Reading the word "petal" in a paragraph before presenting the letters "ltepa" may predispose the respondent to solve the anagram as "petal" rather than "plate". This phenomenon is called

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Priming is when exposure to a particular stimulus influences response to a subsequent stimulus, making it more likely for the respondent to choose the previously presented word "petal" rather than another possible option like "plate". Cognitive facilitation refers to the process of making a cognitive task easier, but it does not explain this specific phenomenon of word association. Spreading activation is a related concept, but it refers to the propagation of neural activity through a network of associated concepts, and it is not specific to anagrams. Hindsight bias is the tendency to perceive events as more predictable than they were before they occurred, and it is not relevant to this situation.

Reading the Word "Petal" in a Paragraph Before Presenting the Letters