Attentional sensitization of conscious and unconscious priming - Specifying top-down mechanisms

无意识的自动过程传统上被认为是自主发生的，独立于自上而下的控制。在挑战这一传统观点，我们提出了一个注意敏化模型，该模型假设，来自任务集的注意力影响增强任务相关的自动化过程，而衰减任务无关的自动化过程。这个项目的前期工作表明，一个自动过程的原型例子，阈下启动引起的无意识感知掩蔽刺激，取决于当前激活的任务集。在这个项目的延续，我们希望进一步说明所提出的注意力敏化机制，并扩展我们的模型的实证测试的无意识的空间和情绪处理的领域，使用行为和神经生理学的措施（ERPs，功能磁共振成像）。特别是，我们调查任务集是否调节无意识的视觉感知在一个非常细粒度的水平：根据问题的过程（空间与情感）和刺激的类型（文字与图片），任务集应该有非常具体的影响无意识的视觉处理。除了我们以前开发的诱导任务程序，我们使用催眠，阈下任务线索和双流快速串行视觉呈现来阐明注意力对无意识视觉感知的影响的一般性。

Unconscious automatic processes are traditionally thought to occur autonomously and independently of top-down control. In challenging this traditional view, we propose an attentional sensitization model, which assumes that attentional influences originating from task sets enhance task-relevant automatic processes while attenuating task-irrelevant automatic processes. Previous work of this project showed that a prototypical example of an automatic process, subliminal priming elicited by unconsciously perceived masked stimuli, depends on currently activated task sets. In a continuation of this project, we want to further specify the proposed attentional sensitization mechanism and extend the empirical testing of our model to the domains of unconscious spatial and emotional processing using behavioral and neurophysiological measures (ERPs, fMRI). In particular, we investigate whether task sets modulate unconscious visual perception at a very fine-grained level: Depending on the processes in question (spatial vs. emotional) and the type of stimuli (words vs. pictures), task sets should have very specific influences on unconscious visual processing. In addition to the induction task procedure that we developed previously, we use hypnosis, subliminal task cues and dual stream rapid serial visual presentation to shed light on the generality of attentional influences on unconscious visual perception.