Evaluating the role of attention in the context of unconscious thought theory: differential impact of attentional scope and load on preference and memory

Similar or dissimilar? Influence of similarity between distraction tasks and target tasks on unconscious thought

Distraction tasks are known to affect the unconscious-thought (UT) effect. However, the relationship between two task types, namely distraction and target tasks, and their effect on UT effect have not been examined in previous studies. In this study, we assessed whether simultaneously performing dissimilar distraction and target tasks are beneficial to information processing by UT. In Experiment 1, the target task was an Alternate Use Task (speech task). For the similar-task test, the UT group was assigned the speech 1-back task (speech task) as the distraction task; for the dissimilar-task test, the UT group was assigned the spatial 1-back task (spatial task) as the distraction task. The results of the experiment revealed that under dissimilar tasks, the UT group not only provided more answers but also provided answers that were more novel. For Experiment 2, the target task was changed to Creative Mental Synthesis Task (spatial task) to replicate the results of Experiment 1. The results demonstrated that the dissimilarity between the distraction and target tasks facilitates the UT.

Perceptual Broadening Leads to More Prosociality

A link between perceptual processing styles and (pro)social behavior has gathered supporting empirical evidence to show that people raised or trained in traditions of collectiveness, compassion, and prosocial beliefs are biased to the global level in perceptual processing. In this research, we studied the reciprocal link - whether contextually broadening perceptual scope of attention via global processing could make people more prosocial. We hypothesized that global processing linked previously to an interdependent compassionate self-orientation would make people more prosocial, compared to local processing. Four experiments manipulated perceptual scope through a Global-Local task using hierarchical stimuli. It was found that participants who performed a global processing perceptual task volunteered to donate more money across different donation frames, compared to those who performed a local processing task. While previous research showed prosocial mindsets lead to perceptual broadening, the current results suggest that perceptual broadening also leads to more prosociality, thus establishing a reciprocal link between perceptual broadening (attentional scope), and acting prosocially. It is proposed that perceptual scope of attention is one of the generic cognitive processes that underlie prosocial decisions. Explanations based on scope of attention can potentially be used as a framework that enables researchers to link the effects of different contextual cues on prosocial decisions.

The tendency of unconscious thought toward global processing style

This study explored whether unconscious thought has a tendency to process information globally. In three experiments, a Navon task was used to activate global or local processing styles. Findings showed that in the unconscious-thought groups, those performing the local Navon task presented a poorer decision-making performance when compared to those performing the global Navon task (Experiment 1); participants reported that their judgments were made based on partial attributes (Experiment 2), and evaluated a target individual mainly based on information consistent with stereotypes (Experiment 3). These results showed that when presented with distracter tasks, conscious thought activates local processing, which impairs its ability to process information globally. However, this impairment would not happen if global processing were activated instead. This study provides support to the idea that unconscious thought has a tendency to process information globally.

Even “unconscious thought” is influenced by attentional mechanisms

In this commentary, we focus on the role of attentional mechanisms in unconscious thought. We argue that even distracted or unconscious thought is capacity limited and differences in scope of attention influence processing during unconscious thought. Attention also would influence processes at different stages in the proposed lens model. We conclude that there is a clear need to understand the role of attention to better understand conscious or unconscious thought.