Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages

Erin M Buchanan; Kelly M Cuccolo; Tom Heyman; Niels van Berkel; Nicholas A Coles; Aishwarya Iyer; Kim Peters; Anna E van't Veer; Maria Montefinese; Nicholas P Maxwell; See article full text for complete listing of authors; Barnaby J W Dixson; Kate Mulgrew

doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02254-x

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Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages

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Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages

Erin M Buchanan, Kelly M Cuccolo, Tom Heyman, Niels van Berkel, Nicholas A Coles, Aishwarya Iyer, Kim Peters, Anna E van't Veer, Maria Montefinese, Nicholas P Maxwell, …

Nature Human Behaviour, Vol.10, pp.182-201

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02254-x

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Abstract

human behaviour

language and linguistics

Semantic priming has been studied for nearly 50 years across various experimental manipulations and theoretical frameworks. Although previous studies provide insight into the cognitive underpinnings of semantic representations, they have suffered from small sample sizes and a lack of linguistic and cultural diversity. In this Registered Report, we measured the size and the variability of the semantic priming effect across 19 languages (n = 25,163 participants analysed) by creating the largest available database of semantic priming values using an adaptive sampling procedure. We found evidence for semantic priming in terms of differences in response latencies between related word-pair conditions and unrelated word-pair conditions. Model comparisons showed that the inclusion of a random intercept for language improved model fit, providing support for variability in semantic priming across languages. This study highlights the robustness and variability of semantic priming across languages and provides a rich, linguistically diverse dataset for further analysis. The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 15 July 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://osf.io/u5bp6 (registration) or https://osf.io/q4fjy (preprint version 6, 31 May 2022).

Details

Title: Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages
Authors: Erin M Buchanan (Corresponding Author) - Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Kelly M Cuccolo
Tom Heyman - Leiden University
Niels van Berkel - Aalborg University
Nicholas A Coles - Stanford University
Aishwarya Iyer - Christ University
Kim Peters - University of Exeter
Anna E van't Veer - Leiden University
Maria Montefinese - University of Padua
Nicholas P Maxwell - Midwestern State University
See article full text for complete listing of authors (Author)
Barnaby J W Dixson - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research
Kate Mulgrew - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Graduate Research School
Publication details: Nature Human Behaviour, Vol.10, pp.182-201
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02254-x
ISSN: 2397-3374
Data Availability: All raw and processed data are available via GitHub at https://github.com/SemanticPriming/SPAML.
Organisation Unit: Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; Graduate Research School; School of Health - Psychology
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991171942602621
Output Type: Journal article

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