The present study investigates whether updating an important function of executive control can be driven by unconscious reward cues. Participants had to memorize several numbers and update those numbers independently according to a sequence of arithmetic operations. At the beginning of each trial, a reward (1 euro or 5 cents) was presented, either subliminally or supraliminally. Participants could earn the reward if they found the correct response on the updating task. Results showed better performance when a high (conscious or unconscious) reward was at stake compared to a low reward. This suggests that subliminal information can influence a component process of executive control traditionally thought to require consciousness.

Building on the work of Aarts and coworkers on nonconscious goal pursuit, the present study investigates whether subliminal processes may motivate effortful behavior and perseverance to learn coursework. We exposed students to a priming task in which subliminal representation of the goal of studying was directly paired (priming-positive group) or not (priming group) to a positive word. There was also a control group without subliminal prime of the goal. Next, students performed a learning task based on their coursework. Participants in the priming-positive group exhibited across time on task a larger decrease of midfrequency band of heart rate variability and a larger decrease of the pulse transit time related to effort mobilization than participants in the control group and the priming group, respectively. These fi ndings provide the fi rst evidence that subliminal priming can induce a greater cardiovascular reactivity suggesting effortful behavior and perseverance when pursuing a simple goal typical of daily life.We thank Lionel Naccache and Chris Frith for helpful comments on earlier drafts. Axel Cleeremans is a Research Director with the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifi que-FNRS.

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We investigated the long-standing-yet previously untested-idea that an abundance of desirable life experiences may undermine people's ability to savor simpler pleasures. In Study 1, we found that the more countries individuals had visited, the less inclined they were to savor a future trip to a pleasant but ordinary destination. In Study 2, we conducted a field experiment at a popular tourist attraction, where we manipulated participants' perceptions of their own experiential backgrounds; when participants were led to feel well-traveled, they devoted significantly less time to their visit compared with individuals who were led to feel less worldly. We replicate these findings in Study 3 and found evidence that the observed effect could not be easily explained by other mechanisms. Being a world traveler-or just feeling like one-may undermine the proclivity to savor visits to enjoyable but unextraordinary destinations by endowing individuals with a sense of abundance.