The modality-specific and -nonspecific components of long-term priming are frequency sensitive

Five experiments were carried out to test the claim that the modality-specific and modality-nonspecific components of long-term priming are differentially sensitive to word frequency, with the specific component being less affected. In contrast with this claim, specific and nonspecific priming were similarly reduced for high-frequency words in three lexical decision and two perceptual identification experiments. These findings highlight the important role of frequency in modulating priming as well as provide a basic constraint for future theories of priming. In addition, the roles of task and student population in modulating priming are examined.