The common association between 'peanut butter' and 'jelly' serves as an example of priming. When an individual is prompted with the term 'peanut butter,' the concept of 'jelly' is primed and becomes more easily retrievable. This occurs because of the strong, frequently reinforced link between these two concepts within a person's semantic network.

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According to the theory by Collins & Loftus (1975), long-term memories are structured in semantic, or associative, networks. These networks consist of interconnected concepts, with the connection strength determined by the frequency of their association. The specific organization of these networks is unique to each individual, as they are shaped by personal experiences.

Semantic Networks in Long-Term Memory

When a sensory experience (hearing a word/phrase, or seeing a picture), triggers an associational response that effects your decision making afterwards. The presentation of some stimuli affects someones response to the presentation of a following one.

Priming effect

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Within the context of memory, concepts are the fundamental units that make up semantic networks. They function as categories or groupings for various types of information, including linguistic data, images, ideas, and personal memories like life experiences.

Concepts in Memory Organization

Concepts within a person's semantic network are thought to be organized in a hierarchical structure. However, this arrangement is not rigid and can be influenced by an individual's unique experiences and level of expertise in different areas.

Hierarchical Arrangement of Concepts

Implicit priming is a form of implicit memory where exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious awareness. This effect occurs because the initial stimulus activates associated concepts within an individual's semantic network, making those related concepts more accessible for later tasks.

Implicit Priming

Peanut Butter and Jelly as an Example of Priming

Spreading activation is the cognitive process where activating one concept in a semantic network triggers the activation of closely associated concepts. This partial activation makes related information easier to recall. For instance, reading about a 'picnic' primes the concept of 'plate' because they are linked in the semantic network. Similarly, reading about 'flowers' primes the concept of 'petal'. This mechanism explains many priming effects.

Spreading Activation in Semantic Networks

The presentation of some stimulus affects how someone perceives/reacts to the presentation of a following one because the first one was similar in some way to the latter (one does not need to remember the previous or be conscious of its affects for there to be an affect).

Repetition Priming 

Nodes are activated when nodes with links to them (or close to them) are activated. The nearby nodes are primed to be retrieved by memory more easily.

Spreading activation

Information shown in the beginning of something has a greater affect than information revealed later. Embodied by the quote "put your best foot forward."

The Primacy Effect

Priming has been used in the realms of psychology as a way to alter people's behaviors or performance. It can be overt (supraliminal) or covert (subliminal). A subsequent behavior, which is a result of the priming, occurs typically without conscious awareness. In the field of microtask crowdsourcing, multiple types of primes have been used to increase and alter people's performance.

Priming to Increase Performance in Microtask Crowdsourcing

Participants were given a headline that did not relate to COVID-19, and they were asked to rate its accuracy. The prompt was essentially priming the participants with the concept of accuracy.

COVID-19 Misinformation Prompt Toolkit: Evaluation Prompt

When people consider a value and then have to estimate an unknown quantity. The estimated number will stay close to original number considered, whether or not the original number is related to the unknown quantity. There is debate on whether the effect is an adjustment heuristic (Tversky), an example of priming (Kahneman), or both.

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