Distinguishing unconscious from conscious cognition--reasonable assumptions and replicable findings: reply to Merikle...

S. C. Draine and A. G. Greenwald (1998) demonstrated replicable unconscious semantic priming by combining a response window procedure, which increases priming effects by requiring rapid responding, and a regression analysis in which the regression intercept is a marker for unconscious cognition. The commentaries by B. A. Dosher (1998) and by P. M. Merikle and E. M. Reingold (1998) raise two questions about conclusions based on these methods: (a) Did Draine and Greenwald (1998) demonstrate an indirect effect (subliminal priming) in the absence of a direct effect (i.e., visibility of the subliminal priming words)? and (b) Did Draine and Greenwald (1998) demonstrate dissociation of conscious from unconscious cognition? The first question has reassuring responses that are reviewed here. The second question is answered by pointing out that although Draine and Greenwald (1998) did not claim to have established such dissociation, they provided data that advance the plausibility of that conclusion.