Download What does “subliminal” really mean?

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What does “subliminal”
really mean?
 Webster’s New World Dictionary defines it as:
 adjective, sub (up to) + limen (threshold) + -AL
 below the threshold of consciousness;
specifically, involving stimuli intended to take effect
subconsciously through repetition.
 “Supraliminal” messages are consciously
recognized and processed
Series vs. Parallel Processing
P
Series Processing
Stimulus
Receptor
Sensory
Processes
P
Physiological
processes
underlying
phenomenal
representation
Parallel Processing
Stimulus
Receptor
Physiological
processes
underlying
phenomenal
representation
X
R
Sensory
Processes
Response
R
Response
“Subliminal” concerns & observations
have been around for a long time
Philosophers:




400 B.C. - Democritus
Plato
Aristotle
Leibniz
1950s - Tachistoscope used in research
The Poetzl Effect (1917) - stimuli that did not
necessarily affect us during the day can play
a bigger or smaller place in our dreams.
Types of Subliminals
Flashed for a short time
Soft sounds
Visual embeds
Backmasking
Accelerated speech
James Vicary’s Hoax
1957, James Vicary announced
he had developed a subliminal
projection machine
Tested it in a NJ movie theater
 Eat Popcorn
 Drink Coke
Claimed sales increases
 18% Coke
 58% Popcorn
Vicary Backpedals
1957- Rep. Dawson asked FCC to get to the
bottom of the secret pitch
1958 - Vicary demonstrates subliminal
method to members of Congress & FCC
 Vicary downplayed subliminals, calling them a
“mild form of advertising”/“very weak persuader”
1958 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
attempted its own subliminal persuasion-failed
More Subliminal Concerns
Wilson Bryan Key wrote three books that
increased fear of subliminals
 Subliminal Seduction: Ad Media’s Manipulation of a Not-So-Innocent America (1973)
 Media Sexploitation (1977)
 The Clam-Plate Orgy (1980)
 “SEX is the most frequently embedded word in
the American advertising industry.”
1985 - Judas Priest trial
Other Subliminal Claims
American Life League (ALL) says that
Disney’s recent animated films contain
“naughty messages”
Religious groups (e.g. The Watchtower
Observer)
Intentional subliminal messages (tapes,
software, etc.)
What about the future?
• http://www.artistmike.com/Temp/Sublimina
lAd.html
• http://www.poleshift.org/sublim/
• http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/
Subliminal Glasses
US Patent Issued In 1992
You will be happy, you will play perfect
ping pong... hey, is it working?
You know, the subliminal messages you
are getting from your glasses.
Subliminal messages are often
graphic or word messages flashed in
front of you so fast you don't consciously
notice them but your subconscious may go, aha! Subliminal messages have
long been banned from TV and advertising but who's to say you don't want to
subliminate yourself? (We just make the words up as we go along here folks).
The Subliminal Glasses come with various graphic messages that you place
inside your special subconscious lenses and stare at them all day and all
night. The inventor suggests you won't even notice them after a while. So
next time you want to cut down on your vices, or smile more or we're not really
sure what the message is with that ping pong paddle thing, but next time you
want to change your personal behavior, maybe modify your mind and become
one with the smiley face, then it's time to stare through your Subliminal
Glasses and go to that happier place.
Schools of thought
regarding Subliminals
It works
It doesn’t work
We don’t have all the data and thus
cannot say whether it works or not
NOTE: There has been no proof of
subliminal effect on behavior
Recent findings…
 Early 2000s: subtler effect than previously thought.
 2006: May work in advertising after all, in certain situations.
Thirst study (Lipton tea and Simpsons)
 2007: May also enhance academic performance. In a 2007
study, researchers flashed students hidden words related or
unrelated to intelligence, such as “talent” and “grass,”
respectively, before a practice exam. Those who saw the
intelligence words performed better on a midterm one to four
days later.
 2010–2015: Imaging studies have shown that our brain
responds to subliminal messages in measurable ways. Activity
levels change in the amygdala, which processes emotions, the
insula (involved in conscious awareness), the hippocampus
(involved in processing memories) and the visual cortex.