No difference between conscious and nonconscious visuomotor control: evidence from perceptual learning in the masked prime task

Conscious Cogn. 2008 Mar;17(1):84-93. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2006.11.004. Epub 2006 Dec 28.

Abstract

Negative compatibility effects (NCEs) in the masked-prime paradigm are usually obtained when primes are masked effectively. With ineffective masks-and primes above the perceptual threshold-positive compatibility effects (PCEs) occur. We investigated whether this pattern reflects a causal relationship between conscious awareness and low-level motor control, or whether it reflects the fact that both are affected in the same way by changes in physical stimulus attributes. In a 5-session perceptual learning task, participants learned to consciously identify masked primes. However, they showed unaltered NCEs that were not different from those produced by participants in a control group without equivalent perceptual learning. A control experiment demonstrated that no NCEs occur when prime identification is made possible by ineffective masking. The results suggest that perceptual awareness and low-level motor control are affected by the same factors, but are fundamentally independent of each other.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Awareness*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Learning*
  • Male
  • Perceptual Masking*
  • Psychomotor Performance*
  • Reaction Time
  • Subliminal Stimulation
  • Time Factors
  • Visual Perception*