Study title

This deposit contains the diverse experimental and meta-analytic datasets collected during the Understanding and Awareness project. The datasets assess psychological research questions involving the relationship between how we understand and use language, and how we attend to the world around us. For example, one dataset investigates whether words and sentences can be partially understood when they have been masked from conscious awareness. Another dataset investigates how preschool children allocate their attention when describing scenes that require them to use potentially ambiguous language. Note that this project did not collect one large dataset, but rather a range of different datasets, with many different characteristics; fuller descriptions of each dataset are provided in the uploaded documentation file. The datasets in this deposit report 1) Chronometric (response time) studies conducted with adults and with preschool children (aged 3 and 5). 2) Eye tracking studies conducted with adults and with preschool children (aged 2 through 5). 3) Psychophysical (continuous flash suppression) studies conducted with adults. 4) Looking time experiments conducted with infants (age 7 months). 5) A database containing records of a meta-analysis of infant looking time data. In 1957, the advertising executive James Vicary gathered reporters to announce a startling finding. He had taken movie reels from a local cinema and repeatedly inserted single frames containing simple messages: "Eat popcorn" or "Drink Coca-Cola". The frames were essentially invisible, rushing by too fast for anyone to see, but their effects were extreme: A huge increase in sales at the concession stand. Vicary's finding suggested a powerful role for the unconscious in our everyday lives, and a lucrative new method for advertisers. There was just one problem: He was never able to corroborate the data. His startling result was false. In the intervening fifty years, we have learned a lot about the...