Unconscious integration: Current evidence for integrative processing under subliminal conditions

Abstract

Integrative processing is traditionally believed to be dependent on consciousness. While earlier studies within the last decade reported many types of integration under subliminal conditions (i.e. without perceptual awareness), these findings are widely challenged recently. This review evaluates the current evidence for 10 types of subliminal integration that are widely studied: arithmetic processing, object-context integration, multi-word processing, same-different processing, multisensory integration and 5 different types of associative learning. Potential methodological issues concerning awareness measures are also taken into account. It is concluded that while there is currently no reliable evidence for subliminal integration, this does not necessarily refute 'unconscious' integration defined through non-subliminal (e.g. implicit) approaches.

The role of consciousness in Chinese nominal metaphor processing: a psychophysical approach

“…More recently, Zher-Wen and Yu (2021) echoed our findings in their study by claiming that the acquisition of semantic information and generalization of task-priming can only occur under less visible conditions but not subliminal ones (Zher-Wen & Yu, 2021). Taking all of this evidence into consideration, it appears that reports of subliminal multiword integration have been largely disproven (Zher-Wen & Yu, 2023). Therefore, we believe that the semantic integration of temporally or spatially separated characters, whether metaphoric or literal, requires the participation of consciousness.…”

“…In our view, he was likely to equate 'attention' with 'consciousness' in this instance, but there is a significant difference between the two terms (Tamietto & De Gelder, 2010). In brief, the term 'unconscious' in CMT theory is close to the connotation of 'implicit' or 'preconscious' rather than 'subliminal' in psychology (Zher-Wen & Yu, 2023).…”

“…When the preceding sentence was not masked, a clear sense violation index N400 was observed, but it disappeared when just one or two words in the preceding sentence were masked. Thus, the more conservative view prevailed that any complex cognitive task, such as integrating multiple words, could by no means be accomplished without consciousness (Moors et al, 2019;Rabagliati et al, 2018;Zher-Wen & Yu, 2023).…”

Consciousness in the cradle: on the emergence of infant experience

“…Certain forms of multisensory integration, such as the detection of temporal synchrony between auditory and visual streams, can occur outside of consciousness [ 54. , 55. , 56.…”

Frontal engagement in perceptual integration under low subjective visibility

“…Perceptual integration, the process of combining fragmented sensory information into a cohesive whole, is indispensable for detecting and identifying objects in natural environments where occlusion is commonplace. While many aspects of perceptual integration have been investigated, the relationship between perceptual integration and conscious access has been the subject of ongoing debate, particularly with regard to the possibility of perceptual integration occurring without conscious access [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . In most studies using attentional blink or masked priming paradigm, conscious access was determined based solely on the level of target detection performance without any report of target visibility.…”