Classroom Demonstration: Psychology of Priming – Rock, Paper, Scissors
Author: Dawn Goel, Ph.D.
Marshall University
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Classroom Demonstration: Psychology of Priming – Rock, Paper, Scissors
Author: Dawn Goel, Ph.D.
Marshall University
Before you discuss priming with your students, begin with the following demonstration:
1. Ask for 3-6 volunteers to play a round of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” with you at the front of the
classroom. Once you have a set of volunteers, ask them to stand outside of the classroom
momentarily. (Note: if this is not an option, you may pass a quick note to each audience
member to briefly explain the activity.)
2. While the volunteers are outside of the classroom, you may tell your audience a bit about
priming. Let them know that you are going to try to activate associations held out of the
volunteers’ conscious awareness and hopefully get them to respond with “scissors.”
3. Invite one volunteer back into the classroom and ask them if they are ready to play “Rock,
Paper, Scissors.” Once you both get to the front of the room, tell them, “We’ll go on 1, 2, 3,
shoot!” Then, interrupt yourself and say, “Before we begin, what color is your shirt?”
(asking volunteers to think about the color of their shirt will prime them with fabric and
should lead them to respond with “scissors” during the game.) As soon as the volunteer
responds with the color of their shirt, begin the game by motioning and saying, “okay, 1, 2,
3, shoot!”
4. Repeat this process with each of the student volunteers. Upon completion of the
demonstration, provide a formal definition of priming.
Priming: Literature on priming suggests that our memory consists of a large network of
associations. Through everyday experiences, individuals form associations that later
facilitate recall. For example, we often pair items that are commonly presented together
such as “cat” and “dog” or “bread” and “butter.” If one of these items is presented, it is
likely that we will recall the other item. Thus, the first item “primes” the association
between the two items. Priming may impact our behaviors, even if we are not consciously
aware of its occurrence (Bargh, Chen, Burrows, 1996; Higgins, Rholes, & Jones, 1977;
Holland, Hendriks, & Aarts, 2005).
This activity has not failed me; however, if it does not work in your classroom – these will:

Ask students the following: “A man takes his sons to a baseball game. They get into a car
accident on the way home. The surgeon cannot operate as the boys are the surgeon’s sons.
Who is the surgeon?” It often takes students awhile to figure out that the surgeon is the
boys’ mother, because we are primed to believe that surgeons are men.

Point to white objects in the classroom (paper, whiteboard, etc.) and ask students, “What
color is this?” After you have done this four times, ask students, “What do cows drink?”
Many will respond with “milk,” because they have been primed with the color white.

Ask students to spell: most, roast, host. Then, ask students, “What do you put in a
toaster?” Many will respond with “toast,” because they have been primed with words that
rhyme with toast.

Ask students to spell: mop, hop, top, flop. Then, ask students, “What do you do at a green
light?” Many will respond with “stop,” because they have been primed with words that
rhyme with stop.
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