Subliminal Priming in Subtracting One-Digit Arabic Numbers

Background: Based on the studies which have investigated conscious andunconscious processes, simple arithmetic operations such as addition andmultiplication can be automatically processed in the brain and affect subsequentresponses. However, most studies have focused on addition and multiplicationof one-digit numbers. In this research we used subliminal priming paradigm toassess automatic retrieval of subtraction operation for the first time.Objectives: The aim of this study was to use a subliminal priming paradigm ina naming task and investigate the automatic and unconscious processing of thesubtraction operation. Research of this kind can help us determine differentlevels of unconscious and conscious processing in the brain.Materials and Methods: Forty-five graduate student in psychology at theFaculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz (between 18 and 25years; mean 20.7, SD=2.7) participated in the experiment. For presenting thestimuli, an open-source software (DMDX) was used and presented on a 15-inchmonitor. In the experiment, in the congruent condition, the prime was congruentwith the target in terms of subtraction calculation result and in the incongruentcondition there was no logical connection between the two stimuli. The vocalreaction time (RT) of participants was recorded and paired t-test analysis wasconducted for comparison of the two conditions.Results: The data showed that naming the target by the participants is carriedout faster when the two stimuli are congruent with each other in terms of theresult of the operation.Conclusion: These findings may have implications on the levels ofmathematical operations. In conclusion it seems that the calculation of one-digitnumbers can happen at the level of simple neuronal circuits and may be carriedout without conscious-awareness. The findings confirm the fact that calculatingsubtraction for one-digit numbers does not require conscious effort and can beprocessed automatically.

Keywords:

Unconscious (Psychology) , Task Performance and Analysis , Mathematical Computing