The Self-prioritization Effect in Conscious Access

The self-prioritization effects have been well-documented in many cognitive processing, yet the question whether it also shows in conscious access remains contentious. To address this issue, researchers have employed a range of experimental paradigms including stimulus degradation, visual masking, binocular rivalry, continuous flash suppression, inattentional blindness, and attentional blink. Additionally, the altered consciousness states (sleep, anesthesia, and disorders of consciousness) have been employed in other studies. Some studies have found evidence of a self-advantage in conscious access, leading to the proposal of numerous conflicting assumptions. For example, attentional blink and inattentional blindness are hypothesized to disrupt visual consciousness by interrupting the attentional process. Consequently, a question arises regarding whether the early selection theory or the late selection theory can more accurately explain the processing advantage of self-related stimuli within these two paradigms. However, the debates remain unresolved, calling for future research to further explore the observed inconsistencies and the underlying neural mechanisms.