Conscious and Unconscious Processes in the Arithmetic Priming Task Depend on the Arithmetic Skill

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Abstract

The study examined the role of conscious and unconscious processes depending on the level of arithmetic skill. The participants were divided into two groups according to their arithmetic skill based on the calculation fluency test results. Masked and unmasked single-digit addition problems (primes) followed by correct and incorrect results were presented on the screen. In a conscious perception task (unmasked priming), when large and small problem results were presented, an arithmetic N400 and LPC effects were observed in both groups. In the case of unconscious perception (masked priming), when small problem results were presented, the LPC effect was observed in the group with low arithmetic skill. The fact that the LPC arithmetic effect was discovered during the unconscious presentation may indicate the automatic nature of the encoding and retrieving information processes, reflecting neurophysiological characteristics associated with the level of arithmetic skill.

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About the authors

V. M. Knyazeva

Saint Petersburg State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: v.m.knyazeva@spbu.ru
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

N. V. Polyakova

Saint Petersburg State University

Email: v.m.knyazeva@spbu.ru
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

D. G. Fedorov

Saint Petersburg State University

Email: v.m.knyazeva@spbu.ru
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

D. D. Sitnikova

Saint Petersburg State University

Email: v.m.knyazeva@spbu.ru
Russian Federation, Санкт-Петербург

A. A. Aleksandrov

Saint Petersburg State University

Email: v.m.knyazeva@spbu.ru
Russian Federation, Санкт-Петербург

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2. Fig. 1. The time sequence of presentation of stimuli in blocks with conscious (left) and unconscious (right) perception of stimuli.

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3. Fig. 2. Evoked potentials in response to the presentation of correct (thin line) and incorrect (thick line) solutions, registered in the Cz lead in the block of conscious perception of stimuli for examples of MP (left) and BP (right) for subjects with strong (bottom) and weak (top) arithmetic skills. The dotted line shows the intervals for the analysis of the main components.

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4. Fig. 3. Topographic maps of the distribution of electrical activity for subjects with strong and weak arithmetic skills in a window of 300-350 ms from the beginning of presentation of the result of solving the arithmetic example.

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5. Fig. 4. Evoked potentials in response to the presentation of correct (thin line) and incorrect (thick line) solutions, registered in the Cz lead in the block of unconscious perception of stimuli for examples of MP (left) and BP (right) for subjects with strong (bottom) and weak (top) arithmetic skills. The dotted line shows the intervals for the analysis of the main components.

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6. Fig. 5. Topographic maps of the distribution of electrical activity for subjects with strong and weak arithmetic skills in a window of 450-550 ms from the beginning of presentation of the result of solving the arithmetic example.

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