How can we measure awareness? An overview of current methods

Timmermans, Bert; Cleeremans, Axel

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688890.003.0003

Cited by 142 publications

(121 citation statements)

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“…When awareness is operationalized via measurement, one can distinguish between subjective, objective and metacognitive operational definitions of awareness (Timmermans and Cleeremans 2015). Subjective operational definitions depend on participants reporting the contents of their thought processes in self-report measures.…”

Section: R2: Do Not Confuse Unconscious Influences With Unconscious Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Study Consciousness in Consumer Research, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

Sweldens

Tuk

Hütter

2017

Journal of Consumer Research

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Consumer research can benefit greatly from more insight in unconscious processes underlying behavior. Williams and Poehlman's effort at more clearly conceptualizing consciousness and call for more research provides a welcome stimulus in this regard. At the same time, providing evidence for unconscious causation is fraught with methodological difficulties. We outline why it is vital to uphold standards of evidence for claims regarding unconscious processes, as it is precisely a lack of rigor on this front which has generated a countermovement by researchers sceptical of dual process models in general and unconscious processes in particular. We contend that the sceptics have offered valid causes for concern, which we leverage to formulate six concrete recommendations for future research on consciousness. Researchers should (1) specify the process level at which they claim evidence for unconscious processes, (2) not confuse unconscious influences with unconscious processes, (3) carefully choose between different operational definitions of awareness, (4) maximally satisfy four criteria for awareness measures, and (5) complement measurement with experimental manipulations of awareness. Finally, we recommend to (6) refrain from hard claims about unconscious causation that transcend the limitations of the evidence, recognizing that consciousness is a continuous construct. Author NoteSteven Sweldens is associate professor of marketing at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands (sweldens@rsm.nl) and distinguished research fellow at INSEAD. Mirjam A. Tuk is assistant professor of marketing at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK (m.tuk@imperial.ac.uk) and visiting professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Mandy Hütter is junior professor of social psychology at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Fachbereich Psychologie, Schleichstr. 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany (mandy.huetter@uni-tuebingen.de). 2To better understand, aid and protect consumers, it is imperative to have an accurate understanding of unconscious drivers of behavior. We therefore welcome Williams and Poehlman's (2016) effort to stimulate and more clearly conceptualize the study of consciousness in consumer research. Past research on consciousness has struggled with two major stumbling blocks. First, it is difficult to provide an accurate definition of consciousness, not least because we do not really know how the experience of consciousness originates. As a consequence, there has been much variation in how conscious versus unconscious processing have been defined and operationalized in past research. We believe Williams and Poehlman (WP) have made important progress here by restricting the definition of consciousness to awareness, highlighting its functions and distinguishing it from other features of automaticity. Second, even when researchers agree on a definition (e.g., "awareness"),...

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Section: R2: Do Not Confuse Unconscious Influences With Unconscious Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Study Consciousness in Consumer Research, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

Sweldens

Tuk

Hütter

2017

Journal of Consumer Research

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“…The very concept of dissociation has motivated some important caveats (see Augusto, 2013), and criticism has fallen on the double-process/system theories (e.g., Evans, 2008;Evans & Stanovich, 2013), as well as on the criteria, thresholds, measures and testing methods in unconscious cognition (e.g., Fisk & Haase, 2005;Reingold, 2004;Timmermans & Cleeremans, 2015; see Section 2.2). Under closer scrutiny, many claimed dissociations lose their clean-cut character, sometimes to the point of effacement.…”

Section: Augusto -Lost In Dissociation: the Main Paradigms In Uncomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be sure, not many today still speak of doubles, but most contemporary research in the field of consciousness is grounded on the presupposition that consciousness and awareness must be investigated by following theoretical guidelines and by applying experimental methods that might reveal how conscious and unconscious cognition dissociate (e.g., Timmermans & Cleeremans, 2015;more generally: Overgaard, 2015).…”

Section: The Notion Of Dissociationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, in an obvious way, dissociation appears to be the right approach to study both consciousness and unconscious cognition (the dissociation logic; Timmermans & Cleeremans, 2015). It is largely at the basis of the highly influential dual-process/system theories that postulate an architectural-and often evolutionarydissociation between the overall unconscious System 1 and the conscious processing of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.04.004 Luis …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lost in dissociation: The main paradigms in unconscious cognition

Augusto

2016

Consciousness and Cognition

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Contemporary studies in unconscious cognition are essentially founded on dissociation, i.e., on how it dissociates with respect to conscious mental processes and representations. This is claimed to be in so many and diverse ways that one is often lost in dissociation. In order to reduce this state of confusion we here carry out two major tasks: based on the central distinction between cognitive processes and representations, we identify and isolate the main dissociation paradigms; we then critically analyze their key tenets and reported findings.

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“…Introspection is a mechanism that is sensitive to perceived and processed input-or intakewhich produces output based on that specific input (Goldman, 2006). It is defined as a means of "learn[ing] about one's own ongoing (…) mental states and processes" (Schwitzgebel, 2014, p. 1), by fostering insight, that is, gaining cognitive clarity of one's mental states (Grant, Franklin, & Langford, 2002) and is a necessary condition for objectively measuring awareness (Timmermans & Cleeremans, 2015). Introspection in this study was defined as learners' experiencing insight about their own mental states, learning process, and prior knowledge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of self‐reflection and awareness‐raising on novice French learners’ pronunciation

Meritan

Mroz

2019

Foreign Language Annals

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Developing intelligible pronunciation is an important goal for language learners. Although it can be fostered through explicit instruction in communicative‐based courses, instructors need practical solutions to address their learners’ pronunciation individually. This one‐semester quasi‐experimental mixed methods study of 60 Generation Z novice French learners examined whether and how self‐reflection could be an effective learning strategy and an efficient complement in supporting the development of intelligible production of two phonological aspects (/y/‐/u/ and mandatory liaisons). Results of pre/post production tests for a treatment group (explicit instruction with self‐reflections) and a comparison group (explicit instruction only) were compared and responses to guided, open‐ended self‐reflections framed by the Awareness Continuum theory served to document students’ learning process. Self‐reflection resulted in significant production gains, particularly for learners who applied their attention and (multi‐)linguistic background to raise their phonological awareness.

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How can we measure awareness? An overview of current methods

Abstract: Timmermans, B., & Cleeremans, A. (2015). How can we measure awareness? An overview of current methods. In M. Overgaard (Ed.), Behavioural methods in consciousness research (pp. 21-46). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Cited by 142 publications

References 97 publications

How to Study Consciousness in Consumer Research, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

How to Study Consciousness in Consumer Research, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

Lost in dissociation: The main paradigms in unconscious cognition

Impact of self‐reflection and awareness‐raising on novice French learners’ pronunciation

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