How (not) to demonstrate unconscious priming
Overcoming issues with post-hoc data selection, low power, and frequentist statistics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20409977 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tania Stein (0000-0002-8484-0933, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author), Timo Stein, Simon Van Gaal (0000-0001-6628-4534, University of Amsterdam), J J Fahrenfort (0000-0002-9025-3436, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Pages | 103669 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Consciousness and Cognition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-8100 • E-ISSN: 1090-2376 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103669 |
| PMID | 38395013 |
| OpenAlex | W4392119744 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 68 |
One widely used scientific approach to studying consciousness involves contrasting conscious operations with unconscious ones. However, challenges in establishing the absence of conscious awareness have led to debates about the extent and existence of unconscious processes. We collected experimental data on unconscious semantic priming, manipulating prime presentation duration to highlight the critical role of the analysis approach in attributing priming effects to unconscious processing. We demonstrate that common practices like post-hoc data selection, low statistical power, and frequentist statistical testing can erroneously support claims of unconscious priming. Conversely, adopting best practices like direct performance-awareness contrasts, Bayesian tests, and increased statistical power can prevent such erroneous conclusions. Many past experiments, including our own, fail to meet these standards, casting doubt on previous claims about unconscious processing. Implementing these robust practices will enhance our understanding of unconscious processing and shed light on the functions and neural mechanisms of consciousness
Bayesian inference · Bayesian probability · Cognitive psychology · Consciousness · Frequentist inference · Psychoanalysis · Statistical power · Statistics · Unconscious mind · Computer Science · EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces · Mathematics · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neural dynamics and brain function · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Bayesian Cognitive Modeling
Semantic activation without conscious identification in dichotic listening, parafoveal vision, and visual masking
Imaging unconscious semantic priming
Unconscious influences on decision making
Circular analysis in systems neuroscience
Different time courses for visual perception and action priming
Using direct and indirect measures to study perception without awareness
Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness
Discrimination and learning without awareness
Equivalence Testing for Psychological Research
Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's Object Pictorial Set
Levels of processing during non-conscious perception
What is consciousness, and could machines have it?
Erroneous analyses of interactions in neuroscience
The Psychophysics Toolbox
Raising awareness about measurement error in research on unconscious mental processes
Avoiding pitfalls
Progressing, not regressing
How (not) to underestimate unconscious perception
Correlation analysis to investigate unconscious mental processes
Unconscious semantic priming from pictures under backward masking and continuous flash suppression
Subliminal or not? Comparing null-hypothesis and Bayesian methods for testing subliminal priming
The relation between consciousness and attention
No evidence for dorsal-stream-based priming under continuous flash suppression
Setting the stage subliminally
The reliability paradox
Dissociating conscious and unconscious influences on visual detection effects
Mechanisms of masked priming
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |