In Search of an Integrative Method to Study Unconscious Processing: An Application of Bayesian and General Recognition Theory Models to the Processing of Hierarchical Patterns in the Absence of Awareness.

Prieto, Antonio; Montoro, Pedro R; Jimenez, Mikel; Hinojosa, José Antonio

Abstract

The dissociation between conscious and unconscious perception is one of the most relevant issues in the study of human cognition. While there is evidence suggesting that some stimuli might be unconsciously processed up to its meaning (e.g., high-level stimulus processing), some authors claim that most results on the processing of subliminal stimuli can be explained by a mixture of methodological artefacts and questionable assumptions about what can be considered non-conscious. Particularly, one of the most controversial topics involves the method by which the awareness of the stimuli is assessed. To address this question, we introduced an integrative approach to assess the extent to which masked hierarchical stimuli (i.e., global shapes composed of local elements) can be processed in the absence of awareness. We combined a priming task where participants had to report global or local shapes, with the use of subjective and objective awareness measures collected either in a separate block (offline), or trial-by-trial during the main task (online). The unconscious processing of the masked primes was then evaluated through two different novel model-based methods: a Bayesian and a General Recognition Theory modeling approach. Despite the high correlation between awareness measures, our results show that the use of alternative approaches based on different theoretical assumptions leads to diverging conclusions about the extent of the unconscious processing of the masked primes.

Citation

Prieto, A., Montoro, P. R., Jimenez, M., & Hinojosa, J. A. (2025). In Search of an Integrative Method to Study Unconscious Processing: An Application of Bayesian and General Recognition Theory Models to the Processing of Hierarchical Patterns in the Absence of Awareness. Journal of Cognition, 8(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.411

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 7, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 7, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 7, 2025
• Journal: Journal of cognition
• Electronic ISSN: 2514-4820
• Publisher: Ubiquity Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.411
• Keywords: Bayesian inference, Visual Awareness, Visual Masking, Unconscious Perception, General Recognition Theory, Awareness Measures
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3351881
• PMID: 39803183