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ElderlyPrimingEffectsonReactionTime,GripStrength,andDrivingProficiencyCarnegieMellonUniversity

ZachAndersonAdvisors:Dr.DavidCreswell,Dr.RobertaKlatzky

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Abstract

Elderlyprimingisatopicwithinpsychologycurrentlyunderintensescrutiny.Generallydefined,elderlyprimingistheideathatprimingstimulirelatingtotheelderlystereotypemakeonemorelikelytosubsequentlybehaveinwaysconsistentwiththisstereotype(e.g.,walkingslower).Thecurrentpaperteststhisphenomenonwiththepredictionthatelderlystereotypeprimingwillreducephysicalgripstrength,reactiontimes,anddrivingperformanceonasimulatortask.Inthisstudy,primingstimuliwerepresentedsupraliminallywithold/youngfaces.Amarginallysignificantincreaseinpeakgripstrengthandoverallgripstrengthfollowingourelderlyprimingmanipulationwasobserved,comparedtoyoungormixedfacescontrolconditions.Additionally,participantsexhibitedsignificantlyslowerresponsetimetopicturesofelderlyfacesinthefacialrecognitiontaskthanintheyoungormixedcondition.Ourhandgripresultssuggestthepresenceofanelderlyprimingeffect,however,nottheonewehadoriginallyhypothesized.Iproposeamodel,whichcombinesourphysicalresourcesmechanism(Klatzky&Creswell,2014)withamotivationprimingeffect.Thismotivationprimearises,asaresultofaparticipant’sawarenessofourdependentmeasure.Therefore,aselderlyprimingalterstheperceptionofparticipants,causinghimorhertofeelrelativelyweak,eachparticipantsqueezesthehandgripapparatusmorefirmlytocompensatefortheperceivedlossofgripstrength.

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IntroductionSocialprimingisanareaofpsychologywhosereliabilityandimpactisunder

intensescrutiny(Abbott2013,Yong2012).Primingeffectshavebeendemonstratedonseveraloccasionsandhavebeenshowntoaffectmanydifferentbehaviors.OneparticularlyfamousexampleofthisisseeninBargh,Chen,Burrows(1996),whereexperimenterspresentedparticipantswithawordscramblingtaskembeddedwithelderlyprimingwords(i.e.Florida,old,grey)andshowedasignificantdecreaseinwalkingspeed.However,alongwiththesefindingscomeaseriesofnon‐replicationswhichhavecalledthisareaofpsychologyintoquestion(e.g.Doyen,Klein,Pichon,&Cleerermans,2012;Pashler,Coburn,&Harris,2012;Shanksetal.,2013).

Inthisstudy,wetestatheoretically‐basedapproachtounderstandingsocialprimingphenomena(Klatzky&Creswell,2014).Thisapproachinvolvestheincorporationofenvironmentalstimuliintoacognitiveweightedbidscalculator.Participants,whenpresentedwithstereotypicstimuli,experienceacognitivespreadingeffecttoothersymbolicnodesofcognition,whichareinsomewayconnectedtotheconceptbeingprimed.Thisgoesontoaffectaparticipant’senergystateattribution,whichthenmanifestsinthechangesinbehaviorormindsetobservedinpreviousstudies.Inthisstudy,wetestwhetheronetypeofpriming,elderlypriming,affectshandgripstrength,reactiontime,anddrivingproficiency. Primingwasoriginallystudiedastheactivationofnodalstructuresofassociatedideasorconceptswheretheactivationofonenodespreadtoallthosenodesconnectedtoit(e.g.,Dehaeneetal.,2001;Meyer&Schvaneveldt,1971;

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Schacter&Buckner,1998).Thisearlymodelofpriminghasbeenrecentlyextendedtoincludeavarietyofdifferentsocialphenomena.Thesephenomenainvolvebothconsciousandnon‐consciouscomponentsandcanbeaffectedbystimuliwithinandwithoutourconsciousattention(Bargh,1994).Oneexampleofthisnewresearchfocusesonthejudgmentoffacesandhowfeaturesofafaceleadtoautomaticdeterminationsofhowtrustworthythefaceis(e.g.Todorovetal,2009;Willis,Todorov,2006).Anotherstudyshowsthatholdinghotdrinksmakesparticipantsmorelikelytoactinsociallywarmways(Williams&Bargh,2008)whileathirdshowstheeffectlemonscentedroomscanhaveonparticipantswhosecharitableactivitiesincreaseswhentheroomtheywaitinfeelscleaner(Liljenquist,Zhong,&Galinsky,2010).Thispreviousworkprovidesafoundationforprimingeffectsacrossavarietyofdifferentstimuliandprimingmanipulations.

Aarts,Custers,&Marien(2008)proposeaseparateparadigmforprimingeffects.Participantsintheirstudyaresubliminallypresentedwithexertionprimes(e.g.,exert,vigorous).Aftercompletingareactiontimetask,embeddedwithexertionprimingwords,participantsweretestedonthestrengthanddurationoftheirgrip.Resultsfromthisstudyrevealasignificantincreaseingripstrengthanddurationfollowingthepresentationofexertionprimingwords.Inadditiontothisclassicprimingmanipulation,experimentersinthisstudyaddoneextraconditioninvolvingthecouplingofpositivelyvalencedwordswiththeirprimingmanipulation.Thepurposeofthisadditionwastoaddanaspectofrewardanddemonstratehowchangesinmotivationworkintandemwithprimingeffects.

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Resultsfromthisseparateconditionrevealsignificantlyincreasedgripstrengthanddurationwhencomparedtotheprime‐onlyconditionandthecontrolcondition.

Variousotherexamplesshowhowprimingeffectscanbeachievedusingsubliminal(Greenwaldetal,1998)orsupraliminalstimuli(Barghetal,1992;Fazioetal,1986).Furtheritissuggestedthattheseprimingeffectswillbereasonablyconsistentsolongasaparticipantremainunawareofexactlywhatconstructisbeingprimed(Bargh,1994).Thisseriesofworkestablishesawidevarietyofdifferentprimingparadigmsanddemonstratestheapplicabilityandflexibilityofprimingeffects. Perhapsthemostwell‐knownsocialprimingstudiesfocusontheelderly.Specifically,ithasbeenshownthatscrambledsentencescontainingelderlystereotypicwords(elderlypriming)makesparticipantswalkslower(Bargh,Chen,Burrows,1996).Forexample,intwoinitialstudies,detailedinBarghetal(1996),usedawordscramblingtasktoprimeparticipantswithtwoseparatestereotypes.Themostwellknowninvolvedtheimbeddingofelderlyprimes(i.e.Florida,old,grey)intorandomlyorganizedstringsofwords.Participantswereinstructedtoconstructcoherentsentencesinwhat,theyweretold,wasalanguagerelatedtest.Aftercompletingthistask,participantsweretoldthestudywasoverandtheywereallowedtoleave.Withouttheparticipant’sknowledgetheywerethentimedastheywalkedoutofthedoortothestudytoapredefinedendpoint.Thisprocessmadeupthisstudy’sprimarydependentmeasure,thewalkingspeedofparticipants.Resultsindicatethattheimbeddedelderlyprimeshadasignificantimpactonreducingwalkingspeedinparticipants.

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Asecondstudy(Bargh,Chen&Burrows,1996)observedtheeffectofwordsprimingrudenessandpolitenessonthelikelihoodthataparticipantwillinterruptascriptedconversationbetweentheexperimenterandatrainedconfederate.Experimentersusedthesamewordscramblingtestfromthepreviousexperimenttopresenttheirprimingwords.Resultsrevealedasteplikeprogressionwiththoseprimedwithpolitenessbeingsignificantlylesslikelytointerrupttheconversationthanwerethecontrolgroupwhoweresignificantlylesslikelytointerruptthanwerethoseprimedwithrudewords.

Yet,morerecenteffortstoreplicatethesefindingshavemetwithmixedresults.Onestudy(Doyen, Klein, Pichon, & Cleerermans, 2012)soughttoexactlyreplicatethemethodsfromBargh,Chen,&Burrows(1996)inanelderlyprimingstudy.Insteadofaconfederate,alasertimingsystemwasusedtomeasurewalkingspeedasparticipantsleftthestudyroom.Resultsfromthisstudyrevealednosignificantresultsand,followingits’publication,theconceptofelderlyprimingandallpreviousworkinsocialprimingcameunderintensescrutiny(Bartlett,2013).Thecontroversysurroundingelderlyprimingissummedupinaseriesofnonreplications(e.g.Doyen, Klein, Pichon, & Cleerermans, 2012; Pashler, Coburn, & Harris, 2012; Shanks et al., 2013). This group of researchers, among others,

challenged the concept of elderly priming and suggested Bargh’s results were due

to poor experimental methods. However, if this is the case, why then do we see

various successful replications using the same types of primes (Chambon, 2009;

Cesario et al, 2006)?

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In answer to this question, we posit an intersensory interaction theoretical

account to help explain when social priming effects are likely to occur.

Specifically, Klatzky & Creswell (2014) describes this intersensory interaction as

being an integration of a variety of “weighted bids” which is similar to the process

of estimating the weight of a cup sitting on a table. When a participant is asked to

judge this weight, several different sensory tools are at their disposal. First, they

might receive visual input and might realize that a bottle made of plastic might

weigh less than one made of metal. Next they might squeeze or pick up the cup to

gain an appreciation for the cup’s density and other dimensions. Each of these

different types of information receive a different “bid” and some “bids” carry

more weight than others. All of this information, along with their weights, are

then integrated and eventually calculate the estimation of that objects weight

which a participant may then report.

Elderly priming might work in a very similar way. The distinction between

elderly priming and the cup example is seen in the “weighing” process inherent in

this model. In elderly priming “weight” is attributed not to a series of sensory

information, as in the cup example, but to patterns of activation of associated

memories and heuristics which color each person’s unique view of the elderly

stereotype. This activation is thought to originate through the presentation of a

related environmental stimulus, such as an elderly stereotypic word in a sentence

unscrambling priming task.

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We test this model in an elderly priming study.Thecurrentstudyemploysasupraliminalpresentationformat.Weusepicturesofelderlyfacestoactivatetheelderlystereotypeinataskwhichrequiresparticipantstodeterminethegenderofeachface.Dependentmeasuresforthisstudyinvolvehandgripstrength,responsetimetoeachgenderdetermination,andadrivingsimulation.Gripstrengthwasmeasuredinthreeways.Theseincludethepeakstrengthoftheparticipantsgrip,theoverallforcemeasuredwiththeintervalofthegripstrengthfunction,andafinalmeasureofaparticipantsabilitytoreachtheirinitialpeakgripstrength,measuredastheslopefromthebeginningofthesqueezetothefirstrecordedpeak.BuildingontheworkofBarghandcolleagueswepredictedtheparticipantsintheelderlyprimedconditionwouldactinwaysthatareconsistentwiththisstereotype(i.e.,slowertoreact,weakerhandgripstrength,andpoorerdrivingperformance).Specifically,Ihypothesizethattheelderlyprimingconditionwillexhibitweakerandlessresponsivegripthanthemixedandyoungconditions.Ihypothesizethatthe

Figure1:Energystatebidsareactivatedbyelderlyprimingwords.Thisactivationgoesontoaffectourenergystateattribution,manifestinginouralteredexertionlevel.

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elderlyprimeconditionwillexhibitdecreaseddrivingproficiencywhencomparedtotheyoungandmixedconditions.Ihypothesizethatreactiontimewillbesignificantlyslowerinparticipantswhohavebeenprimedwiththeelderlystereotypewhencomparedtotheyoungandmixedcondition.

Method

ParticipantsandDesign

Thedesignofthecurrentexperimentwasawithinsubjectsone‐waydesignwiththreelevelsofourindependentvariable.Irecruited34participants,17malesand17females,fromtheCarnegieMellonUniversitycampus.Participantswerecompensatedwithoneresearchcredittowardintroductiontopsychologylevelcourseswitharesearchrequirement.Participantswererunthroughaonehourexperimentwhichwaspresentedasaseriesofunrelatedtasksthatthelabwasinterestedinusinginfuturestudies.Thesamplewas44.1%AsianAmerican,23.5%Caucasian,2.9%AfricanAmerican,5.9%Latino/Hispanic,and20.6%Other.Procedure

Uponentryintothestudyroom,participantscompleteinformedconsentandthenbeginaseriesoftaskswhicharebrokenupintothreeidenticalblocks,eachcorrespondingwiththeelderlyprimecondition,theyoungprimecondition,orthemixedcontrolcondition.Everyparticipantcompletedeachofthesethreeblocksandtheorder,whichtheywerepresentedwascounterbalancedacrossstudyparticipants.Bothexperimenterandsubjectwereblindtotheorderofconditions.

Eachblockconsistedofthreesubparts.Firstparticipantscompletedareactiontimetaskwheretheyidentifythegenderofpicturesdepictingdifferent

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faces.Theycompletedthistaskonacomputerbypressing“1”ifthepicturedisplayedafemalefaceand“2”ifthepicturewasofamaleface.Eachconditionconsistedoffiftytotaltrialsandpulledpicturesfromthreeseparatesetsofpictures.Ourprimarymanipulationwastheageofthepictureswhichvarieddependingonwhichsetofpictureswasselected.Inoneconditionparticipantswereshownonlyelderlyfaces(Ages49andup).Inasecondcondition,participantswereshownonlyyoungfaces(Ages22andbelow).Inathirdconditionparticipantswerepresentedwitharandommixofbothagegroups.Therewerenorepeatedfacesinthisfinalconditionandeveryconditionwasmatchedforthenumberoffaces.Pictureswererandomlyselectedfromeachlistleadingtoequalrepetitionoffacesineachcondition.Thespeedwithwhicheachparticipantrespondedtoeachpictureaswellastheoverallnumberofcorrectresponseswererecorded.

PicturesforthistaskwerepulledfromtheneutralfacestimulidatabasefromtheParkAgingMindLaboratory(Minear&Park,2004).Thefortytotalpicturesselectedforthistaskwerechosenbasedupon,first,thepreviouslymentionedagerequirements,thenthegenderandethnicityofthepersondisplayedinthepicture.HalfofthefacespresentinthecurrentstudyarefemalefacesandtwentypercentofthefacespresentedareAfricanAmerican,theremainderbeingcomposedofCaucasianfaces.Picturesarematchedacrossconditionbasedongenderandethnicity.Eachconditionismatchedforthetwelvenewfacespresentedineachofthethreeconditionsofthestudy.

Followingthecompletionofone50‐trialsequence,participantsperformedagriptest,usingahanddynamometerwhichfitintotheirhandmuchlikethehandle

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ofatennisracket.Eachgriptestconsistedofa2000ms“Ready”screenfollowedbya3000ms“Squeeze“screenandfinallya1000ms“Stop”screen.Aperiodofcalibrationtookplaceatthebeginningofthestudywheretheexperimenterinstructedparticipantstosqueezethedynamometerwithsimilartotheforcetheymightexertduringahandshake.Ifforcewasnotwithin0‐100Newtons,feedbackwasprovided.Participantswerethentoldtomimicthisgriptothebestoftheirabilitythroughouttheremaininghandgriptrials.Withineachblock,thesqueezetestoccurredthreetimes,onceafterthesequenceofoldfaces,onceaftertheyoung,andonceafterthemixed.Thevariablesofinterestwerethetotalforceexertedoverthreeseconds(measuredastheIntegralofthecurvegeneratedbythehandgripsoftware)andtheparticipant’speakgripstrength.DatawasrecordedandprocessedusingLoggerProsoftware.

FinallyparticipantswereaskedtocompleteabriefdrivingsimulationcompletedontheSpeedDreams2.0software.ThesimulationinvolvedtheRuudskogenRacetrack,whichparticipantsweretoldtocomplete“assafelyaspossible”.Thisfinaltaskinvolvesthreeprimarydependentmeasures,namely,thetimetocompletetherace,themaximumspeed,andarecklessnessscore.Thefinalmeasureiscalculatedbytheexperimenterasthesumofthenumberofcrashesandthenumberoftimestheparticipantgoesoffroadthroughoutthedurationoftherace.Thiscalculationwasmadebytheexperimenterwhowasblindtostudycondition.DataAnalysis

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Handgripdataforthisstudywasaveragedacrossthethreesqueezesperformedineachblock.Thespanofa“squeeze”wasdefinedasstartingafterarecordedincreaseinstrengthofgreaterthanoneNewton,andendingoncetherestinggripstrengthhadagainbeenreached.Theintegralwastakenofeachfunctionwiththeconstraintsofthepreviouslydefinedgripaslimits.Peakwasdefinedasthemaximumstrengthachievedwithinthelimitsofthesqueeze.Reactiontimewasrecordedthrougheprimeoutput.Finallydrivingperformancewasmeasuredinmultipleways.OverallracecompletiontimeandtopspeedwererecordedfromSpeedDreams2.0dataoutput.Therecklessnessmeasurewasrecordedbyablindexperimenterwhocountedthenumberoftimesaparticipantdroveoffroadandthenumberoftimestheparticipantranintoawall.Thesetwomeasureswerethensummedcreatingtherecklessnessmeasure.Onesubjectwasremovedfromdataanalysisonthegroundsthattheyweresignificantlyweakerinthegripstrengthmeasure.

Results

Allhanddynamometerdata(peakgripstrengthandintegralgripstrength)showedsignificantpositiveskewinpreliminaryanalysesandwerelogtransformedpriortoanalysis.Itwaspredictedthatpeakgripstrengthwoulddecreasefollowingexposuretoelderlyfacescomparedtopeakstrengthfollowingthemixedandyoungconditions.TotestthishypothesisweconductedarepeatedmeasuresANOVAwithprimingconditionasthewithin‐subjectsindependentvariableconsistingofthreelevels.Wefoundasignificanteffectforprimingcondition,F(1,31)=4.02,p=0.05,η2= 0.12.Specifically,participantswhohadbeenexposedtoelderlyfaces(M=

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1.68N,SE=0.04N)exhibitedhigherpeakgripstrengththandidthemixedcondition(M=1.63,SE=0.05)ortheyoungcondition(M=1.634,SE=0.04).Follow‐uppairwisecomparisonsrevealasignificantdifferencebetweentheelderlyandmixedconditions(p=0.03),aswellasasignificanteffectbetweentheelderlyandyoungconditions(p=0.05).

Itwaspredictedthattheoverallforceexertedinourgripstrengthmeasure,measuredastheintegraloftheforcefunction,woulddecreaseforparticipantsintheelderlycondition.TotestthishypothesisweconductedrepeatedmeasuresANOVAwithprimingconditionasthewithin‐subjectsindependentvariableconsistingofthreelevels.Wefoundamarginallysignificanteffectforprimingcondition,F(1,31)=3.973,p=0.055.Specifically,participantswhohadbeenexposedtoelderlyfaces(M=2.02,SE=0.04)exhibitedgreateroverallgripstrengththandidthemixedcondition(M=1.98,SE=0.04)ortheyoungcondition(M=1.97,SE=0.04).Pairwisecomparisonsrevealasignificanteffectbetweentheelderlyandmixedconditions,(p=0.04),aswellasamarginallysignificanteffectbetweentheelderlyandyoungconditions,(p=0.055).

Wepredictedrecklessnesstobesignificantlyhigherfollowingexposuretoelderlyprimescomparedtoexposuretoyoungprimeormixedprimeconditions.TotestthishypothesisweconductedarepeatedmeasuresANOVAwithprimingconditionasthewithinsubjectsindependentvariableconsistingofthreelevels.Contrarytothishypothesiswedidnotfoundasignificantprimingeffectforage,F(1,33)=0.35,p=0.56,η2= 0.01.Therewerenosignificantdifferenceinrecklessness

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betweentheelderly(M=7.50,SE=.74),mixed(M=7.56,SE=0.81),andyoungconditions(M=7.03,SE=0.83).

Inasecondarymeasure,wepredictedthatthepresentationofelderlyfaceswouldresultinsignificantlyslowerreactiontimesinparticipantsinthefacialprimingtask.TotestthishypothesisweconductedarepeatedmeasuresANOVAwithprimeconditionasthewithinsubjectsindependentvariableconsistingofthreelevels.Consistentwiththishypothesiswefoundasignificanteffectforprimecondition,F(1,29)=4.15,p=0.05,η2= 0.12.Specifically,participantswereslowertomakegenderdiscriminationswhenexposedtothemixedcondition(M=738.10ms,SE=19.80ms)andtotheelderlycondition(M=722.602,SE=25.85),whilemakingthefastestgenderdiscriminationjudgmentswithyoungfaces(M=694.96ms,SE=25.36ms).Pairwisecomparisonsrevealasignificantdifferencebetweentheelderlyconditionandtheyoungcondition,(p=0.05),aswellasasignificantdifferencebetweenthemixedandyoungconditions,(p=0.006).

Discussion

Thestudyresultsarenotconsistentwithouroriginalhypothesesthatthesupraliminalpresentationofelderlyprimeswouldreducegripstrength,slowresponsetime,anddecreasedrivingproficiency.Resultsfromourmeasuresofoverallgripstrengthandpeakgripstrengthindicatesignificantdifferencesintheelderlyconditionwhencomparedtotheyoungandmixedconditions.Pairwisecomparisonsindicatesignificantlyincreasedoverallandpeakgripstrengthintheelderlyconditionwhencomparedwiththemixedandyoungconditions.

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Atfirstglance,theseresultssupporttheideathatelderlypriminghasaneffectongripstrength.However,thiselderlyprimemanipulationappearsto,contrarytoouroriginalhypotheses,providemorephysicalresourcestoparticipants.Hulletal(2002)proposesthepowerofprimingarisesasaresultoftheselfrelevanceoftheprimingstimuli.Thisintegrationofsensorystimuli,theyargue,maythenhaveasignificanteffectonourperceptions.Throughthesechangesinperception,wordssuchasold,sicklyorgreyarethoughttoalterourbehavior.Hulletal(2002)alsomakesanimportantpointregardingonerequirementforprimingeffectstowork.Withinhismodelofpriming,supportedbyotherresearchers(Barghetal,2012),itisvitalfortheprimingmanipulationtonotrevealits’naturetotheparticipant.Therefore,whetherusingsubliminalorsupraliminalprimes,itisimportantfortheprimingmanipulationofagivenstudytoremainunknowntotheparticipant.

Thissenseofawarenessisthedistinguishingcharacteristicofthecurrentstudyandisafactorthatseparatesitfrompreviousworkinpriming(Barghetal,1996).Thisdifferencecouldbebehindthecounterintuitivefindingsseeninthecurrentstudy.ParticipantsinBarghetal(1996),completethewordscramblingtaskandbelievetheirperformanceonthattaskisthesolemeasurementofthestudy.Thetruedependentmeasureofthestudy(walkingspeed)isonlyrevealedtothemoncetheybelievetheyhavecompletedthestudyandareontheirwayoutofthebuilding.Thesurreptitiousnatureofthisdependentmeasureisfundamentallydifferentfromthehandgripmeasureinthisstudyasparticipantsareawarethey

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arebeingtested.Itispossiblethatthisawarenessisleadingtoasortofsubconsciouscompensationeffectfollowingthepresentationofthefaceprimes.

Evidencecanbeseenforthiscompensationmechanisminliteraturepertainingtothecognitiveimpairmentassociatedwithalcoholimpairment.Withinthiswork,workhasbeendonewhichshowstheimpactenvironmentandcontextcanhaveonthemotordeficitsassociatedwithalcoholconsumption(Vogel‐Sprott,1992).Furthermore,whenthisenvironmentalstimulusinvolvesmonetaryreward,experimentersseeadrasticreductionintheimpairmentsfollowingtheconsumptionofalcohol(Vogel‐Sprott&Sdao‐Jarvie,1989).Itisgenerallyagreeduponthatthistoleranceforalcoholresultsfromanadaptive,compensatoryreactionthatworksagainstthedrugs’effect.These,drug‐compensatoryeffectshavebeentheoreticallylinkedtoanexpectedrewardingoutcomefollowingnon‐alcoholicperformance(Vogel‐Sprott&Sdao‐Jarvie,1989).Withinthecurrentstudy,itispossiblewearewitnessingasimilareffect,witharewardconsistingofexperimenterapprovalforgoodperformanceonstudytasks.

Klatzky&Creswell(2014)proposethataweightedbidsmodelisatworkintheelderlyprimingphenomenon.Withinthismodel,severalincomingsignalsarecoded,weighted,andthensummedaswecreatethecorrespondingperceptualexperience.Thecupexampleusedintheintroductioninvolvedlargelytactilesensationaswemadeanestimationofhowheavythecupmightbe.Characteristicsofthecupunderconsiderationincludedhowdensetheobjectfelt,whatmaterialthebottleappearedtobemadeof,andalsohowmuchforceneededtobeexertedwhenpickingupthecup.Itispossiblethattheseprocessesweresimilarlyatplayin

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elderlyprimingwithelderlyprimingwordsactivatingourconceptoftheelderly,whichtheninterplayswithourselfconcepteventuallymanifestinginthealteredbehaviorseeninpreviouselderlyprimingstudies.Itispossiblethatthereisanaddedelementtothismodellinkedtoparticipantawarenessofbeingtestedandthecompensationeffectdiscussedpreviously.Forexample,theintroductionofanelderlyprimingstimulus,ifeffective,mightcreateasemiconsciousperceptionofareducedperceptionofavailablephysicalresources.Thisalterationmightthenbebroughttoconsciousawarenessatthebeginningofthegriptestsasparticipantsbecomeawareof,whatseemstobe,reducedstrengthintheirhand.Thisrealizationmightthencausethemtoovercompensatebysqueezingsignificantlyharderastheyattempttomakeupfortheapparentreductionintheirphysicalresources.

Onestudytestedtheaffectofexplicitachievementmotivationonmotivationprimingandfoundasignificanteffectfortheirachievementmanipulation(Engeser&Baumann,2014).Similartothephysicalresourcesmechanismproposedthecurrentstudy,Engeser&Baumannattributetheirsignificantincreaseinexplicitachievementmotivationasbeingactivatedbytheintroductionofself‐relevantachievementprimingstimuli.

ThisphysicalresourcescompensatoryaccountisalsoconsistentwithresultsfromAarts,Cluster&Marien(2008).Resultsofthisstudyrevealedincreasedgripstrengthuponthesubliminalpresentationofexertionprimesandthenfurtherincreaseingripstrengthwhenexertionprimeswerepairedwitharewardingstimulus.Experimentersinthisstudysuggesttheseresultsareduetoanincreaseinmotivation,linkedtothecouplingoftheprimingeffectandarewardbasedincrease

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inmotivation.Thisincreaseinmotivationcomplementsthenatureoftheirexertionprimes,furtherincreasinggripstrength.Withintheseresults,liesthesamemotivationbasedincreaseinperformanceattherootoftheproposedmodelforthecurrentstudy.Thissynchronousactivityofexertionandachievementprimesisanareaofdistinctionwhencomparingresultstothecurrentstudy.WhereastheprimesinAartsetal(2008)worktogethertoincreaseeffectsize,ourelderlyprimeworksagainsttheparticipant’smotivationtoprovidegooddata.Thisoppositionmanifestsinthesmallandreversedeffectsizesdemonstratedinthisstudy.

Inadditiontothesignificanthandgripfindingsofthisstudy,wereportsignificantslowerresponsetimeinthegenderrecognitiontaskforelderly(andmixedfaces).Inthebeginningofthestudywehypothesizedthiseffectwouldoccur(namely,whenoneisprimedwithanelderlyface,itslowstheircorrespondingmovements,suchasreactiontime),however,thereareseveralpossibleexplanations.Firstitispossiblethatouryoungadultparticipantswerebetterabletoidentifygenderinthosefaces,whichweresimilartotheirownage.Thisfamiliarityeffectwouldlikelymanifestsimilarlytotheresultsseeninthisstudy.Second,elderlyfacesmightbelessdistinctivethanyoungfaces,resultinginslowerreactiontimes.Forexample,facialhairwaslessprevalentintheelderlypicturesanditispossiblethatthehairstylesseenintheelderlypicturesaremoregenderneutralthaninthecaseoftheconditionsincludingyoungerfaces.Finally,thiseffect,consistentwithouroriginalhypothesis,maybeduetoanelderlyprimingeffect.Thismeasureofreactiontimeistheclosestmeasurewehavetemporallytotheactualpresentationoftheelderlyprimes.Theseresultsmaythereforereflectthe

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immediateincorporationoftheageconceptintoourproposedphysicalresourcesmodelofelderlypriming.Additionally,thereissomequestionastowhythemixedgrouprespondedmoreslowlythantheelderlygroup.Oneexplanationcouldbethatthecognitivemechanismbehindgenderdiscriminationcouldbesomewhatagedependent.Ifthiswerethecase,thentheswitchingbackandforthbetweenayoungandoldconceptcouldbecausingthereducedreactiontime.

Thequestionsexploredintheprimingliteratureextendtoenvelopourunderstandingofourownself‐conceptand,further,theconceptoffreewill.Whataspectsofourenvironmentandourcharacterformhowwethink,feel,andbehave?Thisstudyemphasizestheimportanceofawarenessinthegoverninghowwethinkaboutthesetypesofquestions.Althoughthisstudysuggestsourthoughtsandbehaviorscanbecontrolledbyenvironmentalstimulipresentedoutsideconsciousawareness,italsosupportsamodelbuiltonself‐control,governedbyourabilitytoattendtoandcriticallyconsiderthosepreconceptionsandattitudes,whichbecomeactivewithprimingmanipulations.

Futureworkinthisareamightexploretheeffectofmotivationandrewardonthevarioustypesofprimingmanipulations.Discoveringthelimitationsandextensionsofthisphysicalresourcesmechanismwillbeimportantinimprovingourunderstandingofprimingeffects.Additionalworkmightalsofocusonthedifferencesbetweendependentmeasuresrequiringparticipantattentionandthoseperformedwithouttheparticipants’awareness(e.g.,walkingspeed).Thistypeofresearchcouldprovideaclearerpictureofsocialprimingeffectsandourpresentresults.

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ElderlyPeakGripStrength

MixedPeakGripStrength

YoungPeakGripStrength

ElderlyOverallGripStrength(Integral)

MixedOverallGripStrength(Integral)

YoungOverallGripStrength(Inegral)

MeanValue 115.37 

109.85 

104.29 

53.33 

50.76 

49.75 

StandardDeviation

55.11 

60.37 

53.77 

25.36 

29.36 

29.13 

Log10(Mean) 1.68 

1.63 

1.63 

2.02 1.98 

1.96 

Table1:Mean,standarddeviation,andlogtransformedvaluesforrelevanthandgripmeasures.

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Figure2:Logtransformedpeakgripstrengthmeasuredastheaveragepeakstrengthofthreegriptestsineachofthreeconditions.

1.561.581.61.621.641.661.681.71.72

Elderly Mixed Young

log(New

tons)

PeakGripStrength

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Figure3:Logtransformedoverallgripstrengthmeasuredastheaverageintegralofthreegriptestsineachofthreeconditions.

1.91.921.941.961.98

22.022.042.06

Elderly Mixed Young

log(New

tons)

OverallGripStrength

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Figure4:Reactiontimeinthefacialrecognitiontaskaveragedacrossfiftytrials.

640660680700720740760

Elderly Mixed Young

ResponseTime(ms)

ReactionTimeinFacialRecognitionTask

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