Experimentally manipulating the effects of involuntary conscious memory on a priming task

JOHN H. MACE
University of New Haven

Recent studies (Mace 2003a, 2003b) showed that involuntary conscious memory can enhance priming in implicit tasks. However, because the results of these studies were based on post hoc selection methods in which subjects were assigned to conditions (aware or unaware) based on their responses on a posttest questionnaire, it is possible that subject selection effects may have influenced the results. The present study used a novel method that experimentally manipulated the effects of involuntary conscious memory on a word stem task. This was accomplished by inducing the experience of word recollection in one test condition while inhibiting it in another. This study showed that subjects who experienced word recollection showed significantly higher rates of priming than those who did not. The results represent the first purely experimental demonstration of involuntary conscious memory�s ability to affect priming on implicit tasks.