Progressing, not regressing: A possible solution to the problem of regression to the mean in unconscious processing studies.

ABSTRACT: How convincing is current evidence for unconscious processing? Recently, a major criticism suggested that some, if not much, of this evidence might be explained by a mere statistical phenomenon: regression to the mean (RttM). Excluding participants based on an awareness assessment is a common practice in studies of unconscious processing, and this post hoc data selection might lead to false effects that are driven by RttM for aware participants wrongfully classified as unaware. Here, we examined this criticism using both simulations and data from 12 studies probing unconscious processing (35 effects overall). In line with the original criticism, we confirmed that the reliability of awareness measures in the field is concerningly low. Yet, using simulations, we showed that reliability measu

SUBMITTER: Yaron I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10867080 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature