title: A task-difficulty artifact in subliminal priming.
abstract: Subliminal priming is said to occur when a subliminal prime influences the classification of a subsequent target. Most subliminal-priming claims are based on separate target- and prime-classification tasks. Because primes are intended to be subliminal, the prime-classification task is difficult, and the target-classification task is easy. To assess whether this task-difficulty difference accounts for previous claims of subliminal priming, we manipulated the ease of the prime-classification task by intermixing long-duration (visible) primes with short-duration (near liminal) ones. In Experiment 1, this strategy of intermixing long-duration primes raised classification of the short-duration ones. In Experiments 2 and 3, prime duration was lowered in such a way that prime classification was at chance in intermixed presentations. Under these conditions, we failed to observe any priming effects; hence, previous demonstrations of subliminal priming may simply have reflected a task-difficulty artifact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, 210 McAlester Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. prattems@gmail.com
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pratte
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Rouder
mesh_terms: D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation