Expectations accelerate entry of visual stimuli into awareness
Open accessAbstract
How do expectations influence transitions between unconscious and conscious perceptual processing? According to the influential predictive processing framework, perceptual content is determined by predictive models of the causes of sensory signals. On one interpretation, conscious contents arise when predictive models are verified by matching sensory input (minimizing prediction error). On another, conscious contents arise when surprising events falsify current perceptual predictions. Finally, the cognitive impenetrability account posits that conscious perception is not affected by such higher level factors. To discriminate these positions, we combined predictive cueing with continuous flash suppression (CFS) in which the relative contrast of a target image gradually increases over time. In four experiments we established that expected stimuli enter consciousness faster than neutral or unexpected stimuli. These effects are difficult to account for in terms of response priming, pre-existing stimulus associations, or the attentional mechanisms that cause asynchronous temporal order judgments (of simultaneously presented stimuli). Our results further suggest that top-down expectations play a larger role when bottom-up input is ambiguous, in line with predictive processing accounts of perception. Taken together, our findings support the hypothesis that conscious access depends on verification of perceptual predictions.
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Empirical evidence is now emerging that shows how prior expectations shape behavioural and neuronal signatures of perception.
“Empirical evidence is now emerging that shows how prior expectations shape behavioural and neuronal signatures of perception, with recent studies in vision [30–32] and audition [33] providing excellent examples.”
From Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain (2016) · cites this paper as [32]
The Results and General discussion report that expected visual stimuli elicited faster responses and gained access to awareness more rapidly, supporting the behavioural part of the claim. The General discussion says neural investigations are needed to establish the timing and sources of these effects; this study does not itself show a neuronal signature. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAn important challenge in this context is to identify which aspects of inference support specifically conscious emotional experience, with predictions (rather than prediction errors) being the preferred vehicle.
“An important challenge in this context is to identify which aspects of inference support specifically conscious emotional experience, with predictions (rather than prediction errors) being the preferred vehicle [32].”
From Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain (2016) · cites this paper as [32]
The General discussion (page not available in our copy) says that conscious access to visual stimuli depends on validation of perceptual predictions rather than mismatches between predictions and sensory input. This supports the prediction-versus-prediction-error distinction for visual awareness, but the paper does not address specifically conscious emotional experience. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWhen stimuli are unambiguous, or when expectations are highly inaccurate, expectations are less likely to bias the contents of perception; under such circumstances effects are often restricted to the efficiency of perception, with validly predicted stimuli detected more rapidly and accurately.
“However, when stimuli are unambiguous, or when expectations are highly inaccurate (seeing a face when expecting a house), expectations are less likely to bias the contents of perception.Under such circumstances, the effects of expectations are more subtle and are often restricted to the efficiency of perception, resulting in stimuli being detected more rapidly [15][16][17] and accurately [18] when”
From How Do Expectations Shape Perception? (2018) · cites this paper as [17]
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“2018; Hohwy and Seth 2020), although many studies have been performed examining the relation between predictions and conscious perception and access (e.g. Melloni et al. 2011; Pinto et al. 2015; Stein and Peelen 2015; Meijs et al. 2018, 2019).”
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- Authors
- Pinto, Y., van Gaal, S., de Lange, F. P., Lamme, V. A. F., & Seth, A. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of Vision
- Published
- 2015-06-26
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 13
- ISSN
- 1534-7362 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1918676010
- Cited by
- 159
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 6.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Vision (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Commission (300184, 258749)
- Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Keywords
- top-down expectations, visual awareness, predictive processing, prediction error, continuous flash suppression, conscious perception, temporal order judgment, response priming
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Awareness, Consciousness, Cues, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Visual Perception, Young Adult
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