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Cited by 350Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPsychology of Social InfluenceNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Mechanisms of masked priming: A meta-analysis.

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Van den Bussche, Eva, Van den Noortgate, Wim, Reynvoet, Bert·2009·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/a0015329
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Abstract

The extent to which unconscious information can influence behavior has been a topic of considerable debate throughout the history of psychology. A frequently used method for studying subliminal processing is the masked priming paradigm. The authors focused on studies in which this paradigm was used. Their aim was twofold: first, to assess the magnitude of subliminal priming across the literature and to determine whether subliminal primes are processed semantically, and second, to examine potential moderators of priming effects. The authors found significant priming in their analyses, indicating that unconsciously presented information can influence behavior. Furthermore, priming was observed under circumstances in which a nonsemantic interpretation could not fully explain the effects, suggesting that subliminally presented information can be processed semantically. Nonetheless, the nonsemantic processing of primes is enhanced and priming effects are boosted when the experimental context allows the formation of automatic stimulus-response mappings. This quantitative review also revealed several moderators that influence the strength of priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • A multilevel random effects model was applied to account for interdependency of effect sizes and differences in sample size.

    “To deal with this interdependency of effect sizes and the differences in sample size, we applied a multilevel random effects model (Houben, Van Den Noortgate, & Kuppens, 2015; Van Den Bussche, Van Den Noortgate, & Reynvoet, 2009; Viechtbauer, 2010; Viechtbauer, 2010).”

    From Does Natural Mentoring Matter? A Multilevel Meta‐analysis on the Association Between Natural Mentoring and Youth Outcomes (2018) · cites this paper as Van Den Bussche, Van Den Noortgate, & Reynvoet, 2009

    The Meta-Analytic Procedures section says the authors used a multilevel random-effects model for sampling, between-study, and within-study variance, and that its variance weighting accounts for sample size. But the same section says effect sizes from shared samples were dependent and that the covariance needed to account for this directly was unavailable; the authors assessed its impact with sensitivity analyses instead. Page numbers are not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Authors
Van den Bussche, E., Van den Noortgate, W., & Reynvoet, B.
Affiliations
KU Leuven (BE)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2009
Volume
135
Issue
3
Pages
452-477
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/a0015329
OpenAlex
W2079479176
Cited by
350
References
114
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 29
FWCI
10.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
masked priming, subliminal processing, semantic processing
MeSH terms
Cues, Decision Making, Humans, Perceptual Masking, Semantics, Subliminal Stimulation, Unconscious, Psychology

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