Objective: Understanding how the brain processes visual information with and without awareness is a key challenge.
Method: We developed a novel binocular rivalry paradigm combining Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS) with a name–picture verification task to compare identity level versus category level priming under conscious and unconscious conditions. Our fully factorial design simultaneously manipulated all potential factors (visual field laterality, prime modality, trial congruency, stimulus type, and abstraction level), a combination not previously tested. Using mixed-effects regression, we regressed out these factors and isolated the specific impact of each.
Results: Crucially, we found that only the abstraction level (basic-category vs subordinate-identity) showed a significant effect: Abstraction level processing produced opposite behavioral effects when prime stimuli were consciously perceived versus when suppressed. We confirmed this pattern with subject-wise regressions, finding a reliable reversal for the abstraction factor.
Discussions: These results highlight that conscious and unconscious vision rely on distinct representational dynamics rather than differing only in strength. Our approach – integrating all variables in one experiment and using mixed-effects GLM – provides a comprehensive test of priming influences.