Structural priming: a critical review

Abstract

Repetition is a central phenomenon of behavior, and researchers have made extensive use of it to illuminate psychological functioning. In the language sciences, a ubiquitous form of such repetition is structural priming, a tendency to repeat or better process a current sentence because of its structural similarity to a previously experienced ("prime") sentence (J. K. Bock, 1986). The recent explosion of research in structural priming has made it the dominant means of investigating the processes involved in the production (and increasingly, comprehension) of complex expressions such as sentences. This review considers its implications for the representation of syntax and the mechanisms of production and comprehension and their relationship. It then addresses the potential functions of structural priming, before turning to its implications for first language acquisition, bilingualism, and aphasia. The authors close with theoretical and empirical recommendations for future investigations.

Figure 1

Phrase structure trees for (6a) a simple prepositional-object structure, (6b) a prepositional-object structure with modified object argument, and (6c) a prepositional-object structure in an embedded clause.

Figure 2

Model of structural priming as proposed by Pickering and Branigan (1998), illustrating priming from a prepositional dative sentence with the main verb give. “GIVE” and “SHOW” nodes represent lexical items, and “NP, PP” and “NP, NP” nodes are combinatorial representations. Thickness of the lines represent the degree of activation of the corresponding knowledge. Panel A: Before priming. Panel B: As the prime is produced. Panel C: After the prime is produced.