LEVEL OF PROCESSING AFFECTS PRIMING IN WORD FRAGMENT COMPLETION

In 4 experiments, Ss studied words under learning conditions that promoted semantic or physical processing. An implicit word fragment completion test was administered (e.g., complete _1_ph_ _t for elephant). When semantic and physical study conditions were manipulated between Ss (Experiments 1 and 3) or within Ss in a blocked fashion (Experiments 3 and 4), significant levels of processing (LOP) effects were obtained. When semantic and physical conditions were presented in a mixed list (Experiments 2, 3, and 4), the LOP effect was smaller and not significant. A survey of the literature on LOP effects in implicit Perceptual tests revealed that priming in these tests was consistently greater in the semantic than physical condition, with reports of statistically significant LOP effects. These findings contradict the widely held notion that LOP does not affect priming in implicit perceptual tests and have implications for contemporary accounts of performance in implicit and explicit measures of memory.