Unconscious reward cues increase invested effort, but do not change speed–accuracy tradeoffs

Closed-loop brain training: the science of neurofeedback

“…A testable prediction of this theory is that a non-conscious or subliminal feedback signal, for example, by backward masking, does not help in acquiring control of the brain activity being trained 61 . However, the hypothesis should also be evaluated in light of the existing evidence for subliminal instrumental learning 204 , unconscious processing of reward stimuli 205 , and the distinctions between conscious and non-conscious representations on the one hand, and automatic and deliberate processing on the other 206 .…”

How motivation and reward learning modulate selective attention

“…Their results indicated improved perceptual discrimination for the orientation paired with reward, as compared with the unrewarded orientation. Bijleveld et al (2010) designed a speed-accuracy paradigm in order to study how subliminal and supraliminal reward may impact this trade-off differently. Participants were required to solve a mathematical task in which they could earn money when prioritizing either accuracy or speed to solve equations.…”

Unconscious task set priming with phonological and semantic tasks

“…object recognition (Stoerig & Cowey, 1997), extraction of the meaning of words (Gaillard et al, 2006;; Van den Bussche, Notebaert, & Reynvoet, 2009), categorization (Van den Bussche & Reynvoet, 2007), emotional processing (Whalen et al, 1998), action planning and execution (Binsted, Brownell, Vorontsova, Heath, & Saucier, 2007). Recently, it has been reported that monetary rewards affected subjects' motivation in a force task (Pessiglione et al, 2007), a finger-tapping task (Bijleveld, Custers, & Aarts, 2010 and a switch task (Capa, Bouquet, Dreher, & Dufour, 2012) even though participants were unaware of the reward. However, the extent to which non-conscious stimuli influence high-order control functions remains controversial in cognitive psychology.…”