Automatic activation of episodic information in a semantic memory task.

Four experiments are presented in which priming between newly learned associates and priming between well-known associates were examined in lexical decision. All four experiments found priming between newly learned associates, including conditions in which the Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA) between prime and target was short (150 ms) and in which the probability was low (1/12) that the prime and target of a pair would be associated to each other. It was concluded, contrary to suggestions by Carroll and Kirsner (1982) and Tulving (1983), that newly learned associates can prime each other, and that they can do so at short SOAs.