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Extremely rigorous subliminal paradigms demonstrate unconscious influences on simple decisions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

Michael Snodgrass ,
Howard Shevrin  and
James A. Abelson
Michael Snodgrass
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. [email protected]@[email protected]
Howard Shevrin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. [email protected]@[email protected]
James A. Abelson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. [email protected]@[email protected]
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Abstract

While showing unconscious influences on complex decisions is indeed difficult, relevant awareness in relatively simpler subliminal paradigms is more easily assessed. Utilizing objective detection (vs. more typical identification or classification) tasks to assess awareness overcomes longstanding residual methodological problems, and prior work using such methods (e.g., Snodgrass & Shevrin 2006) clearly shows unconscious influences on simple decisions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 39 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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