The debate over the independence of attention and consciousness is ongoing. Prior studies have established that invisible spatial cues can direct attention. However, our exploration extends beyond spatial dimensions to temporal information as a potent guide for attention. A intriguing question arises: Can unconscious temporal cues trigger attentional orienting? To investigate, we employed a modified reaction-time task in Experiments 1 and 2, using Gabor stimuli or human facial stimuli as temporal cues rendered invisible through continuous flash suppression. We aimed to uncover temporal expectation effects (TE effects) without conscious awareness. Moreover, Experiments 3 and 4 probed the boundaries of this unconscious processing, assessing whether conscious temporal cues could modulate TE effects. Our results confirm that invisible temporal cues can induce TE effects, and these effects can be overridden by conscious temporal cues. This dissociation between temporal attention and consciousness provide a new perspective on our understanding of their relationship.

中文翻译：

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时间注意力与意识的分离：无意识时间线索诱发时间期望效应


关于注意力和意识独立性的争论仍在继续。先前的研究已经证实，看不见的空间线索可以引导注意力。然而，我们的探索超越了空间维度，扩展到了时间信息，作为注意力的有效指南。一个有趣的问题出现了：无意识的时间线索能否触发注意力定向？为了进行研究，我们在实验 1 和 2 中采用了修改后的反应时间任务，使用 Gabor 刺激或人类面部刺激作为通过连续闪光抑制而变得不可见的时间线索。我们的目标是在无意识的情况下揭示时间预期效应（TE 效应）。此外，实验 3 和 4 探索了这种无意识处理的界限，评估有意识的时间线索是否可以调节 TE 效应。我们的结果证实，不可见的时间线索可以诱发 TE 效应，并且这些效应可以被有意识的时间线索所覆盖。时间注意力和意识之间的这种分离为我们理解它们的关系提供了新的视角。