The Effects of Priming on Reaction Times, Confidence Rating Measures, and Accuracy

Abstract

This project investigated the differences in reaction times between recognition of objects by feelings of familiarity and recognition of objects through direct recollection. Participants were shown images in a study phase, and shown them again in a test phase along with novel images. They were then asked to provide a rating of recognition confidence rating on a scale of 1 to 5. We predicted that reaction times would decrease as certainty of recognition or no recognition increased, and that items presented for a longer amount of time in the study phase would have faster reaction times and higher confidence ratings. Results showed that reaction times did decrease for items presented for longer amounts of time in the study phase. Confidence ratings increased significantly as item presentation length in the study phase increased, following the predicted trend of increased confidence ratings with decreased reaction times for stimuli viewed longer in the study phase. A surprising finding of diverging accuracy in two of the exposure conditions was also found.