Assessing the time course under which underlying memory representations can be formed is an important question for understanding memory. Several studies assessing item memory have shown that gist representations of items are laid out more rapidly than verbatim representations. However, for associations among items/components, which form the core…

Associations between language and space are of central interest for grounded models of language comprehension. Various studies show that reading words such as "bird" or "shoe" results in faster responses toward the typical location of the corresponding entity (e.g., after "bird", upward responses are faster than…

A growing body of research demonstrates that instructions can elicit automatic response activations. The results of the present study indicate that instruction-based response activations can also counteract automatic response activations based on long-term associations. To this end, we focused on the Simon effect, which is the observation that…

Numbers and space are tightly linked--a phenomenon that is referred to as the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect (Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993). The present study investigates how quickly and flexibly the behavioral impact of such spatial-numerical associations can be controlled. Participants performed a parity…

In five experiments using rats, we investigated compound context-flavor conditioning. The subjects were allowed to spend time in the target context, where they had access to a flavored solution (either citric acid or saccharine) before receiving an injection of LiCl. Context aversion was then assessed by using a blocking procedure. When the flavor…

Two experiments were designed to replicate and extend previous findings on the transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of Same and Opposite. Participants were first exposed to non-arbitrary and arbitrary relational training and testing. Next, during avoidance conditioning, one stimulus from the…

The present model outlines the mechanisms underlying habitual control of responding and the ways in which habits interface with goals. Habits emerge from the gradual learning of associations between responses and the features of performance contexts that have historically covaried with them (e.g., physical settings, preceding actions). Once a…

Four experiments are reported in which the mechanisms underlying auditory negative priming were investigated. In Experiments 1A and 1B, preprime-prime intervals and prime-probe intervals were manipulated.The ratio between the 2 intervals determined the size of the negative priming effect. Results are compatible with the episodic retrieval account,…

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive differentiation level and the affective stimulus value of various occupations. Findings of the present investigation, conducted with upper-class college males, were consistent with the findings obtained in previous clinical and social judgment studies. Subjects were cognitively more…

Masked prime stimuli presented near the threshold of conscious awareness affect responses to subsequent targets. The direction of these priming effects depends on the interval between masked prime and target. With short intervals, benefits for compatible trials (primes and targets mapped to the same response) and costs for incompatible trials are…

Differences in performance with various stimulus-response mappings are among the most prevalent findings for binary choice reaction tasks. The authors show that perceptual or conceptual similarity is not necessary to obtain mapping effects; a type of structural similarity is sufficient. Specifically, stimulus and response alternatives are coded as…

This paper is based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. degree to the Graduate College of the University of Illinois. (MH)