Ocampo Brenda, Al-Janabi Shahd, Finkbeiner Matthew
School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, 4014, QLD, Australia,
Psychon Bull Rev. 2015 Aug;22(4):1083-8. doi: 10.3758/s13423-014-0766-3.
A central question within the domain of human cognition is whether or not the ability to replace a current action with a new one (i.e., cognitive control) depends on a conscious appreciation of the environmental change that necessitates the new behavior. Specifically, it is not yet known if non-consciously perceived stimuli can trigger the modification of a currently ongoing action. We show for the first time that individuals are able to use non-consciously perceived information to modify the course and outcome of an ongoing action. Participants were presented with a masked (i.e., subliminal) 'stop' or 'go-on' prime stimulus whilst performing a routine reach-to-touch action. Despite being invisible to participants, the stop primes produced more hesitations mid-flight and more movement reversals than the go-on primes. This new evidence directly establishes that cognitive control (i.e., the ability to modify a currently ongoing action) does not depend on a conscious appreciation of the environmental trigger.
人类认知领域的一个核心问题是，用新行为取代当前行为的能力（即认知控制）是否依赖于对需要新行为的环境变化的有意识认知。具体而言，目前尚不清楚非意识感知的刺激是否能触发对当前正在进行的行为的修改。我们首次表明，个体能够利用非意识感知的信息来修改正在进行的行为的过程和结果。在参与者执行常规的伸手触摸动作时，向他们呈现一个被掩盖的（即阈下的）“停止”或“继续”启动刺激。尽管参与者看不见这些刺激，但与“继续”启动刺激相比，“停止”启动刺激在动作过程中产生了更多犹豫和更多动作反转。这一新证据直接表明，认知控制（即修改当前正在进行的行为的能力）并不依赖于对环境触发因素的有意识认知。
