听觉言语信息阈下启动及其认知神经机制

长期以来,言语信息的阈下启动研究都局限于考察视觉通道的阈下启动效应而忽视了听觉通道的阈下启动效应。听觉言语信息阈下启动研究发现,听觉通道也存在显著的阈下启动效应,而且其与视觉阈下启动存在一定差异。对听觉言语信息阈下启动的影响因素及其认知神经机制的研究促进了对听觉言语信息无意识加工机制的认识。未来的听觉言语信息阈下启动研究应进一步考察其影响因素及认知神经机制。     

负相容效应中启动项-目标项关系对阈下信息加工的影响

采用掩蔽启动范式考察了负相容效应中启动项与目标项关系对阈下信息加工的影响,以及是否存在语义水平的负相容效应.两个实验分别以双箭头和汉字为掩蔽启动项,考察启动项和目标项重复、加工水平相同及加工水平不同三种条件下的启动效应.结果发现,两个实验的重复及加工水平相同条件下都出现负相容效应,且重复条件下启动量最大,加工水平不同条件下则无启动.这表明:(1)启动项与目标项的知觉重复影响启动量,但不是负相容效应的必要条件,只有当启动项和目标项加工水平相同时,才出现负相容效应;(2)存在语义水平上的负相容效应,阈下语义信息可得到加工并表现为对后继同类反应的抑制.     

阈下启动与记忆分类

20多年来,阈下启动研究有了重要进展,取得了一系列成绩。不仅研究领域有了明显扩展,研究方法和技术也有了很大改进。更为重要的是,阈下启动研究的结果对记忆结构和分类的理论有重要启示。     

干扰条件与情绪启动关系的实验研究

在线索提示范式下,设置无干扰条件和干扰条件的阈上和阈下情绪启动,以此考察干扰条件与情绪启动的关系.研究发现:在无干扰条件与干扰条件下均存在显著的阈上情绪启动和阈下情绪启动,并且干扰条件下阈上情绪启动程度明显降低而阈下情绪启动程度不受影响.文章从情绪启动与注意关系的角度讨论了干扰条件与情绪启动的这种表现对于理解情绪启动加工属性及意识与无意识分离现象的意义.     

阈下攻击启动对内隐攻击性的影响

本研究采用自行编制计算机化的阈下启动程序,对56名大学生的内隐攻击性进行了实验研究。结果发现,阈下攻击启动组和阈下中性启动组在“敌意”和“不友善”这两个人格纬度判断上产生了显著差异,而其它人格纬度判断上则没有显著差异。本研究支持了阈下攻击启动能够引发个体的内隐攻击性的假设。     

无意识自我控制目标启动对自我损耗的补偿效应

本研究基于对无意识目标启动的研究,采用阈上、阈下启动方式探讨无意识目标启动对自我损耗的补偿作用。实验1发现,阈上无意识目标启动能够有效提高自我控制,促进自控表现。实验2发现,阈下无意识目标启动对自我损耗存在补偿效应。上述结果提示,通过无意识启动方式激活自我控制目标,可以克服自我损耗的不良效应,且无需意识参与。     

名字启动对女性容貌吸引力的影响

本研究采用阈上启动和阈下启动两种方式考察名字对女性容貌吸引力的影响。结果发现,阈上启动时名字启动主效应不显著,启动条件与照片类型存在交互作用;阈下启动时名字启动主效应显著,高吸引力名字启动时照片评定比低吸引力名字启动时要高,但是启动条件与照片类型交互作用不显著。本研究在无意识层面支持了名字会影响对容貌吸引力的评定的假设。     

汉语听觉阈下启动效应：来自听觉掩蔽启动范式的证据

使用汉语双字词为实验材料,采用听觉掩蔽启动范式,通过3个实验考察汉语听觉阈下启动效应。结果发现,真词的听觉阈下重复启动效应显著,并且听觉阈下重复启动效应不受启动、目标发音者性别一致性的影响。但真词的阈下语音、语素和语义启动效应及假词的阈下重复和首字启动效应都不显著。这些结果说明,听觉通道阈下呈现的汉语双字词的词汇水平信息可以得到无意识加工。汉语双字词的听觉阈下启动效应可能是基于启动词整词表征的无意识激活。     

阈下启动的心理机制初探

本研究以汉语双字名词为材料、正确率和反应时为指标,进行了阈下启动的实验探索。揭示出（1）当启动词在前面的练习中被归类时,阚下语义启动显著表现出来,在练习中形成的阈下启动联接是词汇和语义范畴之间的;（2）练习中被归类的词在后续的不同按键反应任务中作为阈下启动词均发生作用,阈下启动是启动的无意识归类,而不仅仅是自动化的刺激-反应模式。     

阈上/阈下呈现OH投射卡的情绪启动效应研究

分别在阈上/阈下的条件下呈现OH投射卡,探究两种情况下是否能启动情绪。采用阈上和阈下启动实验,以正确率和反应时为因变量,检验阈上、阈下的情绪启动效果。阈上启动实验中,被试对OH卡中积极和消极、中性材料的反应时有显著差异,正确率没有显著差异。阈下启动实验中,被试对消极和积极、中性材料在反应时和正确率上均存在显著差异。结果表示:(1)阈上呈现OH投射卡,OH卡中的积极情绪效价的图片和词汇能够启动情绪;(2)阈下呈现OH投射卡,OH卡中的消极情绪效价的图片和词汇能够启动情绪。     

Subliminal priming of autobiographical memories

The current research examined subliminal priming of autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1 the subliminal primes consisted of affect-associated words (positive vs negative) and were presented just before the participants retrieved specific experiences to cue-words. The subliminal primes produced an inhibitory effect on autobiographical memory retrieval, with significantly lower positive ratings given to the emotional content of experiences retrieved after positive primes than given to experiences retrieved after negative primes. The subliminal primes for the second experiment consisted of words that related to specific lifetime periods (early childhood vs late childhood/early adulthood). A negative priming effect resulted again, with earlier life experiences retrieved after the presentation of late childhood/early adulthood primes. We believe the negative priming effects obtained in both experiments are consistent with predictions based on the self-memory system model of autobiographical memory. The results of this research may also explain mood-incongruent recall.     

Cognitive control outside of conscious awareness

To test whether cognitive control can operate fully unconsciously on conflicts arising between two interfering subliminal stimuli, we designed a priming paradigm in which a subliminal reverse Color-Word Stroop item (a color word written on a congruent/incongruent color rectangle) preceded a supraliminal one in each trial. We found (a) a conflict adaptation effect, with a smaller reverse Stroop effect on the visible probe items after incongruent than after congruent subliminal prime items and (b) a negative priming effect, with longer reaction-times on incongruent visible probe items when the color word corresponded to the color of the rectangle in the preceding subliminal prime item than when it was not. These effects replicate the ones classically reported in studies using visible items and suggest that cognitive control was transferred from the subliminal prime to the visible probe items. Taken together, our results demonstrate that cognitive control can operate on conflicting subliminal information.     

时间间隔对面部表情唤醒度阈下情绪启动的影响

采用3×4混合实验设计,研究了启动刺激与靶刺激的时间间隔对面部表情唤醒度阈下情绪启动效应的影响,实验因素为启动刺激的唤醒度和时间间隔。结果发现,当时间间隔为200ms、300ms、500ms时,出现了阈下情绪启动效应,时间间隔为700ms时,启动效应消失。上述结果表明阈下情绪启动效应可在唤醒度维度上实现,但此效应只能在启动刺激与靶刺激间隔时间较短的情况下出现。     

阈下安全启动改善非安全依恋女性的注意加工

研究采用掩蔽启动范式，结合事件相关电位技术，考察阈下安全启动在非安全依恋女性对婴儿面孔注意加工上的改善效应。行为指标上，悲伤程度评分和反应时结果均表明了安全启动的改善作用。ERP结果上，在早期注意加工阶段，阈下安全启动比中性启动诱发了依恋焦虑和依恋回避女性对婴儿面孔表情更大的N1波幅以及更优的P2潜伏期，在晚期控制注意加工相关的P3波幅上同样发现了类似的改善效应。研究结果表明阈下安全启动能够提升非安全依恋女性对婴儿面孔的知觉敏感性，改善非安全依恋女性注意加工缺陷，且这种改善效应不仅仅作用于早期注意加工阶段而且还可以扩展到个体有意识的晚期控制加工阶段。     

Warning: You are being primed! The effect of a warning on the impact of subliminal ads

As it has been demonstrated that subliminal advertising can affect consumers' decisions – if the ad is goal relevant – the question rises whether consumers are able to shield themselves from subliminal influences. In the present research it was examined whether warning people of the presence of subliminal ads could decrease subliminal advertising effects. In Study 1, it was demonstrated that warning people of subliminal ads indeed diminished priming effects on consumer choice, whereas subliminal advertising effects were replicated for people who were not warned (i.e., people for whom the primed brand was goal relevant were more likely to select it when primed). Study 2 extended these findings, revealing that both participants warned before and after the priming manipulation were less influenced by subliminal brand primes than controls. This suggests that the warning does not decrease participants' sensitivity to the prime, but instead affects the influence of the prime at the behavioral level. Several explanations and implications are discussed.     

Subliminal priming of winning images prompts increased betting in slot machine play

In 2 experiments (n = 327), participants played a computerized slot machine game. Some participants had the jackpot symbols repeatedly flashed for 30 ms during preliminary play. Exposure to the subliminal jackpot prime led to more betting and confidence on a final spin. In Experiment 2, this effect only occurred for those who placed their bets immediately following exposure to the primes. Betting and confidence returned to baseline levels if participants were forced to wait for 5 minutes before betting. This finding supports a category priming explanation rather than a goal activation explanation for the effect. Results are discussed in the context of research on subliminal priming, and as an example of an application of subliminal priming effects to consumer psychology.     

Long-term Effects of Subliminal Priming on Academic Performance

This research examines the temporal range of subliminal priming effects on complex behavior. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were subliminally primed with words either related or unrelated to intelligence before completing a practice exam, administered 1 to 4 days before an actual course midterm. Results revealed that the intelligence primes increased performance on the midterm compared to neutral primes. Experiment 1 demonstrated that being told that the priming task was designed to help exam performance moderated the effect of the intelligence primes. In Experiment 2, practice test performance mediated the effect of the primes on midterm performance. These experiments demonstrated that subliminal priming may have long-term effects on real-world behavior, and demonstrates one means by which long-term priming effects may occur.     

Subliminal or not? Comparing null-hypothesis and Bayesian methods for testing subliminal priming

A difficulty for reports of subliminal priming is demonstrating that participants who actually perceived the prime are not driving the priming effects. There are two conventional methods for testing this. One is to test whether a direct measure of stimulus perception is not significantly above chance on a group level. The other is to use regression to test if an indirect measure of stimulus processing is significantly above zero when the direct measure is at chance. Here we simulated samples in which we assumed that only participants who perceived the primes were primed by it. Conventional analyses applied to these samples had a very large error rate of falsely supporting subliminal priming. Calculating a Bayes factor for the samples very seldom falsely supported subliminal priming. We conclude that conventional tests are not reliable diagnostics of subliminal priming. Instead, we recommend that experimenters calculate a Bayes factor when investigating subliminal priming.