5772788

Abstract

Psychologists have long believed that people will perform better when they are presented with the possibility of gaining a financial reward for doing a task, than when this possibility is absent. Consideration of the costs and benefits of actions and an understanding of the reward determines the effort we put in. Therefore, consciousness has traditionally been regarded as a requirement in this analysis. However, research has shown that this may not be the case; even when we perceive the value of rewards subliminally, an effect on performance by financial rewards exists. While studies have been devoted to assessing the relationship between measures of awareness and performance, little is known of the interactions on a trialby- trial basis. The character of this study is an exploratory one; we have examined conscious and unconscious reward pursuit by adopting generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) that allow for an analysis on this basis. We have also looked at how ratings of confidence relate to accuracy on a mental-rotation task. We have found that measures of awareness proved to be explanatory of what was happening in the minds of participants. In particular the perceived prime showed as having a main effect on performance on the task. When we compared the findings from trial-based analyses with analyses of variances, our findings differed. In line with an increasing body of research we argue for the use of trial-based analyses.