How does priming affect performance?

Take a moment and study the following five words:

      Florida           Forgetful            Bald            Gray             Wrinkle

Psychologist John Bargh and his team at New York University gave this particular set of words to a group of students and asked them to assemble a 4 word sentence from the set of 5 words. After completing the task the students were asked to walk down a hall to do another experiment.  Unbeknownst to the students the actual experiment was to measure how long it took them to walk the short distance down the hall.

The results showed time and again those students that had to form a sentence with words that had an elderly theme walked down the hall significantly slower than other students given different 5 word combinations.

Even the the word old was never mentioned the students minds were primed with the word old.  This had a direct influence on their thoughts and behavior (i.e. the act of walking down the hall slowly).  The kicker is this - it all happened below the radar of awareness.  The students had no idea that this priming had affected them so significantly.

Afterwards, all the students were asked if they believed the first experiment had any influence on their performance on the second experiment.  The answer was a resounding, 'NO'.  When the students were asked if they recognized a common theme in the words, the answer again was no.

What is priming?

This brings us to the topic of this blog - priming. What is priming?  Priming refers to a increased sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience. Priming it believed to occur outside of conscious awareness, it is different from memory that relies on the direct retrieval of information.  The way it does this is through what is termed - associative memory.

One idea triggers other ideas in a domino-like effect.  Each mental domino is connected and supports the other.  An idea awakens emotions that in turn awakens physical behavior and reactions.  A great majority of this associative workings goes on without much conscious realization.

What is reciprocal priming?
 
There is also something called reciprocal priming.  That is, by physically smiling it evokes optimistic emotions and thoughts.  By physically frowning it will evoke more pessimistic emotions and thoughts. Based on the above mentioned experiment by acting and behaving old it will make you feel and think old.  Remember cognition (i.e. thinking) is not limited to simply the brain, you also think with your body.  Cognition is embodied.

How can I use priming to my benefit?

Priming shows us that stimuli in our environment can trigger thoughts, emotions and behavior through associations that our brains make.  If we know we are going to move into a meeting or situation where we need to perform at our best we may want to consciously act on priming our brains - to utilize our brain's associative machinery to our advantage.

Some ways of doing this is to play a much-loved song that motivates you and fills you with the rush of endorphins.  Standing in front of the mirror preparing yourself for the day ahead, you may want to have a Post-It note stuck on the mirror with five words that trigger constructive associations.  You may want to avoid reading the newspaper or watching the news in the morning (we all know how the newspaper is choker-blocked with all the good things that have transpired in the world in the last 24 hours).

When it comes to problem-solving and decision-making we want to prime our thinking so it is solution-oriented and forward-focused. One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing this is asking yourself questions. What is the next step? What are the knowns? What do I control? What can I influence? Who can I go to? What has worked in the past? What's another way to look at this? Where could I find the answer or part of the answer?

It is a hard pill to swallow to know that we are not allows in control of ourselves.  That a great majority of who we are and what we do is vastly influenced by our environmental triggers, and a great majority of this goes on below our awareness.

Priming is some ways similar to breathing.  It functions automatically, but when we become aware of our breathing we can control it.  This to some regards is what we can do with the phenomenon of priming.

Curious? Wish to know more?  Please visit us at MINDtalk