Archive of all online content

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2011)

Special issue: Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception, Part I and II Editors: Markus Kiefer, Michael Niedeggen, John-Dylan Haynes

Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception: From a plethora of phenomena to general principles

pp. 55-67
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0090-4
Markus Kiefer, Ulrich Ansorge, John-Dylan Haynes, Fred Hamker, Uwe Mattler, Rolf Verleger, Michael Niedeggen
Corresponding author:
Markus Kiefer, University of Ulm, Department of Psychiatry, Leimgrubenweg 12, 89075 Ulm, Germany.
E-mail: Markus.Kiefer@uni-ulm.de
APA
Kiefer, M., Ansorge, U., Haynes, J. D., Hamker, F., Mattler, U., Verleger, R., & Niedeggen, M. (2011). Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception: From a plethora of phenomena to general principles. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 55-67. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0090-4
Abstract

Psychological and neuroscience approaches have promoted much progress in elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie phenomenal visual awareness during the last decades. In this article, we provide an overview of the latest research investigating important phenomena in conscious and unconscious vision. We identify general principles to characterize conscious and unconscious visual perception, which may serve as important building blocks for a unified model to explain the plethora of findings. We argue that in particular the integration of principles from both conscious and unconscious vision is advantageous and provides critical constraints for developing adequate theoretical models. Based on the principles identified in our review, we outline essential components of a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception. We propose that awareness refers to consolidated visual representations, which are accessible to the entire brain and therefore globally available. However, visual awareness not only depends on consolidation within the visual system, but is additionally the result of a post-sensory gating process, which is mediated by higher-level cognitive control mechanisms. We further propose that amplification of visual representations by attentional sensitization is not exclusive to the domain of conscious perception, but also applies to visual stimuli, which remain unconscious. Conscious and unconscious processing modes are highly interdependent with influences in both directions. We therefore argue that exactly this interdependence renders a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception valuable. Computational modeling jointly with focused experimental research could lead to a better understanding of the plethora of empirical phenomena in consciousness research.

Keywords: consciousness, visual awareness, unconscious cognition, subliminal perception, attention

Roles of contour and surface processing in microgenesis of object perception and visual consciousness

pp. 68-81
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0088-y
Bruno G. Breitmeyer, Evelina Tapia
Corresponding author:
Bruno G. Breitmeyer, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5022, USA.
E-mail: brunob@uh.edu
APA
Breitmeyer, B. G., & Tapia, E. (2011). Roles of contour and surface processing in microgenesis of object perception and visual consciousness. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 68-81. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0088-y
Abstract

Developments in visual neuroscience and neural-network modeling indicate the existence of separate pathways for the processing of form and surface attributes of a visual object. In line with prior theoretical proposals, it is assumed that the processing of form can be explicit or conscious only as or after the surface property such as color is filled in. In conjunction with extant psychophysical findings, these developments point to interesting distinctions between nonconscious and conscious processing of these attributes, specifically in relation to distinguishable temporal dynamics. At nonconscious levels form processing proceeds faster than surface processing, whereas in contrast, at conscious levels form processing proceeds slower than surface processing. Implications of separate form and surface processing for current and future psychophysical and neuroscientific research, particularly that relating cortical oscillations to conjunctions of surface and form features, and for cognitive science and philosophy of mind and consciousness are discussed.

Keywords: conscious visual processing, contour, nonconscious visual processing, surface color, surface contrast, temporal dynamics

Follow the sign! Top-down contingent attentional capture of masked arrow cues

pp. 82-91
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0091-3
Heiko Reuss, Carsten Pohl, Andrea Kiesel, Wilfried Kunde
Corresponding author:
Heiko Reuss, University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology, Röntgenring 11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
E-mail: reuss@psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
APA
Reuss, H., Pohl, C., Kiesel, A., & Kunde, W. (2011). Follow the sign! Top-down contingent attentional capture of masked arrow cues. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 82-91. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0091-3
Abstract

Arrow cues and other overlearned spatial symbols automatically orient attention according to their spatial meaning. This renders them similar to exogenous cues that occur at stimulus location. Exogenous cues trigger shifts of attention even when they are presented subliminally. Here, we investigate to what extent the mechanisms underlying the orienting of attention by exogenous cues and by arrow cues are comparable by analyzing the effects of visible and masked arrow cues on attention. In Experiment 1, we presented arrow cues with overall 50% validity. Visible cues, but not masked cues, lead to shifts of attention. In Experiment 2, the arrow cues had an overall validity of 80%. Now both visible and masked arrows lead to shifts of attention. This is in line with findings that subliminal exogenous cues capture attention only in a top-down contingent manner, that is, when the cues fit the observer?s intentions.

Keywords: attention, arrow cues, spatial cuing, masked priming, contingent capture

Good vibrations, bad vibrations: Oscillatory brain activity in the attentional blink

pp. 92-107
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0089-x
Jolanda Janson, Cornelia Kranczioch
Corresponding author:
Cornelia Kranczioch, Department of Psychology, Neuropsychology Lab, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
E-mail: cornelia.kranczioch@uni-oldenburg.de
APA
Janson, J., & Kranczioch, C. (2011). Good vibrations, bad vibrations: Oscillatory brain activity in the attentional blink. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 92-107. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0089-x
Abstract

The attentional blink (AB) is a deficit in reporting the second (T2) of two targets (T1, T2) when presented in close temporal succession and within a stream of distractor stimuli. The AB has received a great deal of attention in the past two decades because it allows to study the mechanisms that influence the rate and depth of information processing in various setups and therefore provides an elegant way to study correlates of conscious perception in supra-threshold stimuli. Recently evidence has accumulated suggesting that oscillatory signals play a significant role in temporally coordinating information between brain areas. This review focuses on studies looking into oscillatory brain activity in the AB. The results of these studies indicate that the AB is related to modulations in oscillatory brain activity in the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands. These modulations are sometimes restricted to a circumscribed brain area but more frequently include several brain regions. They occur before targets are presented as well as after the presentation of the targets. We will argue that the complexity of the findings supports the idea that the AB is not the result of a processing impairment in one particular process or brain area, but the consequence of a dynamic interplay between several processes and/or parts of a neural network.

Keywords: oscillatory brain activity, attentional blink, EEG , review, visual attention

Top-down contingent feature-specific orienting with and without awareness of the visual input

pp. 108-119
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0087-z
Ulrich Ansorge, Gernot Horstmann, Ingrid Scharlau
Corresponding author:
Ulrich Ansorge, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
E-mail: ulrich.ansorge@univie.ac.at
APA
Ansorge, U., Horstmann, G., & Scharlau, I. (2011). Top-down contingent feature-specific orienting with and without awareness of the visual input. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 108-119. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0087-z
Abstract

In the present article, the role of endogenous feature-specific orienting for conscious and unconscious vision is reviewed. We start with an overview of orienting. We proceed with a review of masking research, and the definition of the criteria of experimental protocols that demonstrate endogenous and exogenous orienting, respectively. Against this background of criteria, we assess studies of unconscious orienting and come to the conclusion that so far studies of unconscious orienting demonstrated endogenous feature-specific orienting. The review closes with a discussion of the role of unconscious orienting in action control.

Keywords: vision, masking, attention, top-down contingent capture

Dos and don'ts in response priming research

pp. 120-131
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0092-2
Filipp Schmidt, Anke Haberkamp, Thomas Schmidt
Corresponding author:

Filipp Schmidt, University of Kaiserslautern, Faculty of Social Sciences, Psychology I, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. Geb. 57 D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
E-mail: filipp.schmidt@sowi.uni-kl.de; haberkamp@sowi.uni-kl.de; thomas.schmidt@sowi.uni-kl.de

APA
Schmidt, F., Haberkamp, A., & Schmidt, T. (2011). Dos and don'ts in response priming research. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 120-131. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0092-2
Abstract

Response priming is a well-understood but sparsely employed paradigm in cognitive science. The method is powerful and well-suited for exploring early visuomotor processing in a wide range of tasks and research fields. Moreover, response priming can be dissociated from visual awareness, possibly because it is based on the first sweep of feedforward processing of primes and targets. This makes it a theoretically interesting device for separating conscious and unconscious vision. We discuss the major opportunities of the paradigm and give specific recommendations (e.g., tracing the time-course of priming in parametric experiments). Also, we point out typical confounds, design flaws, and data processing artifacts.

Keywords: response priming, unconscious perception, research methods

The effects of spatial and temporal cueing on metacontrast masking

pp. 132-141
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0093-1
Maximilian Bruchmann, Philipp Hintze, Simon Mota
Corresponding author:
Maximilian Bruchmann, Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149 Münster, Germany.
E-mail: Maximilian.Bruchmann@uni-muenster.de
APA
Bruchmann, M., Hintze, P., & Mota, S. (2011). The effects of spatial and temporal cueing on metacontrast masking. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 132-141. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0093-1
Abstract

We studied the effects of selective attention on metacontrast masking with 3 different cueing experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 compared central symbolic and peripheral spatial cues. For symbolic cues, we observed small attentional costs, that is, reduced visibility when the target appeared at an unexpected location, and attentional costs as well as benefits for peripheral cues. All these effects occurred exclusively at the late, ascending branch of the U-shaped metacontrast masking function, although the possibility exists that cueing effects at the early branch were obscured by a ceiling effect due to almost perfect visibility at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In Experiment 3, we presented temporal cues that indicated when the target was likely to appear, not where. Here, we also observed cueing effects in the form of higher visibility when the target appeared at the expected point in time compared to when it appeared too early. However, these effects were not restricted to the late branch of the masking function, but enhanced visibility over the complete range of the masking function. Given these results we discuss a common effect for different types of spatial selective attention on metacontrast masking involving neural subsystems that are different from those involved in temporal attention.

Keywords: visual masking, metacontrast, spatial cueing, temporal cueing

Cognitive and affective judgements of syncopated musical themes

pp. 142-156
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.2478/v10053-008-0094-0
Peter E. Keller, Emery Schubert
Corresponding author:
Emery Schubert, Empirical Musicology Group, School of English, Media, and Performing Arts; University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
E-mail: e.schubert@unsw.edu.au
APA
Keller, P. E., & Schubert, E. (2011). Cognitive and affective judgements of syncopated musical themes. Advances in cognitive psychology, 7, 142-156. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0094-0
Abstract

This study investigated cognitive and emotional effects of syncopation, a feature of musical rhythm that produces expectancy violations in the listener by emphasising weak temporal locations and de-emphasising strong locations in metric structure. Stimuli consisting of pairs of unsyncopated and syncopated musical phrases were rated by 35 musicians for perceived complexity, enjoyment, happiness, arousal, and tension. Overall, syncopated patterns were more enjoyed, and rated as happier, than unsyncopated patterns, while differences in perceived tension were unreliable. Complexity and arousal ratings were asymmetric by serial order, increasing when patterns moved from unsyncopated to syncopated, but not significantly changing when order was reversed. These results suggest that syncopation influences emotional valence (positively), and that while syncopated rhythms are objectively more complex than unsyncopated rhythms, this difference is more salient when complexity increases than when it decreases. It is proposed that composers and improvisers may exploit this asymmetry in perceived complexity by favoring formal structures that progress from rhythmically simple to complex, as can be observed in the initial sections of musical forms such as theme and variations.

Keywords: syncopation, serial asymmetry, affective response, cognition, rhythm, emotion, musical form

Letter from the editors

pp. 157-159
First published on 31 December 2011 | DOI:10.5709/acp-0095-z
Rob H. J. van der Lubbe, Ulrich Ansorge
Abstract

-

Tasks financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education on the basis of the contract no. 801/P-DUN/2018 out of the funds designed for activities promoting science: Preparation and editing of English versions of articles, Financing foreign Editors-in-Chief, Dissemination of publications and increasing their accessibility to a broad range of readers, Creation of the XML conversion platform to improve the access to the articles (2018-2019). Advances in Cognitive Psychology is co-financed by the Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki) under the program "Rozwój czasopism naukowych," RCN/SN/0494/2021/1.

Zadania finansowane w ramach umowy 801/P-DUN/2018 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę: Finansowanie zagranicznych redaktorów naczelnych; Przygotowanie i edycja anglojęzycznych publikacji; Upowszechnianie publikacji i ułatwianie dostępu do nich szerokiemu gronu odbiorców; Utworzenie nowej platformy do udostępniania artykułów. Advances in Cognitive Psychology jest współfinansowane przez Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki w ramach programu "Rozwój czasopism naukowych," RCN/SN/0494/2021/1.