Solving anagrams: Category priming and the differential availability of category solutions

Abstract

An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that the effect of category name priming on anagram solving varies with the strength of the relationship between the solution word and the priming category. Subjects solved anagrams of taxonomic category instances under primed or unprimed conditions. In the primed condition, the name of the taxonomic category from which the solution word was chosen was provided on each trial. Priming was shown to facilitate anagram solution and the extent of this facilitation was directly related to the instance dominance of the solution word in the priming category. The results were discussed in terms of current models of semantic memory.