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The role of conscious perception in semantic processing: Testing the action trigger hypothesis.
Nitzan Micher1, Dominique Lamy2
1Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Consciousness and Cognition
|November 30, 2022
Summary
Unconscious stimuli have a small, task-dependent impact on response priming. Conscious perception significantly enhances both visuo-motor and semantic priming effects, revealing its crucial role.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Perception
Background:
- Previous research suggested semantic processing occurs without conscious perception.
- However, unconscious priming effects are often small and may reflect visuo-motor rather than semantic processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of conscious perception in response priming.
- To differentiate between visuo-motor and semantic processing in priming effects.
- To examine how task demands influence unconscious and conscious priming.
Main Methods:
- Participants categorized animal names, responding to briefly presented (liminal) words as primes.
- Prime visibility was manipulated (seen vs. missed).
- Task demands were varied to elicit visuo-motor or semantic processing.
Main Results:
- Conscious perception significantly enhanced both visuo-motor and semantic response priming.
- Task demands modulated processing for both consciously perceived and missed primes.
- Divergent patterns in priming on fast vs. slow trials suggested minimal contamination by conscious priming.
Conclusions:
- The impact of unconscious stimuli on response priming is small and highly dependent on task demands.
- Conscious perception plays a critical role in enhancing both visuo-motor and semantic priming.
- Findings support the Action Trigger Hypothesis regarding task-modulated processing.
Keywords:
Backward maskingLiminal prime paradigmResponse primingSemantic processingUnconscious processingMore Related Videos
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