title: Visual input signaling threat gains preferential access to awareness in a breaking continuous flash suppression paradigm.
abstract: Visual input that signals threat is inherently relevant for survival. Accordingly, it has been demonstrated that threatening visual input elicits faster behavioral responses than non-threatening visual input. Considering that awareness is a prerequisite for performing demanding tasks and guiding novel behavior, we hypothesized that threatening visual input would gain faster access to awareness than non-threatening visual input. In the present study, we associated one of two basic visual stimuli, that were devoid of intrinsic relevance (colored annuli), with aversive stimulation (i.e., electric shocks) following a classical fear conditioning procedure. In the subsequent test phase no more electric shocks were delivered, and a breaking continuous flash suppression task was used to measure how fast these stimuli would access awareness. The results reveal that stimuli that were previously paired with an electric shock break through suppression faster than comparable stimuli that were not paired with an electric shock.
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Dep. of Experimental Psychology, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: S.Gayet@UU.nl.
authors.forename: Surya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gayet
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Dep. of Experimental Psychology, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Chris L E
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Paffen
authors.affiliation: VU University Amsterdam, Dep. of Cognitive Psychology, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Artem V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Belopolsky
authors.affiliation: VU University Amsterdam, Dep. of Cognitive Psychology, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Theeuwes
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Dep. of Experimental Psychology, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van der Stigchel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Behavioral relevance; Consciousness; Continuous flash suppression; Emotion; Fear conditioning; Visual awareness