Bijleveld, E., Custers, R., & Aarts, H. (2011). Once the money is in sight: Distinctive effects of conscious and unconscious rewards on task performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 865-869. (original) (raw)
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2011
Monetary rewards facilitate performance on behavioral and cognitive tasks, even when these rewards are perceived without conscious awareness. Also, recent research suggests that consciously (vs. unconsciously) perceived rewards may prompt people to more strongly concentrate on task stimuli and details. Here we propose that the latter is sometimes dysfunctional, in that it prevents improvements in task performance. We used an Attentional Blink paradigm, in which such enhanced concentration on task stimuli is detrimental to performance. Participants were consciously (supraliminally) or unconsciously (subliminally) exposed to a high-value or low-value coin that they could earn by performing well on an Attentional Blink trial. As hypothesized, high-value rewards increased performance when they were presented subliminally, while this performance benefit vanished when high-value rewards were presented consciously. We discuss this finding in the context of recent research on unconscious goal pursuit.► Rewards, whether conscious or not, normally improve task performance. ► Only when conscious, rewards may increase concentration on task details. ► In Attentional Blink tasks, concentration paradoxically hurts performance. ► We tested the effects of rewards on the Attentional Blink. ► Unconscious rewards improved performance, but conscious rewards did not.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012
Research has shown that high vs. low value rewards improve cognitive task performance independent of whether they are perceived consciously or unconsciously. However, efficient performance in response to high value rewards also depends on whether or not rewards are attainable. This raises the question of whether unconscious reward processing enables people to take into account such attainability information. Building on a theoretical framework according to which conscious reward processing is required to enable higher level cognitive processing, the present research tested the hypothesis that conscious but not unconscious reward processing enables integration of reward value with attainability information. In two behavioral experiments, participants were exposed to mask high and low value coins serving as rewards on a working memory (WM) task. The likelihood for conscious processing was manipulated by presenting the coins relatively briefly (17 ms) or long and clearly visible (300 ms). Crucially, rewards were expected to be attainable or unattainable. Requirements to integrate reward value with attainability information varied across experiments. Results showed that when integration of value and attainability was required (Experiment 1), long reward presentation led to efficient performance, i.e., selectively improved performance for high value attainable rewards. In contrast, in the short presentation condition, performance was increased for high value rewards even when these were unattainable. This difference between the effects of long and short presentation time disappeared when integration of value and attainability information was not required (Experiment 2). Together these findings suggest that unconsciously processed reward information is not integrated with attainability expectancies, causing inefficient effort investment. These findings are discussed in terms of a unique role of consciousness in efficient allocation of effort to cognitive control processes.
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2014
The question of how human performance can be improved through rewards is a recurrent topic of interest in psychology and neuroscience. Traditional, cognitive approaches to this topic have focused solely on consciously communicated rewards. Recently, a largely neuroscienceinspired perspective has emerged to examine the potential role of conscious awareness of reward information in effective reward pursuit. The present article reviews research employing a newly developed monetary-reward-priming paradigm that allows for a systematic investigation of this perspective. We analyze this research to identify similarities and differences in how consciously and unconsciously perceived rewards impact three distinct aspects relevant to performance: decision making, task preparation, and task execution. We further discuss whether conscious awareness, in modulating the effects of reward information, plays a role similar to its role in modulating the effects of other affective information. Implications of these insights for understanding the role of consciousness in modulating goal-directed behavior more generally are discussed.
Reward processing and conscious awareness
Decision Making, Affect, …, 2011
Can our behavior be motivated by environmental signals that we are not aware of? In this chapter we cast light on this question, with a series of experiments investigating whether the human brain can deal with the reward-predicting properties of visual stimuli that subjects cannot consciously perceive. The experimental paradigms designed for this purpose bring together procedures that have been used for decades in separate scientific fields: subliminal perception on one side and incentive motivation on the other. We first sketch a short history of methods and concepts used in these two fields, and then we present psychophysics studies combining the two approaches to explore subliminal motivation in humans. Specifically, our previous studies have shown that the human brain is able to translate higher subliminal incentives into higher physical effort, and to use subliminal cues that predict gambles outcomes to make profitable decisions. We present here several novel variants of the original paradigms, to further explore the roles of top-down attention, strategic control and associative learning in conscious and subconscious incentive motivation.
Social Cognition, 2013
Previous research has shown that both consciously and unconsciously perceived monetary rewards lead to enhanced performance on cognitive and physical tasks. The present research investigates whether the value of unconscious (but not conscious) money-cues boosts task performance even when they are not rewards but just stimuli. Experiment 1 showed that unconsciously, but not consciously perceived high versus low value coins indeed led to improved performance on a working memory task even when the coins did not serve as rewards. Experiment 2 qualified this finding by showing that only people who were currently in need of money were prone to enhanced performance through unconsciously perceived monetary non-rewards. These experiments reveal the powerful influence of money on human behavior by showing that (1) need-relevant incentive value cues in the environment are able to unconsciously boost performance, and (2) conscious awareness causes people to spontaneously regulate noninstrumental motivated responses.
Consciousness and Cognition, 2011
Two experiments examined similarities and differences in the effects of consciously and unconsciously perceived rewards on the active maintenance of goal-relevant information. Participants could gain high and low monetary rewards for performance on a word span task. The reward value was presented supraliminally (consciously visible) or subliminally at different stages during the task. In Experiment 1, rewards were presented before participants processed the target words. Enhanced performance was found in response to higher rewards, regardless whether they were presented supraliminally or subliminally. In Experiment 2, rewards were presented after participants processed the target words, i.e., during maintenance. Performance increased in response to relatively high rewards when they were presented subliminally, but decreased when they were presented supraliminally. We conclude that both consciously and unconsciously perceived rewards boost resources supporting the maintenance of task-relevant information. Conscious processing of rewards can, however, heavily interfere with an ongoing maintenance process and impair performance.
Unconscious reward cues increase invested effort, but do not change speed–accuracy tradeoffs
Cognition, 2010
While both conscious and unconscious reward cues enhance effort to work on a task, previous research also suggests that conscious rewards may additionally affect speed–accuracy tradeoffs. Based on this idea, two experiments explored whether reward cues that are presented above (supraliminal) or below (subliminal) the threshold of conscious awareness affect such tradeoffs differently. In a speed–accuracy paradigm, participants had to solve an arithmetic problem to attain a supraliminally or subliminally presented high-value or low-value coin. Subliminal high (vs. low) rewards made participants more eager (i.e., faster, but equally accurate). In contrast, supraliminal high (vs. low) rewards caused participants to become more cautious (i.e., slower, but more accurate). However, the effects of supraliminal rewards mimicked those of subliminal rewards when the tendency to make speed–accuracy tradeoffs was reduced. These findings suggest that reward cues initially boost effort regardless of whether or not people are aware of them, but affect speed–accuracy tradeoffs only when the reward information is accessible to consciousness.
When in pursuit of rewards, humans weigh the value of potential rewards against the amount of effort that is required to attain them. Although previous research has generally conceptualized this process as a deliberate calculation, recent work suggests that rudimentary mechanisms-that operate without conscious intervention-play an important role as well. In this article, we propose that humans can perform a basic integration of reward value and effort requirements without conscious awareness. Furthermore, we propose that conscious awareness of rewards allows for the use of more advanced functions in reward pursuit, which consider the specific course of action that leads to reward attainment. Employing a monetary reward priming paradigm that allows us to dissect the performance effects of rewards (i.e., coins of different value) into conscious and unconscious components, we test this proposal in three experiments. Overall, results indicate that people rely on a simple yet adaptive mechanism that unconsciously conserves effort during reward pursuit, because it makes people more reward sensitive whenever more effort is required of the body. Moreover, consciousness supports a more sophisticated mode of reward pursuit, via which people can strategically conserve effort even further. We discuss these findings in the context of decision making, motivation, and consciousness.
Cognition, 2010
While both conscious and unconscious reward cues enhance effort to work on a task, previous research also suggests that conscious rewards may additionally affect speed-accuracy tradeoffs. Based on this idea, two experiments explored whether reward cues that are presented above (supraliminal) or below (subliminal) the threshold of conscious awareness affect such tradeoffs differently. In a speed-accuracy paradigm, participants had to solve an arithmetic problem to attain a supraliminally or subliminally presented high-value or low-value coin. Subliminal high (vs. low) rewards made participants more eager (i.e., faster, but equally accurate). In contrast, supraliminal high (vs. low) rewards caused participants to become more cautious (i.e., slower, but more accurate). However, the effects of supraliminal rewards mimicked those of subliminal rewards when the tendency to make speed-accuracy tradeoffs was reduced. These findings suggest that reward cues initially boost effort regardless of whether or not people are aware of them, but affect speed-accuracy tradeoffs only when the reward information is accessible to consciousness.
Human reward pursuit is often found to be governed by conscious assessments of expected value and required effort. Yet, research also indicates that rewards are initially valuated and processed outside awareness, using rudimentary brain structures. Building on both findings, we propose a new framework for understanding human performance in the service of attaining rewards. In essence, we suggest that people initially process rewards unconsciously, which can boost effort and facilitate performance. Subsequently, people may process rewards more fully, which allows them to make strategic decisions based on task conditions, and to consciously reflect on rewards. Intriguingly, these specific processes associated with full reward processing can cause initial vs. full reward processing to have different effects on performance. In the present article, we address recent research that supports this framework. Finally, we discuss how the present framework may lead to a refined yet broadly applicable understanding of the human pursuit of rewards.