Perceptual illusions in brief visual presentations.

People often believe they see more than they can report, such as all letters in a briefly flashed array. This study tested whether that feeling reflects genuine rich conscious experience or an illusion. Using a partial-report task with unexpected pseudo-letters in unreported areas, participants still perceived only letters, even though pseudo-letters were present. The results suggest the feeling of seeing arises from an illusion: the brain reconstructs letters from partial information and prior expectations, rather than from access to a rich phenomenal experience. This supports the view that the subjective richness of perception is not a direct reflection of conscious content but a constructive process.

Study at a glance

Abstract

We often feel that our perceptual experience is richer than what we can express. For instance, when flashed with a large set of letters, we feel that we can see them all, while we can report only a few. However, the nature of this subjective impression remains highly debated: while many favour a dissociation between two forms of consciousness (access vs. phenomenal consciousness), others contend that the richness of phenomenal experience is a mere illusion. Here we addressed this question with a classical partial-report paradigm now modified to include unexpected items in the unreported parts of the stimuli. We show that even in the presence of unexpected pseudo-letters, participants still felt that there were only letters. Additionally, we show that this feeling reflects an illusion whereby participants reconstruct letters using partial letter-like information. We propose that the feeling of seeing emerges from the interplay between partially accessible information and expectations.