Abstract
An extensive literature has demonstrated stereotype-based priming effects. What this work has only recently considered, however, is the extent to which priming is moderated by the adoption of different sequential-priming tasks and the attendant implications for theoretical treatments of person perception. In addition, the processes through which priming arises (i.e., stimulus and/or response biases) remain largely unspecified. Accordingly, here we explored the emergence and origin of stereotype-based priming using both semantic- and response-priming tasks. Corroborating previous research, a stereotype-based priming effect only emerged when a response-priming (vs. semantic-priming) task was used. A further hierarchical drift diffusion model analysis revealed that this effect was underpinned by differences in the evidential requirements of response generation (i.e., a response bias), such that less evidence was needed when generating stereotype-consistent compared with stereotype-inconsistent responses. Crucially, information uptake (i.e., stimulus bias, efficiency of target processing) was faster for stereotype-inconsistent than stereotype-consistent targets. This reveals that stereotype-based priming originated in a response bias rather than the automatic activation of stereotypes. The theoretical implications of these findings are considered.
DOI
10.1177/1747021820925396
Publication Date
2020-11-01
Publication Title
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume
73
Issue
11
Publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
1747-0226
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
First Page
1939
Last Page
1948
Recommended Citation
Tsamadi, D., Falbén, J., Persson, L., Golubickis, M., & et al. (2020) 'Stereotype-based priming without stereotype activation: A tale of two priming tasks', Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(11), pp. 1939-1948. SAGE Publications: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820925396
