Criterion placement threatens the construct validity of neural measures of consciousness
bioRxiv Preprint Server February 22, 2024 Johannes J. Fahrenfort, Philippa A. Johnson, Niels A. Kloosterman et al. preprint
Conservative criterion placement in subjective awareness judgments inflates neural effect sizes for both conscious and unconscious processing, while liberal placement reduces them. Simulations and two EEG studies show that the commonly used Perceptual Awareness Scale does not protect against this confound. The findings indicate that response criterion placement threatens the construct validity of neural measures of consciousness.