Priming in behavioral interventions typically refers to attempting to influence someone's behavior by brief exposures to certain words, images, sounds, or other stimuli beforehand. In cognitive psychology, priming effects have been found to improve the speed of processing related information (for example, naming an image when previously shown a related image vs. an unrelated one). Similarly, reminding someone of how to do a behavior or its consequences can be a way to influence them a brief while later by making this information more available in memory.
Notably, several well-known priming studies have failed to replicate and it may be a less potent technique than previously believed. At the very least, priming should be considered to most likely impart effects only in the short term.
