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Space-valence priming with subliminal and supraliminal words
Ulrich Ansorge1, Shah Khalid, Peter König
1Department of Psychology, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria ; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück Osnabrück, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|February 27, 2013
Summary
Subliminal (unconscious) spatial word primes can influence how people classify the emotional valence of visible words. However, unconscious emotional primes do not affect spatial word classification, indicating a one-way influence.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- The interplay between non-evaluative semantic processing and affective semantics, particularly under conditions of awareness, remains incompletely understood.
- Investigating whether unconscious semantic information influences emotional judgments and vice versa is crucial for mapping cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if awareness-independent non-evaluative semantic processes impact affective semantics.
- To examine if awareness-independent affective semantics influence non-evaluative semantic processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized subliminal (masked) primes and supraliminal (visible) targets in a space-valence across-category congruence paradigm.
- Conducted three experiments employing masked word primes (spatial or valence-related) and visible target words, measuring classification times.
- Included control conditions to validate priming effects and the across-category congruence effect.
Main Results:
- Subliminal spatial primes significantly influenced the valence classification of supraliminal target words, showing faster responses for congruent prime-target pairs.
- Subliminal valence primes did not influence the spatial classification (up/down) of supraliminal target words.
- Control experiments confirmed standard masked priming effects and the validity of the across-category congruence effect.
Conclusions:
- Awareness-independent non-evaluative semantic priming demonstrably influences affective (valence) judgments.
- Affective semantics do not appear to influence non-evaluative semantic processing in an awareness-independent manner under these experimental conditions.
- The findings support a unidirectional influence from non-evaluative to affective semantic processing outside of conscious awareness.
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