Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the fact that, contrary to the implications of a recent paper by Merikle (1982), the case for unconscious perception does not stand or fall with evidence from the backward masking studies that are the focus of his criticisms. In recent years, evidence from some 11 different areas of research has provided support for the view that the brain can respond to stimulus material of which the recipient remains unaware. A brief summary of some of this evidence is given here. In addition, it is argued that since the threshold-determining procedures employed in the backward masking studies were inappropriate anyway, Merikle’s particular criticisms of these procedures are irrelevant.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bradshaw, L. (1974). Peripherally presented and unreported words may bias the perceived meaning of a centrally fixated homograph. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 103, 1200–1202.
Broadbent, D. E., & Gregory, M. (1967). Perception of emotionally toned words. Nature, 215, 581–584.
Corteen, R. S., & Dunn, D. (1974). Shock associated words in a non-attended message: A test for momentary awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102, 1143–1144.
Corteen, R. S., & Wood, B. (1972). Autonomic responses to shock associated words in an unattended channel. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 94, 308–313.
Cowley, J. J., Johnson, A. L., & Brooksbanck, B. W. L. (1977). The effect of two odorous compounds on performances in an assessment-of-people test. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2, 159–172.
Dixon, N. F. (1958). Apparent changes in the visual threshold as a function of subliminal stimulation: A preliminary report. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 10, 211–219.
Dixon, N. F. (1960). Apparent changes in the visual threshold: Central or peripheral? British Journal of Psychology, 51, 297–309.
Dixon, N. F. (1971). Subliminal perception: The nature of a controversy. London: McGraw-Hill.
Dixon, N. F. (1981). Preconscious processing. Chichester, England: Wiley.
Dixon, N. F., & Haider, M. (1961). Changes in the visual threshold as a function of subception. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 13, 229–235.
Dixon, N. F., & Henley, S. H. A. (1980). Without awareness. In M. A. Jeeves (Ed.), Psychology Survey No. 3. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Dixon, N. F., & Lear, T. E. (1963). Electroencephalograph correlates of threshold regulation. Nature, 198, 870–872.
Dixon, N. F., & Lear, T. E. (1964). Incidence of theta rhythm prior to awareness of a visual stimulus. Nature, 203, 167–170.
Dorfman, D. D. (1967). Recognition of taboo words as a function of a priori probability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7, 1–10.
Emrich, H., & Heinemann, L. G. (1966). EEG bei unterschwelliger Wahrnehmung emotional bedheutsamer wörter. Psychologische Forschung, 29, 285–296.
Eriksen, C. W. (1960). Discrimination and learning without awareness: A methodological survey and evaluation. Psychological Review, 67, 279–300.
Forster, P. M., & Govier, E. (1978). Discrimination without awareness. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 30, 282–295.
Fowler, C. A., Wolford, G., Slade, R., & Tassinary, L. (1981). Lexical access with and without awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 110, 341–362.
Govier, E., & Pitts, M. (1982). The contextual disambiguation of a polysemous word in an unattended message. British Journal of Psychology, 73, 537–545.
Hardy, G. R., & Legge, D. (1968). Cross-modal induction of changes in sensory thresholds. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 20, 20–29.
Henley, S. H. A. (1974). Preconscious processing in normals and schizophrenics. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of London.
Henley, S. H. A., & Dixon, N. F. (1974). Laterality effects in the effects of incidental stimuli upon evoked imagery. British Journal of Psychology, 65, 529–536.
Henley, S. H. A., & Dixon, N. F. (1976). Preconscious processing in schizophrenics: An exploratory study. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 49, 161–166.
Kirk-Smith, M., Booth, D. A., Carroll, D., & Davies, P. (1978). Human social attitudes affected by androstenol. Research in Community Psychology, Psychiatry and Behaviour, 3, 379–384.
Lewis, J. L. (1970). Semantic processing of unattended messages during dichotic listening. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 85, 225–228.
Libet, B. (1973). Electrical stimulation of cortex in humans, and conscious sensory aspects. In A. Iggo (Ed.), Handbook of sensory physiology (Vol. 2). New York: Springer.
Libet, B., Alberts, W. W., Wright, E. W., & Feinstein, B. (1967). Responses of human somatosensory cortex to stimuli below the threshold for conscious sensation. Science, 158, 1597–1600.
Mackay, F. G. (1973). Aspects of the theory of comprehension, memory and attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 25, 22–40.
Marcel, A. J. (1980). Conscious and preconscious recognition of polysemous words: Locating the selective effects of prior verbal context. In J. Requin (Ed.), Attention and performance VIII. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
McCauley, C, Parmalee, C. M., Sperber, R. D., & Carr, T. M. (1980). Early extraction of meaning from pictures and its relation to conscious identification. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 265–276.
Merikle, P. M. (1982). Unconscious perception revisited. Perception & Psychophysics, 31, 298–301.
Mykel, N., & Daves, W. F. (1979). Emergence of unreported stimuli into imagery as a function of laterality of presentation: A replication and extension of research by Henley and Dixon (1974). British Journal of Psychology, 70, 253–258.
Philpott, A., & Wilding, J. (1979). Semantic interference from subliminal stimuli in a dichoptic viewing situation. British Journal of Psychology, 70, 559–563.
Pöppel, E., Held, R., & Frost, D. (1973). Residual visual function after brain wounds involving the central visual pathways in man. Nature, 243, 295–296.
Rollman, G. B., & Nachmias, J. (1972). Simultaneous detection and recognition of chromatic flashes. Perception & Psychophysics, 12, 309–314.
Sanders, M., Warrington, E. K., Marshall, J., & Weis-krantz, L. (April 20, 1974). “Blindsight”: Vision in a field defect. Lancet, 707-708.
Shevrin, H. (1973). Brain wave correlates of subliminal stimulation, unconscious attention, primary and secondary process thinking, and repressiveness [Monograph 30]. Psychological Issues, 8, 56–87.
Shevrin, H., & Fritzler, D. E. (1968a). Brain response correlates of repressiveness. Psychological Reports, 23, 887–892.
Shevrin, H., & Fritzler, D. E. (1968b). Visual evoked response correlates of unconscious mental processes. Science, 161, 295.
Shevrin, H., & Rennick, P. (1967). Cortical responses to a tactile stimulus during attention, mental arithmetic and free association. Psychophysiology, 31, 381–388.
Shevrin, H., Smith, W. H., & Fritzler, D. E. (1969). Repressiveness as a factor in the subliminal activation of brain and verbal responses. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 149, 261–269.
Shevrin, H., Smith, W. H., & Fritzler, D. E. (1970). Subliminally activated brain and verbal responses of twins differing in repressiveness. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 76, 39–46.
Shevrin, H., Smith, W. H., & Fritzler, D. E. (1971). Average evoked response and verbal correlates of unconscious mental processes. Psychophysiology, 8, 149–162.
Somekh, D. E., & Wilding, J. M. (1973). Perception without awareness in a dichoptic viewing situation. British Journal of Psychology, 64, 339–349.
Underwood, G. (1976). Semantic interference from unattended printed words. British Journal of Psychology, 67, 327–338.
Underwood, G. (1977). Contextual facilitation from attended and unattended messages. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16, 99–106.
Walker, P. (1978). Binocular rivalry: Central or peripheral selective processes. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 376–389.
Weiskrantz, L. (1977). Trying to bridge some neuropsychological gaps between monkey and man. British Journal of Psychology, 68, 431–445.
Weiskrantz, L., Warrington, E. K., Sanders, M. D., & Marshall, J. (1974). Visual capacity in the hemianopic field following a restricted occipital ablation. Brain, 97, 709–728.
Worthington, A. G. (1969). Paired comparison scaling of brightness judgements: A method for the measurement of perceptual defence. British Journal of Psychology, 60, 363–368.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Henley, S.H.A. Unconscious perception re-revisited: A comment on Merikle’s (1982) paper. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 22, 121–124 (1984). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333780
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333780