The level of processing hypothesis (LoP) proposes that the transition from unaware to aware visual perception is graded for low-level (i.e., energy, features) stimulus whereas dichotomous for high-level (i.e., letters, words, meaning) stimulus. In this study, we explore the behavioral patterns and neural correlates associated with different depths (i.e., low vs. high) of stimulus processing. The low-level stimulus condition consisted of identifying the color (i.e., blue/blueish vs. red/reddish) of the target, and the high-level stimulus condition consisted of identifying stimulus category (animal vs. object). Behavioral results showed that the levels of processing manipulation produced significant differences in both the awareness rating distributions and accuracy performances between tasks, the low-level task producing more intermediate subjective ratings and linearly increasing accuracy performances and the high-level task producing less intermediate ratings and a more nonlinear pattern for accuracies. The electrophysiological recordings revealed two correlates of visual awareness, an enhanced posterior negativity in the N200 time window (visual awareness negativity [VAN]), and an enhanced positivity in the P3 time window (late positivity [LP]). The analyses showed a double dissociation between awareness and the level of processing hypothesis manipulation: Awareness modulated VAN amplitudes only in the low-level color task, whereas LP amplitude modulations were observed only in the higher level category task. These findings are compatible with a two-stage microgenesis model of conscious perception, where an early elementary phenomenal sensation of the stimulus (i.e., the subjective perception of color) would be indexed by VAN, whereas stimulus' higher level properties (i.e., the category of the target) would be reflected in the LP in a later latency range.

中文翻译：

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加工水平调节视觉意识：来自行为和电生理测量的证据。

加工水平假设 (LoP) 提出，从无意识到有意识的视觉感知的转变为低级（即能量、特征）刺激分级，而对高级（即字母、单词、意义）刺激分级。在这项研究中，我们探索了与刺激处理的不同深度（即低与高）相关的行为模式和神经相关性。低级刺激条件包括识别目标的颜色（即蓝色/蓝色与红色/红色），高级刺激条件包括识别刺激类别（动物与物体）。行为结果表明，处理操作的水平在任务之间的意识评级分布和准确性表现方面产生了显着差异，低级任务产生更多的中间主观评分和线性增加的准确度性能，而高级任务产生更少的中间评分和更非线性的准确性模式。电生理记录揭示了视觉意识的两个相关性，N200 时间窗口中增强的后阴性（视觉意识阴性 [VAN]）和 P3 时间窗口中增强的阳性（晚期阳性 [LP]）。分析显示意识与处理假设操作水平之间存在双重分离：意识仅在低级别颜色任务中调制 VAN 幅度，而仅在更高级别类别任务中观察到 LP 幅度调制。这些发现与意识知觉的两阶段微观发生模型一致，