Attribution of a metacognitive signal about an unconscious problem solution

Why can finding a new idea be accompanied by a powerful emotional shift? How can emotions anticipate the solution of purely rational tasks? The article attempts to consider various approaches to answering these questions. The article verifies V. M. Allahverdov’s hypothesis that an emotionally colored metacognitive signal informs consciousness that the task being solved by consciousness has already been unconsciously solved but does not tell which task has been solved. This can lead to the fact that the message about the unconscious solution of one task can be mistaken by consciousness for the message about the solution of another task. Various experiments indirectly confirming this possibility are described, as well as the results of O. V. Naumenko and D. I. Kostina’s studies, directly aimed at confirming the hypothesis put forward. Since, however, these results are counterintuitive in nature and also have insufficient statistical power, we replicated the experiments of Naumenko and Kostina. The purpose of this study is to check experimentally the hypothesis of the existence of a metacognitive signal about an unconscious solution to a problem and the possibility of transferring the attribution of this signal to another task. Two experimental studies were conducted in which the subjects were asked to solve mathematical problems — multiplication of single digits and addition of two digits. The research used the priming paradigm: equations were used as primes; however, they were in no way related to the target task. 59 subjects participated in the first study, and 48 participated in the second. During the study, it was revealed: correct prime equations accelerate the solution of target tasks, compared with the incorrect ones, i. e. attribution of the solution of the prime equation to the target problem occurs; attribution depends on a number of factors, such as the complexity of the task and the temporal proximity of the prime and the goal.

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