Reversing the aVective congruency eVect: The role of target word frequency of occurrence

In this research the outcome of an aVective priming experiment is shown to critically depend on the frequency of occurrence of the target words used. Low frequency target words (5.7 occurrences per million words) resulted in an aVective congruency eVect, i.e., faster responses following aVectively congruent than incongruent primes. High frequency target words (32.6 occurrences per million) resulted in a reverse priming eVect, i.e., faster responses following incongruent than congruent primes. The size of the congruency eVect was larger than the size of the reverse priming eVect, thus masking its emergence when word frequency was not taken into account. We propose that target word frequency has its inXuence via an accessibility-related mechanism having to do with diVerences in observed changes in aVect between prime and target. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.