title: Unconscious information changes decision accuracy but not confidence.
abstract: The controversial idea that information can be processed and evaluated unconsciously to change behavior has had a particularly impactful history. Here, we extend a simple model of conscious decision-making to explain both conscious and unconscious accumulation of decisional evidence. Using a novel dichoptic suppression paradigm to titrate conscious and unconscious evidence, we show that unconscious information can be accumulated over time and integrated with conscious elements presented either before or after to boost or diminish decision accuracy. The unconscious information could only be used when some conscious decision-relevant information was also present. These data are fit well by a simple diffusion model in which the rate and variability of evidence accumulation is reduced but not eliminated by the removal of conscious awareness. Surprisingly, the unconscious boost in accuracy was not accompanied by corresponding increases in confidence, suggesting that we have poor metacognition for unconscious decisional evidence.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2030, Australia alyavlassova@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vlassova
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2030, Australia.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Donkin
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2030, Australia.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pearson
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological
keywords: binocular rivalry; conscious awareness; continuous flash suppression; decision-making; metacognition