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Two Failures to Replicate High-Performance-Goal Priming Effects

Author

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  • Christine R Harris
  • Noriko Coburn
  • Doug Rohrer
  • Harold Pashler

Abstract

Bargh et al. (2001) reported two experiments in which people were exposed to words related to achievement (e.g., strive, attain) or to neutral words, and then performed a demanding cognitive task. Performance on the task was enhanced after exposure to the achievement related words. Bargh and colleagues concluded that better performance was due to the achievement words having activated a "high-performance goal". Because the paper has been cited well over 1100 times, an attempt to replicate its findings would seem warranted. Two direct replication attempts were performed. Results from the first experiment (n = 98) found no effect of priming, and the means were in the opposite direction from those reported by Bargh and colleagues. The second experiment followed up on the observation by Bargh et al. (2001) that high-performance-goal priming was enhanced by a 5-minute delay between priming and test. Adding such a delay, we still found no evidence for high-performance-goal priming (n = 66). These failures to replicate, along with other recent results, suggest that the literature on goal priming requires some skeptical scrutiny.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine R Harris & Noriko Coburn & Doug Rohrer & Harold Pashler, 2013. "Two Failures to Replicate High-Performance-Goal Priming Effects," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-1, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0072467
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072467
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Anabel Belaus & Cecilia Reyna & Esteban Freidin, 2018. "Testing the effect of cooperative/competitive priming on the Prisoner’s Dilemma. A replication study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, December.
    2. T. Poehlman & Ravi Dhar & John Bargh, 2016. "Sophisticated by Design: the Nonconscious Influence of Primed Concepts and Atmospheric Variables on Consumer Preferences," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(1), pages 48-61, March.
    3. Kristen D. Deppe & Frank J. Gonzalez & Jayme L. Neiman & Carly Jacobs & Jackson Pahlke & Kevin B. Smith & John R. Hibbing, 2015. "Reflective liberals and intuitive conservatives: A look at the Cognitive Reflection Test and ideology," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 10(4), pages 314-331, July.
    4. Stefan Engeser & Birk Hagemeyer & Henk Aarts, 2018. "The nonconscious cessation of affiliative motivation: A replication and extension study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-10, June.
    5. repec:cup:judgdm:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:314-331 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Opoku-Agyemang, Kweku A., 2017. "Priming human-computer interactions: Experimental evidence from economic development mobile surveys," SocArXiv 6bwxv, Center for Open Science.
    7. Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez & Jacek Buczny & Mark Van Vugt, 2020. "Encouraging Pro-Environmental Behaviors Through Children-Based Appeals: A Kin Selection Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-25, January.
    8. Santiago Sanchez-Pages & Claudia Rodriguez-Ruiz & Enrique Turiegano, 2014. "Facial Masculinity: How the Choice of Measurement Method Enables to Detect Its Influence on Behaviour," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-10, November.

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