ABSTRACT
Automatic processes are traditionally defined as those having a quick onset, proceeding without intention or awareness, and producing benefits but not costs.1 Strategic processes are slower acting, require intention, are conscious, and produce both benefits and costs (e.g., Posner & Sny-der, 1975a; Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). A question of long-standing interest in the semantic priming literature is the extent to which semantic priming is determined by automatic versus strategic mechanisms (e.g., Neely, 1976, 1977). Findings reviewed subsequently indicate that this distinction, as it has traditionally been defined, may need to be reevaluated. Even so, an understanding of this issue is essential because so much of the research on semantic priming has been conducted with the goal of isolating automatic and strategic components of priming.
