Utrecht University, Department of Psychology, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Cognition. 2010 May;115(2):330-5. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.12.012. Epub 2010 Jan 20.
While both conscious and unconscious reward cues enhance effort to work on a task, previous research also suggests that conscious rewards may additionally affect speed-accuracy tradeoffs. Based on this idea, two experiments explored whether reward cues that are presented above (supraliminal) or below (subliminal) the threshold of conscious awareness affect such tradeoffs differently. In a speed-accuracy paradigm, participants had to solve an arithmetic problem to attain a supraliminally or subliminally presented high-value or low-value coin. Subliminal high (vs. low) rewards made participants more eager (i.e., faster, but equally accurate). In contrast, supraliminal high (vs. low) rewards caused participants to become more cautious (i.e., slower, but more accurate). However, the effects of supraliminal rewards mimicked those of subliminal rewards when the tendency to make speed-accuracy tradeoffs was reduced. These findings suggest that reward cues initially boost effort regardless of whether or not people are aware of them, but affect speed-accuracy tradeoffs only when the reward information is accessible to consciousness.
虽然有意识和无意识的奖励线索都能增强人们完成任务的努力程度，但之前的研究也表明，有意识的奖励可能还会影响速度-准确性权衡。基于这一想法，两项实验探讨了在意识阈限之上（超显性）或之下（潜意识）呈现的奖励线索是否会以不同的方式影响这种权衡。在速度-准确性范式中，参与者必须解决一个算术问题，以获得超显性或潜意识呈现的高值或低值硬币。潜意识中的高（与低）奖励使参与者更加渴望（即更快，但同样准确）。相比之下，超显性的高（与低）奖励导致参与者变得更加谨慎（即较慢，但更准确）。然而，当人们做出速度-准确性权衡的倾向降低时，超显性奖励的效果类似于潜意识奖励的效果。这些发现表明，奖励线索最初会促进努力，无论人们是否意识到它们，但是只有当奖励信息可以被意识获取时，才会影响速度-准确性权衡。
