Issue 4
Vol. 42
2000

Priming of mental transformations
R. Fischer, A. Haase, H. Hagendorf

We considered preparation and execution of mental transformation tasks within a priming paradigm. Transformations (rotations, reflections) were triggered by cues and had to be applied to given patterns. In a first experiment it was proven that such a task could be prepared. The optimal preparation time was about 500 ms. In the second priming experiment it was shown that there is a priming effect that depends on the relationship between the prepared and the executed transformations. The costs of shifting were higher when the prepared and the executed transformations were from different classes of transformations (rotations, reflections) than when they were from the same class. In the third experiment the priming paradigm was combined with an information reduction paradigm. It was shown that prepared transformations result in costs when the preparation has to be interrupted and another transformation has to be executed. These costs were independent from the shift of trigger processing at perceptual levels.

Key words: priming, mental operation, rotation, reflection, switch costs 

Psychologische Beiträge, Volume 42, 4/2000

Dr. Herbert Hagendorf
Department of Psychology
Humboldt University Berlin
D-10178 Berlin