Dissociation of processing time and awareness by the inattentional blindness paradigm.
Consciousness researchers are interested in distinguishing between mental activity that occurs with and without awareness (i.e., explicit versus implicit processes). The inattentional blindness (IB) paradigm is an excellent tool for this question because it permits the independent manipulation of processing time and awareness. In the present study, we show that implicit texture segregation can occur during inattentional blindness, provided that the texture is exposed for a sufficient duration. In contrast, a Simon effect does not occur during inattentional blindness, even with similar exposure duration of the critical stimulus. This reveals a dissociation between processing time and awareness, consistent with the possibility of separate processing streams for explicit and implicit visual perception.
Lo
Shih-Yu
SY
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Yeh
Su-Ling
SL
D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011594:Psychometrics; D013998:Time Perception