Invisible, but how The depth of unconscious processing as inferred from different suppression techniques

Frontiers Research Topics

Julien Dubois ; Nathan Faivre

keywords: unconscious processing;    Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS);    backward masking;    visual crowding;    invisibility;    measures of consciousness;    interocular suppression;    psychophysical magic;   

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Subject:心理学（综合）

瑞士

【 摘 要 】

To what level are invisible stimuli processed by the brain in the absence of conscious awareness It is widely accepted that simple visual properties of invisible stimuli are processed; however, the existence of higher-level unconscious processing (e.g., involving semantic or executive functions) remains a matter of debate. Several methodological factors may underlie the discrepancies found in the literature, such as different levels of conservativeness in the definition of ��unconscious�� or different dependent measures of unconscious processing. In this research topic, we are particularly interested in yet another factor: inherent differences in the amount of information let through by different suppression techniques. In the same conditions of well-controlled, conservatively established invisibility, can we show that some of the techniques in the ��psychophysical magic�� arsenal (e.g., masking, but also visual crowding, attentional blink, etc.) reliably lead to higher-level unconscious processing than others (e.g., interocular suppression) Some authors have started investigating this question, using multiple techniques in similar settings . We argue that this approach should be extended and refined. Indeed, in order to delineate the frontiers of the unconscious mind using a contrastive method, one has to disentangle the limits attributable to unawareness itself, and those attributable to the technique inducing unawareness. The scope of this research topic is to provide a platform for scientists to contribute insights and further experiments addressing this fundamental question.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   

【 图 表 】

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