When awareness outstrips performance: critical tests of subjective inflation under inattention
bioRxiv January 24, 2026 Karen J. Tian, Brian Maniscalco, Michael L. Epstein et al. preprint
Visual experience can sometimes depart from visual performance, providing a powerful lens into the mechanisms generating conscious perception. In one proposed dissociation—subjective inflation—unattended locations in the periphery appear stronger than attended ones despite equated performance. Subjective inflation has played a central role in motivating theories of consciousness that reject the...