Findings of category-specific impairments have suggested that
human semantic memory may be organized around a
living/nonliving dichotomy. In order to assess implicit
memory performance for living and nonliving concepts, one group
of neurologically intact individuals participated in a cross-form
conceptual priming paradigm. In Block 1, pictures primed words
while in Block 2 words were used to prime pictures. Across all
phases of the experiment, subjects decided whether items
represented something which was living or nonliving, and response
times were recorded. Results revealed greater priming for living
concepts across both blocks. Greater priming for living concepts
may have occurred because of increased or prolonged conceptual
activation of these concepts. Results are discussed in the context
of theoretical accounts of the category-specific impairments
observed in brain-damaged populations. (JINS, 2003,
9, 796–805.)