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Koenig-Robert R, El Omar H, Pearson J. Implicit bias training can remove bias from subliminal stimuli, restoring choice divergence: A proof-of-concept study. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289313. [PMID: 37506067 PMCID: PMC10381032 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Subliminal information can influence our conscious life. Subliminal stimuli can influence cognitive tasks, while endogenous subliminal neural information can sway decisions before volition. Are decisions inextricably biased towards subliminal information? Or can they diverge away from subliminal biases via training? We report that implicit bias training can remove biases from subliminal sensory primes. We first show that subliminal stimuli biased an imagery-content decision task. Participants (n = 17) had to choose one of two different patterns to subsequently imagine. Subliminal primes significantly biased decisions towards imagining the primed option. Then, we trained participants (n = 7) to choose the non-primed option, via post choice feedback. This training was successful despite participants being unaware of the purpose or structure of the reward schedule. This implicit bias training persisted up to one week later. Our proof-of-concept study indicates that decisions might not always have to be biased towards non-conscious information, but instead can diverge from subliminal primes through training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger Koenig-Robert
- Future Minds Lab, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Hashim El Omar
- Future Minds Lab, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Joel Pearson
- Future Minds Lab, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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McFadyen J, Tsuchiya N, Mattingley JB, Garrido MI. Surprising Threats Accelerate Conscious Perception. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:797119. [PMID: 35645748 PMCID: PMC9137416 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.797119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The folk psychological notion that "we see what we expect to see" is supported by evidence that we become consciously aware of visual stimuli that match our prior expectations more quickly than stimuli that violate our expectations. Similarly, "we see what we want to see," such that more biologically-relevant stimuli are also prioritised for conscious perception. How, then, is perception shaped by biologically-relevant stimuli that we did not expect? Here, we conducted two experiments using breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) to investigate how prior expectations modulated response times to neutral and fearful faces. In both experiments, we found that prior expectations for neutral faces hastened responses, whereas the opposite was true for fearful faces. This interaction between emotional expression and prior expectations was driven predominantly by participants with higher trait anxiety. Electroencephalography (EEG) data collected in Experiment 2 revealed an interaction evident in the earliest stages of sensory encoding, suggesting prediction errors expedite sensory encoding of fearful faces. These findings support a survival hypothesis, where biologically-relevant fearful stimuli are prioritised for conscious access even more so when unexpected, especially for people with high trait anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica McFadyen
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Naotsugu Tsuchiya
- School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Osaka, Japan
- Advanced Telecommunications Research Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Jason B. Mattingley
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Marta I. Garrido
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Grave J, Madeira N, Martins MJ, Silva S, Korb S, Soares SC. Slower access to visual awareness but otherwise intact implicit perception of emotional faces in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Conscious Cogn 2021; 93:103165. [PMID: 34274640 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders are characterized by deficits in social domains. Extant research has reported an impaired ability to perceive emotional faces in schizophrenia. Yet, it is unclear if these deficits occur already in the access to visual awareness. To investigate this question, 23 people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 22 healthy controls performed a breaking continuous flash suppression task with fearful, happy, and neutral faces. Response times were analysed with generalized linear mixed models. People with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were slower than controls in detecting faces, but did not show emotion-specific impairments. Moreover, happy faces were detected faster than neutral and fearful faces, across all participants. Although caution is needed when interpreting the main effect of group, our findings may suggest an elevated threshold for visual awareness in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, but an intact implicit emotion perception. Our study provides a new insight into the mechanisms underlying emotion perception in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Grave
- William James Center for Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Nuno Madeira
- Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Praceta Prof. Mota Pinto, 3000-075 Coimbra, Portugal; Institute of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine - University of Coimbra, Portugal, Rua Larga, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Maria João Martins
- Institute of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine - University of Coimbra, Portugal, Rua Larga, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal; Ocupational Health and Safety Management Services, University of Coimbra Social Services, Rua Doutor Guilherme Moreira 12, 3000-210 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Samuel Silva
- Department of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics (DETI)/Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering (IEETA), University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Sebastian Korb
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ Colchester, United Kingdom; Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5 1010, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sandra Cristina Soares
- William James Center for Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
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