Priming effects in lexical decision tasks usually have been explained by spreading activation theories like Anderson's (1983) ACT*. However, especially during the last decade, this explanation of the priming phenomenon has been challenged by compound-cue theories. Growing evidence, for instance the nonword inhibition effect (Ratcliff & McKoon, 1995), caused difficulties for spreading activation theories. But results were contradictory and therefore a final resolution of the debate could not be achieved. The discussion over the two approaches is also complicated by the fact that most priming effects can be explained by both theories, albeit with different explanations. The present study therefore concentrates not on possible priming effects, but on different working assumptions of the two models. Whereas spreading activation theories assume that priming is a result of diffusing activation in long-term memory, compound-cue models assume that priming results from a formation process of prime and target in a short-term store. These different assumptions of the two theories regarding the locus of priming were tested. A double lexical decision task was combined with a digit span task. The digit length varied from low to high and the prime item was either a word related or unrelated to the target item or a nonword. As expected, results showed a significant priming effect for related (as opposed to unrelated) word primes. A nonword inhibition effect (Ratcliff & McKoon, 1995) was predicted by compound-cue theories but not by spreading activation theories. The results showed a nonword inhibition effect even higher than the priming effect between words. The compound-cue theory predicted an interaction between the digit span task and the priming effects, whereas the spreading activation theory ACT* (Anderson, 1983) did not. No interaction was found. Possible reasons for the results and modifications of the two theories were discussed.

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Beer, A. L. & Diehl, V. A. (2001). The role of short term-memory in semantic priming. Journal of General Psychology, 128 (3), 329-350. (siehe Veröffentlichungen)