The persistence of structural priming: Transient activation or implicit learning?
Abstract
Structural priming in language production is a tendency to recreate a recently uttered syntactic structure in different words. This tendency can be seen independent of specific lexical items, thematic roles, or word sequences. Two alternative proposals about the mechanism behind structural priming include (a) short-term activation from a memory representation of a priming structure and (b) longer term adaptation within the cognitive mechanisms for creating sentences, as a form of procedural learning. Two experiments evaluated these hypotheses, focusing on the persistence of structural priming. Both experiments yielded priming that endured beyond adjacent sentences, persisting over 2 intervening sentences in Experiment 1 and over 10 in Experiment 2. Although memory may have short-term consequences for some components of this kind of priming, the persisting effects are more compatible with a learning account than a transient memory account.
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L2 learners who perform the same task again have presumably activated linguistic expressions they had produced in the first performance.
“Second, L2 learners who perform the same task again have presumably activated linguistic expressions they had produced in the first performance.”
From MASSED TASK REPETITION IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT (2022) · cites this paper as Bock & Griffin, 2000
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Ellis, N. C. (2002) · Studies in Second Language Acquisition · doi:10.1017/s0272263102002024 · Cited by 2,230 · see citing works
Chang, F., Dell, G. S., & Bock, K. (2006) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.113.2.234 · Cited by 984 · see citing works
Self-citationImplicit statistical learning is directly associated with the acquisition of syntax
Kidd, E. (2012) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025405 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
The functions of structural priming
Ferreira, V. S., & Bock, K. (2006) · Language and Cognitive Processes · doi:10.1080/01690960600824609 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Self-citationResponses to Recasts: Repetitions, Primed Production, and Linguistic Development
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2006) · Language Learning · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00393.x · Cited by 259 · see citing works
SYNTACTIC PRIMING AND ESL QUESTION DEVELOPMENT
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2008) · Studies in Second Language Acquisition · doi:10.1017/s0272263108080029 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Ellis, N. C., O'Donnell, M. B., & Römer, U. (2014) · Cognitive Linguistics · doi:10.1515/cog-2013-0031 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Unifying structural priming effects on syntactic choices and timing of sentence generation
Segaert, K., Wheeldon, L., & Hagoort, P. (2016) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2016.03.011 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Structural priming during comprehension: A pattern from many pieces
Tooley, K. M. (2023) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-022-02209-7 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
MASSED TASK REPETITION IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT
Suzuki, Y., & Hanzawa, K. (2022) · Studies in Second Language Acquisition · doi:10.1017/s0272263121000358 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“This idea may be consistent with the view that the priming mechanisms (Bock & Griffin, 2000) support learning through task repetition for formulating and producing the same and/or similar L2 utterancesmore efficiently.”
BackgroundResultBartolozzi, F., Jongman, S. R., & Meyer, A. S. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/xlm0000944 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bock, K., & Griffin, Z. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Griffin, Zenzi M.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Published
- 2000
- Volume
- 129
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 177-192
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2145719099
- Cited by
- 950
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 102 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 90
- FWCI
- 4.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH18990)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD021011, R01 HD 21011)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
- Keywords
- structural priming, language production, syntactic priming, implicit learning, procedural learning, short-term memory, sentence production, syntactic memory
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Psycholinguistics, Mental Recall, Semantics, Students, Verbal Behavior
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