Is repetition priming accessing the same lexical entry twice?

Abstract

Is repetition priming accessing the same lexical entry twice? The answer to the question is crucial to lexical models. Using masked lexical decision tasks, Forster and Davis (1984) concluded that the repetition effect is not just accessing the same lexical entry twice. However, they suggested more evidence needed to show whether context items can produce long term, frequency sensitive effect whether masked or unmasked. The present study, using the MAZE task, is a follow-up of their study. The specific question tested is: Will there be repetition priming in the MAZE task if ungrammatical alternatives later appeared as grammatical alternatives? Results showed that repetition priming was statistically significant if the target words are correct alternatives in a later sentence again but was not significant if ungrammatical alternatives later appeared as grammatical alternatives. This suggests repetition priming shouldn’t be automatically taken as accessing the same lexical entry twice.