Sequential modulations of stimulus-response correspondence effects depend on awareness of response conflict

In two experiments, sequential modulations of prime-target correspondence effects were investigated in a metacontrast paradigm. Primes were either unmasked and thus consciously discriminable, or entirely masked and thus indiscriminable. Mirroring similar findings from Eriksen- and Simon-type tasks, the influence of prime-target correspondence was reduced in trials that followed a noncorresponding prime-target pair, which suggests that prime-induced response activation can be temporarily suppressed after an incompatible trial. This sequential modulation was independent of prime discriminability in the current trial, but it occurred only when the prime, and thus a conflict between the prime-induced and the deliberately to-be-selected response, was consciously experienced in the preceding trial. This suggests that the suppression of automatic response priming is not an immediate consequence of response conflict, but an intention-mediated strategy.