Abstract
Previous studies have shown that viewing body actions primes not only the visual perception of congruent versus incongruent actions, but also their motor execution. Here, we used a masked-priming paradigm to explore whether visuoperceptual and visuomotor action priming may also occur when the prime is not consciously perceived. In 5 experiments, healthy individuals were presented with masked implied-action primes and were then prompted to perceive congruent or incongruent implied-action stimuli or to execute congruent or incongruent finger movements. Results showed that implied-action primes affected subsequent action perception also when they were not consciously perceived. Unconscious visuoperceptual action priming effects were independent from spatial compatibility and reflected genuine action representation. Conversely, masked implied-action primes affected motor preparation and execution processes only when they were consciously perceived. The results provide evidence of unconscious visuoperceptual but not visuomotor action priming effects, suggesting that unconscious processing of actions affects perceptual, but not motor representations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1940-1962 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Automatic imitation
- Masked priming
- Motor resonance
- Stimulus response compatibility
- Unconscious processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Unconscious processing of body actions primes subsequent action perception but not motor execution. / Mele, Sonia; Mattiassi, Alan D A; Urgesi, Cosimo.
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2014, p. 1940-1962.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Unconscious processing of body actions primes subsequent action perception but not motor execution
AU - Mele, Sonia
AU - Mattiassi, Alan D A
AU - Urgesi, Cosimo
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Previous studies have shown that viewing body actions primes not only the visual perception of congruent versus incongruent actions, but also their motor execution. Here, we used a masked-priming paradigm to explore whether visuoperceptual and visuomotor action priming may also occur when the prime is not consciously perceived. In 5 experiments, healthy individuals were presented with masked implied-action primes and were then prompted to perceive congruent or incongruent implied-action stimuli or to execute congruent or incongruent finger movements. Results showed that implied-action primes affected subsequent action perception also when they were not consciously perceived. Unconscious visuoperceptual action priming effects were independent from spatial compatibility and reflected genuine action representation. Conversely, masked implied-action primes affected motor preparation and execution processes only when they were consciously perceived. The results provide evidence of unconscious visuoperceptual but not visuomotor action priming effects, suggesting that unconscious processing of actions affects perceptual, but not motor representations.
AB - Previous studies have shown that viewing body actions primes not only the visual perception of congruent versus incongruent actions, but also their motor execution. Here, we used a masked-priming paradigm to explore whether visuoperceptual and visuomotor action priming may also occur when the prime is not consciously perceived. In 5 experiments, healthy individuals were presented with masked implied-action primes and were then prompted to perceive congruent or incongruent implied-action stimuli or to execute congruent or incongruent finger movements. Results showed that implied-action primes affected subsequent action perception also when they were not consciously perceived. Unconscious visuoperceptual action priming effects were independent from spatial compatibility and reflected genuine action representation. Conversely, masked implied-action primes affected motor preparation and execution processes only when they were consciously perceived. The results provide evidence of unconscious visuoperceptual but not visuomotor action priming effects, suggesting that unconscious processing of actions affects perceptual, but not motor representations.
KW - Automatic imitation
KW - Masked priming
KW - Motor resonance
KW - Stimulus response compatibility
KW - Unconscious processing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925821557&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84925821557&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0036215
DO - 10.1037/a0036215
M3 - Article
C2 - 24865158
AN - SCOPUS:84925821557
VL - 40
SP - 1940
EP - 1962
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
SN - 0096-1523
IS - 5
ER -