VISUAL OBJECT PRIMING DIFFERS FROM VISUAL WORD PRIMING - AN ERP STUDY

Implicit memory is inferred from repetition priming effects in tasks s uch as word identification, word fragment completion, and perceptual r ecognition with masking or brief exposures. In this experiment, we exp lored whether the visual word and object repetition priming effects ca n be reflected by features of ERP and whether visual word repetition p riming differs from visual object repetition priming. We have observed that (1) pre-exposure to recognizable stimuli (both word and object p icture) shortened the response time in identifying their repetitions; (2) repetition of unrecognized scrambles of words or object pictures d id not show any effects on ERP patterns; (3) ERPs distinguished recogn izable from unrecognizable stimuli; and, (4) repetitions of both words and pictures strongly influenced the patterns of ERPs, though the ERP s to word stimuli differed from the ERPs to picture stimuli. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.