The repetition and the predictability of a word in a conversation are two factors that are believed to affect whether it is emphasized: predictable, repeated words are less acoustically prominent than unpredictable, new words. However, because predictability and repetition are correlated, it is unclear whether speakers lengthen unpredictable words to facilitate comprehension or whether this len...

Repetition priming refers to the change in the ability to perform a task on a stimulus as a consequence of a former encounter with that very same item. Usually, repetition results in faster and more accurate performance. In the present study, we used a contrast discrimination protocol to assess perceptual sensitivity and response bias of Gabor gratings that are either repeated (same orientation...

The aim of the reported experiments was to investigate the persistence of global/ local level-repetition effects in an identification task with hierarchical stimuli. In the first experiment the trial rate was self paced, and cues were available during the unconstrained preparation interval. Nevertheless, significant level-repetition effects occurred, which were similar for shifts from global to...

Memory is better when learning events are spaced, as compared with massed (i.e., the spacing effect). Recent theories posit that retrieval of an item's earlier presentation contributes to the spacing effect, which suggests that individual differences in the ability to retrieve an earlier event may influence the benefit of spaced repetition. The present study examined (1) the difficulty of task ...

Repeated recognition of the face of a familiar individual is known to show semantic repetition priming effect. In this study, normal subjects were repeatedly presented faces of their colleagues, and the effect of repetition on the regional cerebral blood flow change was measured using positron emission tomography. They repeated a set of three tasks: the familiar-face detection (F) task, the fac...

In this article, the authors investigate the assumption that preparation while switching between cognitive tasks is dynamically adjusted to the current task demands. Performance in high-shift blocks (75% shifts) was compared with performance in high-repetition blocks (75% repetitions). This probability information was given either at the beginning of a block (global condition) or by specific pr...

Stimulus repetition in identification tasks leads to improved behavioral performance ("repetition priming") but attenuated neural responses ("repetition suppression") throughout task-engaged cortical regions. While it's clear that this pervasive brain-behavior relationship reflects some form of improved processing efficiency, the exact form that it takes remains elusive. In this Discussion Pape...

The extent to which repetition suppression is modulated by expertise is currently unknown. We used event-related fMRI to test whether architecture students would respond faster to buildings and would exhibit stronger repetition suppression in the fusiform gyrus (FG) and parahippocampa cortex (PHC) than students from other disciplines. Behaviorally, we found shorter response latencies with targe...