Seeing faster, recalling different? The memory correlates of non-conscious prioritization speed

Abstract

Nonconscious prioritization speed (NPS) is the speed with which meaningful visual stimuli reach conscious awareness in visual masking paradigms. Robust individual differences were found in NPS, which were not explained by variation in conscious cognitive speed, perceptual decision threshold, acuity of visual working memory, or attentional networks. A moderate correlation with the measure of subjective sensory processing sensitivity, the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, suggests that individuals with faster NPS tend to process more of their surroundings and show increased responsiveness to salient stimuli. This study sought to identify cognitive correlates of NPS and hypothesized that individuals with faster NPS would have superior memory capacity both under intentional (Hypothesis 1) and incidental (Hypothesis 2) learning conditions. Hypothesis 3 stated that individuals with faster NPS would show an enhanced minority salience effect, referring to our tendency to overestimate the prevalence of minority groups due to their inherently more salient nature (relative to the majority group). The study utilized a between-subjects experimental design, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, ANOVA tests, and multiple regression analysis. No correlation was found between NPS and any of the dependent variables. Notably, the experimental paradigm measuring incidental memory lacked construct validity, therefore no meaningful conclusions can be inferred regarding the relationship between NPS and incidental memory. Findings derived from Hypotheses 1 and 3 suggest that NPS by itself does not predict either visual working memory capacity, or responsiveness to salient stimuli. The present study contributes to the developing understanding of NPS and underscores the need for further research to unveil meaningful cognitive correlates of this recently discovered phenomenon.