Implicit Memory for Novel Figure-Ground Displays Includes a History of Cross-Border Competition

When configural cues specify that a figure lies on opposite sides of a repeated border in prime and probe shapes, probe latencies are longer than when prime and probe borders are unrelated. Do such results reflect negative priming for the shape of the prime ground or cross-border competition from figure memory? The present study tested these alternatives by adding partial closure as a competing cue and reducing the similarity between the prime ground and the shape of the probe. Results supported the cross-border competition interpretation. Additional findings were that partial closure is a configural cue and that response effects can emerge from the potential shape on the ground side of a border. One prior experience was sufficient for these effects.