Abstract
Investigating the limits of unconscious processing is essential to understand the function of consciousness. Here, we explored whether holistic face processing, a mechanism believed to be important for face processing in general, can be accomplished unconsciously. Using a novel "eyes-face" stimulus we tested whether discrimination of pairs of eyes was influenced by the surrounding face context. While the eyes were fully visible, the faces that provided context could be rendered invisible through continuous flash suppression. Two experiments with three different sets of face stimuli and a subliminal learning procedure converged to show that invisible faces did not influence perception of visible eyes. In contrast, surrounding faces, when they were clearly visible, strongly influenced perception of the eyes. Thus, we conclude that conscious awareness might be a prerequisite for holistic face processing.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 233-245 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Consciousness and Cognition |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported by the Israeli Center of Research Excellence in Cognitive Sciences (VA), Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowship (VA) and the Wellcome Trust (GR). We are grateful Galit Yovel for permission to conduct the experiments in her laboratory (Tel-Aviv University). We thank Aidan Horner for the advise. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers and Axel Cleeremans (Consciousness and Cognition editor) for their valuable suggestions.
Funding
This study was supported by the Israeli Center of Research Excellence in Cognitive Sciences (VA), Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowship (VA) and the Wellcome Trust (GR). We are grateful Galit Yovel for permission to conduct the experiments in her laboratory (Tel-Aviv University). We thank Aidan Horner for the advise. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers and Axel Cleeremans (Consciousness and Cognition editor) for their valuable suggestions.
Funders | Funder number |
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Israeli Center of Research Excellence in Cognitive Sciences | |
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | |
Wellcome Trust |
Keywords
- Holistic face processing
- Unconscious processing
- Visual awareness