Semantic and repetition priming within the attentional blink: An event related brain potential (ERP) investigation study

Abstract

An attentional blink (AB) paradigm was used to directly compare and contrast semantic and repetition priming to reported versus missed word. Three target words (T1, T2, T3) were embedded among rapidly displayed non-word distractors, and the subjects’ task required the delayed report of each word at the end of the trial. Whereas T1 was not related to either T2 or T3, T2 and T3 could be unrelated words, semantically related words, or identical words. The results indicated semantic and repetition priming effects on T3 in both behavioral and electrophysiological estimates of performance. Semantic and repetition priming effects were independent on the report accuracy of T2, that is, the word most often missed because of a T1-locked attentional blink effect. The results suggest that semantic and repetition priming effects, under rapid serial visual presentation conditions, are modulated by overlapping mechanisms