The attentional requirement of unconscious processing
Schedule
Thursday, October 28, 2021
21:00 UTC
Shao-Min (Sean) Hung
Dr
California Institute of Technology
Host: Asia Pacific Consciousness Network
Recording
Open recording
Event Information
Recording
Available
Host
Asia Pacific Consciousness Network
Duration
90 minutes
Abstract
The tight relationship between attention and conscious perception has been extensively researched in the past decades. However, whether attentional modulation extended to unconscious processes remained largely unknown, particularly when it came to abstract and high-level processing. I will talk about a recent study where we utilized the Stroop paradigm to show that task load gates unconscious semantic processing. In a series of psychophysical experiments, the unconscious word semantics influenced conscious task performance only under the low task load condition, but not the high task load condition. Intriguingly, with enough practice in the high task load condition, the unconscious effect reemerged. These findings suggest a competition of attentional resources between unconscious and conscious processes, challenging the automaticity account of unconscious processing.
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