychonomic bulletin & review (Psychon Bull Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Mar; vol 10 (issue 1) : pp 118-24
Dates: Created 2003/05/15; Completed 2003/08/05; Revised 2007/11/14;
PMID: 12747498, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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