Graduate Program in Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, South Korea.
Graduate Program in Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, South Korea.
Cognition. 2021 Jul;212:104692. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104692. Epub 2021 Mar 24.
Partial awareness-an intermediate state between complete consciousness and unconsciousness-has been explained by independent cognitive access to different levels of representation in hierarchical visual processing. This account, however, cannot explain graded visual experiences in low levels. We aimed to explain partial awareness in low levels of visual processing by independent cognitive access to different spatial frequencies. To observe partial awareness stably, we used a novel method. Stimuli were presented briefly (12 ms) and repeatedly with a specific inter-stimulus interval, ranging from 0 to 235 ms. By using various stimuli containing high and low spatial frequencies (superimposed sinusoidal gratings, Navon letters, and scenes), we found that conscious percept was degraded with increasing inter-stimulus intervals. However, the degree of degradation was smaller for low spatial frequency than for high spatial frequency information. Our results reveal that cognitive access to different spatial frequencies can occur independently and this can explain partial awareness in low levels of visual processing.
部分意识——一种介于完全意识和无意识之间的中间状态——可以通过在分层视觉处理中对不同层次的表示进行独立的认知访问来解释。然而，这种解释不能解释低层次中逐渐变化的视觉体验。我们的目的是通过对不同空间频率的独立认知访问来解释低水平视觉处理中的部分意识。为了稳定地观察部分意识，我们使用了一种新方法。刺激物以特定的刺激间间隔短暂（12 毫秒）且重复呈现，间隔从 0 到 235 毫秒。通过使用包含高空间频率和低空间频率的各种刺激物（叠加正弦光栅、纳冯字母和场景），我们发现随着刺激间间隔的增加，意识知觉会降低。然而，低空间频率信息的降低程度比高空间频率信息小。我们的结果表明，对不同空间频率的认知访问可以独立发生，这可以解释低水平视觉处理中的部分意识。
