Conscious and unconscious proportion effects in masked priming

The global neuronal workspace theory [Dehaene, S., & Naccache, L. (2001). Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition, 79, 1–37.] proposes that it is impossible for an unconscious stimulus to be used strategically to enhance task perform...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Consciousness and cognition 2008-12, Vol.17 (4), p.1345-1358
Main Authors: Van den Bussche, Eva, Segers, Gitte, Reynvoet, Bert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Association Learning
Awareness
Bottom–up effect
Cognition & reasoning
Consciousness
Cues
Experimental psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Masked priming
Middle Aged
Neurosciences
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Perceptual Masking
Proportion effect
Reaction Time
Subliminal Stimulation
Theory
Top–down effect
Unconscious (Psychology)
Young Adult
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Summary:The global neuronal workspace theory [Dehaene, S., & Naccache, L. (2001). Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition, 79, 1–37.] proposes that it is impossible for an unconscious stimulus to be used strategically to enhance task performance (bottom–up effect), while a fully consciously perceived stimulus can be used to improve task performance (top–down effect). Two experiments were designed to investigate these hypotheses. In a first experiment we investigated whether a manipulation of the proportion of Arabic/number word targets had a top–down effect. Since the subjects were fully aware of the target, we expected that this manipulation could be used to enhance task performance. In a second experiment we determined whether a manipulation of the proportion of Arabic/number word primes had a bottom–up effect. Since the subjects were unaware of the prime, we hypothesized that they would be unable to use the manipulation to enhance task performance and therefore the manipulation would have no effect. Both hypotheses were largely confirmed.
ISSN:1053-8100
1090-2376
DOI:10.1016/j.concog.2007.08.005