The interaction between response effects during the acquisition of response priming

Abstract

In three experiments we investigated the role of associative learning in the acquisition of response priming by effect stimuli, by examining their interaction during response–effect learning. Having replicated the ability of visual effect stimuli to prime their associated responses, we paired a response with a compound consisting of visual and auditory effects before assessing the ability of the auditory effect stimulus to prime the response. This priming was reduced if the visual stimulus had been pretrained as an effect of the response. By contrast, priming by the visual effect stimulus was potentiated when the auditory effect had been pretrained. We interpret these interactions in terms of contemporary associative learning theory derived from studies of conditioning.