Deeper processing at target selection increases the magnitude of negative priming

Do deeper levels of processing produce equivalent priming effects at all st ages of task performance? In Experiment 1, we varied the level of processin g factorially across two task stages-target selection and response selectio n. Each stage required perceptual (e.g., color) or conceptual (e.g., friend liness) processing of stimulus items (i.e., animal names). Negative priming was substantially greater when deeper processing was required at the targe t selection stage, but it was unaffected by the level of processing at the response selection stage. In contrast, positive priming was greater when de eper processing was required at the response selection stage, but it was un affected by processing at the target selection stage. In Experiment 2, we g eneralized this finding using a task in which numeric targets were selected on the basis of their parity. As in Experiment 1, the deeper level of proc essing at the target selection stage produced a larger negative priming eff ect. These results illuminate the role of target selection demands in modul ating the strength of negative priming.