Semantic Priming in Aphasia as a Function of Prime-Target Association

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated preserved semantic priming in aphasia and proposed, therefore, that the structure of the semantic lexicon is likely to be intact in aphasic subjects. The present study used a lexical decision task to investigate semantic priming in aphasia as a function of different categories of prime-target relationship (e.g., superordinate, contrast coordinate, function associate etc.). The aphasic subjects (n=10) demonstrated a qualitatively similar pattern of semantic priming to matched controls (n=10), however this priming effect did not reach statistical significance in either the aphasic or control groups. The results are discussed in relation to the role of inhibition priming and the influence of postaccess lexical decision processes associated with controlled priming.