Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli
Many believe that humans can ‘perceive unconsciously’ – that for weak stimuli, briefly presented and masked, above-chance discrimination is possible without awareness. Interestingly, an online survey reveals that most experts in the field recognize the lack of convincing evidence for this phenomenon...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2015-10-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/09651 |
| _version_ | 1811200347963654144 |
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| author | Megan A K Peters Hakwan Lau |
| author_facet | Megan A K Peters Hakwan Lau |
| author_sort | Megan A K Peters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many believe that humans can ‘perceive unconsciously’ – that for weak stimuli, briefly presented and masked, above-chance discrimination is possible without awareness. Interestingly, an online survey reveals that most experts in the field recognize the lack of convincing evidence for this phenomenon, and yet they persist in this belief. Using a recently developed bias-free experimental procedure for measuring subjective introspection (confidence), we found no evidence for unconscious perception; participants’ behavior matched that of a Bayesian ideal observer, even though the stimuli were visually masked. This surprising finding suggests that the thresholds for subjective awareness and objective discrimination are effectively the same: if objective task performance is above chance, there is likely conscious experience. These findings shed new light on decades-old methodological issues regarding what it takes to consider a neurobiological or behavioral effect to be 'unconscious,' and provide a platform for rigorously investigating unconscious perception in future studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:03:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a0bb1e00fa44569b6407b08809ec5ef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:03:23Z |
| publishDate | 2015-10-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a0bb1e00fa44569b6407b08809ec5ef2022-12-22T03:52:37ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2015-10-01410.7554/eLife.09651Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuliMegan A K Peters0Hakwan Lau1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States; Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United StatesMany believe that humans can ‘perceive unconsciously’ – that for weak stimuli, briefly presented and masked, above-chance discrimination is possible without awareness. Interestingly, an online survey reveals that most experts in the field recognize the lack of convincing evidence for this phenomenon, and yet they persist in this belief. Using a recently developed bias-free experimental procedure for measuring subjective introspection (confidence), we found no evidence for unconscious perception; participants’ behavior matched that of a Bayesian ideal observer, even though the stimuli were visually masked. This surprising finding suggests that the thresholds for subjective awareness and objective discrimination are effectively the same: if objective task performance is above chance, there is likely conscious experience. These findings shed new light on decades-old methodological issues regarding what it takes to consider a neurobiological or behavioral effect to be 'unconscious,' and provide a platform for rigorously investigating unconscious perception in future studies.https://elifesciences.org/articles/09651unconscious perceptionsubliminal perceptionblindsightconsciousnesscriterion response biasbayesian ideal observer |
| spellingShingle | Megan A K Peters Hakwan Lau Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli eLife unconscious perception subliminal perception blindsight consciousness criterion response bias bayesian ideal observer |
| title | Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| title_full | Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| title_fullStr | Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| title_short | Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| title_sort | human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli |
| topic | unconscious perception subliminal perception blindsight consciousness criterion response bias bayesian ideal observer |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/09651 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT meganakpeters humanobservershaveoptimalintrospectiveaccesstoperceptualprocessesevenforvisuallymaskedstimuli AT hakwanlau humanobservershaveoptimalintrospectiveaccesstoperceptualprocessesevenforvisuallymaskedstimuli |