Priming
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Psychology
Priming in psychology refers to activating particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task. In a neurological view priming can be seen as the activation of clusters of neurons (which can be seen as little stores of particular information). An interconnected cluster is surrounded by other clusters that are more or less connected with each other. When a cluster is activated, for example by the input of sensory neurons, surrounding clusters that are more interconnected (due to similar information, for example: both clusters represent a kind of flower) become more activated and are therefore more likely to come into consciousness. So when the cluster that represent the concept of "flower" is activated, particular clusters will be more activated then others (i.e. kinds of flowers). These associations are often regarded as unconscious, but can be conscious as well. For example, after studying a list of 20 words containing the word "garbage", a subject can be asked to recall the word by priming with a reminder stimulus "gar_____".
Media
Priming in media is related to the agenda-setting theory. Priming is the process by which certain portions of media content are 'brought to the forefront' and certain other portions are relegated to the background. This process allows the media to exercise control over public opinion.
Priming is most important when issues are new and information is scarce. Often priming is related to partisan attachment in so much as it determines the importance and the framing of a particular news event.
Agriculture
Priming in botany and agriculture is a form of seed planting preparation in which the seeds are pre-soaked before planting. Priming is not an extremely widely-used method yet, but as more and more farmers experiment, they will discover the benefits of seed priming. In general, most kinds of seeds experimented with so far have shown an overall advantage over seeds that are not primed. Many have shown a faster emergence time (the time it takes for seeds to rise above the surface of the soil), a higher emergence rate (the number of seeds that make it to the surface), and better growth, suggesting that the head-start helps them get a good root system down early and grow faster. This method can be useful to farmers because it saves them the money and time spent for fertilizers, re-seeding, and weak plants.
Additional Sources on Seed Priming
Overview of Seed Priming: TNO Quality of Life
Priming Winter Wheat: Crop Science
Priming Papsalum dialatatum The Royal Society of New Zealand (pdf file)
Priming mung beans (Vigna Radiata): Ingenta Connect