Subliminal appeal

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Subliminal stimuli ("subliminal stimuli", [ ˈzʊplimiˌnaːl ]), contrary to supra- threshold stimuli or "supraliminal stimuli", are all sensory stimuli below the perception threshold . A recent review of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies shows that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions in the brain, although the test subjects were not consciously aware of the stimuli. Visual stimuli are only presented briefly, so that a person cannot consciously process them. This can be followed by masking , which can further hinder processing. Sound stimuli are presented below the hearing threshold or masked by other sounds.

effectiveness

Applications are often based on the persuasiveness of the message. Research into behavior priming has shown that subliminal messages only trigger behavior that the person intended to perform. The following paragraphs describe specific studies that have examined the effectiveness of subliminal stimuli.

method

The threshold in the subliminal stimulus research area is the level at which the subject does not notice the stimulus being presented. The researchers determine a threshold for the subliminal stimulus that is used. This subliminal stimulus is then presented at any point in the study and measurements are taken to determine the effects of the stimulus. The exact operationalization depends on the specific article. The methods also depend on the type of subliminal stimulus (auditory or visual) and the dependent variables .

Objective threshold

The objective threshold is found by a “forced-choice” task. The test subjects have to choose which stimulus they saw from a range of other stimuli. Test subjects are briefly presented with a stimulus (for example the word “orange”). The word must then be selected from a number of distractors. Test subjects have to give an answer ("forced choice"). The objective threshold is reached when the test subjects select all the answers equally distributed, so they have only guessed. The length of the performance resulting from random selection in the forced-choice task is used for the subliminal stimuli later in the study.

Subjective threshold

The subjective threshold is reached when the test person states that their decisions in the “forced-choice” task are roughly random. The subjective threshold is 30 to 50 ms slower than the objective threshold, which shows that test subjects are able to recognize stimuli earlier than they are aware of. Stimuli that are shown at the subjective threshold have a longer presentation time than stimuli that are shown at the objective threshold. In a study on the recognition of colors, no effect of primes was demonstrated. However, the longer the duration of the prime, the greater the effect on the response behavior. This suggests that the results of some studies depend on the definition of “subliminal”.

Direct and indirect dimensions

Unconscious perception can be demonstrated using direct and indirect measures of perception. Direct measures use the answers to specific questions with explicit instructions for the subjects. Indirect measures are answers that were not given in the task to the test subjects. Both measures are shown under comparable conditions, with the exception of direct and indirect instruction. An example is the Stroop exercise , in which test subjects have to name the color of a word (e.g. the word “blue” in yellow). A direct measure here is “accuracy” - the correct execution of the instruction. A popular indirect measure is "response time" - subjects do not know that it is being measured.

Similarly, a direct effect is the effect of a stimulus on the (instructed) response to that stimulus. An indirect effect is an uninstructed effect of the stimulus on behavior. This is sometimes measured by adding an irrelevant or distracting component to the stimulus and then measuring the effect on accuracy. These effects are then compared for their relative sensitivity: an indirect effect that is greater than the direct effect indicates the existence of an unconscious cognition.

Visual stimuli

To test the effects of subliminal stimuli, test subjects are often primed with certain visual stimuli (often images). It is then checked whether different stimuli trigger different responses. Subliminal stimuli have been researched most in the context of emotions . In particular, researchers have particularly focused on the perception of faces and how subliminal presentations of various facial expressions affect emotions. Visual stimuli have also been used to study emotion-inducing stimuli and simple geometric stimuli. A great many studies have been carried out to date that demonstrate the effects of subliminally presented visual stimuli.

photos

Attitudes can arise without being aware of the antecedents. Subjects saw pictures of people engaging in familiar daily activities after being exposed to either an emotionally positive scene (a romantic couple or little kittens) or an emotionally negative scene (a werewolf or a corpse) between each picture and the next. The test subjects perceived the emotional images only as a flash of light. Depending on the positive or negative condition, the test subjects attributed more positive or more negative personality traits to the persons shown. Despite the statistical difference, the subliminal messages had less impact on people's assessment than physical attractiveness.

Test subjects show activity in the right half of the amygdala in response to subliminally induced anxiety, while supra-threshold (supraliminale; consciously perceived) anxiety activates the left half more. People were shown a subliminal image with a display duration of 16.7 milliseconds, which represents a potential danger. A supra-threshold image was then presented with a display duration of 0.5 seconds. Supreme anxiety showed longer-term cortical activity, suggesting that subliminal fear is not consciously perceived, while supra-threshold anxiety evokes deeper processes.

Emotional stimuli

A subliminal sexual stimulus has different effects on men and women. Men and women were shown subliminally either a sexual or a neutral image, after which sexual arousal was measured. Researchers also checked the cognitive availability of sex-like thoughts, using either a picture decision task or a lexical decision task ("Is the word shown a real word?"). The results showed that the subliminal sexual stimulus had no effect on men, but it did reduce sexual arousal in women. In the conditions in which the availability of sex-like thoughts was checked, the subliminal sexual stimulus led to higher availability in both men and women.

Subliminal stimuli trigger emotional changes, but cannot be used in a therapeutic context. Students who were either afraid of spiders or not were primed either positively, negatively, or neutrally, followed immediately by a picture of a spider or snake. With the help of a visual analog scale , the test subjects rated the affective quality of the image. No evidence was found that subliminal priming modulates uncomfortable feelings. The students who were not afraid of spiders rated the spiders as more frightening when they were negatively primed. Such effects were not found in fearful students.

Simple geometric charms

Laboratory studies of unconscious perception often use simple stimuli (such as geometric figures or colors) in which visibility is controlled by visual masks. For example, respondents in the response priming paradigm must respond to a target stimulus (e.g. a diamond or a square) that appears immediately after a masked prime (again a diamond or a square). The Prime has a big effect on the response time. If the prime is the same as the target stimulus, the response time is reduced; if the prime is different, the response time is increased. The prime effects can be differentiated from the visual perception of the prime if the prime cannot be identified more than randomly or if the priming effects become stronger when the prime duration of presentation decreases.

The presentation of geometric figures as subliminal stimuli can also be subliminally differentiated. The geometric figures were presented on slides of a tachistoscope , followed by a supra-threshold shock for a particular slide each time they appeared. The shock was delivered after 5 seconds. Changes in electrical voltage of the subject's skin that existed before amplification (or no amplification) were measured. The proportion of the electrical voltage change in the skin after a subliminal visual stimulus was significantly greater than expected. In contrast, the proportion of the electrical voltage change of the skin that followed in response to a non-amplified stimulus was significantly less. Test subjects were thus able to make subliminal distinctions.

Words and non-words stimuli

Another form of visual stimulus is words and non-words. Words and non-words have been used as subliminal primes in various studies. Primes work best if the words have been classified multiple times before being used as a prime. Word primes can also be compounded from previously classified words to form a new word. In this case, the word used as prime may have the opposite meaning of the words from which it came (the "parents"). Non-words that come from previously practiced words have a similar effect, even if they are unpronounceable (e.g. only the consonants). These primes only extend the response time for later stimuli for a very short period (in the millisecond range).

Masking visual stimuli

Visual stimuli are often masked forwards and backwards so that they can be presented for a longer duration without the subject being able to identify what the prime is. A forward mask is shown before the prime and a backward mask follows the prime. This prevents the test person from recognizing the prime.

Auditory stimuli

Auditory masking

One method of creating a subliminal auditory stimulus is masking. This method means that the target stimulus is hidden in some way. Subliminal auditory stimuli only have a small effect on subjects. For example, speech-like tones were used in one study to mask the target words. The study found evidence of a priming effect in ignorance of the stimulus. The effects of these subliminal stimuli were only discovered in one outcome variable, while the effects of conscious stimuli were seen in several outcome variables. However, the empirical evidence for subliminal auditory stimuli on human behavior remains weak: In an experimental study on the influence of subliminal target words (embedded in a song) on ​​the decision for a drink, the authors found no evidence of a manipulative effect.

Self-help audio recordings

A study examined the effects on self-concept in rational-emotional behavior therapy and subliminal auditory stimulation (separately and combined) in 141 students with self-concept problems . They were randomly divided into four groups who received either rational-emotional behavioral therapy, subliminal stimulation, both or placebo treatment. Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy improved the scores for all dependent variables ( cognition , self-concept , self-confidence , fear ), except for behavior. The results of the subliminal stimulation group were similar to the placebo treatment group except for a significant improvement in self-concept and a reduction in irrational thoughts related to self-concept. The combined treatment provided results similar to those of rational-emotional behavioral therapy alone, with preliminary indications of a sustained improvement in irrational cognition and self-concept from “post-test” to “follow-up”.

Another study looked at the effects of self-help tapes on self-confidence and memory . Volunteers who wanted to improve their self-confidence and memory were recruited and completed several self-confidence and memory tests before a self-help cassette was issued. Subjects were given either a self-confidence cassette or a memory cassette, but half of them were labeled incorrectly. After the subjects had listened to the tapes every day for five weeks, they came back to take the self-confidence and memory tests again. There was no significant difference from the first test to the second, but the subjects thought their self-confidence or memory had improved depending on which cassette they thought they had. The effect was the same for those who had incorrectly labeled tapes (those who had tapes labeled "Confidence" reported more self-confidence, those who had tapes labeled "Memory" reported better memory). This effect is often called the placebo effect . There are several studies examining subliminal self-help to varying degrees, but with similar results.

Consumption and television

Some studies have looked at the effectiveness of subliminal messages on television. Subliminal messages have only one-tenth the effects that noticed messages have, and the results regarding subliminal messages have been relatively ambiguous. In addition, positive ratings regarding advertisements were not influenced by subliminal messages in the advertisements.

Karremans suggests that subliminal messages have an effect when they are target-relevant. He conducted a study that examined whether subliminal priming on a brand name of a drink would influence a person's decision and whether this effect is moderated by the person's feeling of thirst. Subliminal priming of a beverage brand (Lipton Ice) made thirsty test subjects choose the brand. Subjects who were not thirsty, however, were not influenced by the subliminal message. In another study, subjects were thirstier when they saw an episode of The Simpsons with frames of the word “thirsty” or a picture of a Coca-Cola can. Some studies found a greater effect of subliminal messages, in which up to 80% of the test subjects indicated a preference for a certain rum when subliminally primed by displaying the name backwards in an advertisement.

Many authors continue to affirm the effectiveness of subliminal indications of a change in behavior in the consumption of the test subjects and believe that the majority of behavioral changes are due to environmental stimuli. Authors who support this position cite findings that slow music in a supermarket was associated with increased sales and slower movements of customers. Findings like these support the view that external stimuli can influence behavior, even if the stimulus does not fit into the strict definition of "subliminal". Using the example of music, this would be that even if the customers did not consciously perceive the music, they could certainly hear it.

Subliminal messages are banned in advertisements in England.

See also

Individual evidence

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  2. ^ S. Brooks, V. Savov, E. Allzén, C. Benedict, R. Fredriksson, H. Schiöth: Exposure to subliminal arousing stimuli induces robust activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate, insular cortex and primary visual cortex: A. systematic meta-analysis of fMRI studies. In: NeuroImage. (2012). Pp. 2962-2973.
  3. ↑ F. Schlaghecken: Why (and how) should nonconsciously triggered response tendencies be actively inhibited? In: Journal of Psychophysiology. Volume 18, No. 4, pp. 212-212. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, Göttingen January 2004.
  4. ↑ Simon van Gaal, Floris P. De Lange, Michael X. Cohen: The role of consciousness in cognitive control and decision making. In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Volume 6. 2012, p. 121. ( frontiersin.org ) doi: 10.3389 / fnhum.2012.00121 .
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  10. ^ M. Baldwin, DF Carrell, DF Lopez: Priming relationship schemas: My advisor and the Pope are watching me from the back of my mind. In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. (1990). 26 (5), pp. 435-454.
  11. ↑ Su Young Lee, Jee In Kang, Eun Lee, Kee Namkoong, Suk Kyoon An: Differential priming effect for subliminal fear and disgust facial expressions. In: Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. (2011). 73 (2), pp. 473-481.
  12. ↑ Agustin Ibáñez, Esteban Hurtado, Alejandro Lobos, Josefina Escobar, Natalia Trujillo, Sandra Baez, David Huepe, Facundo Manes, Jean Decety: Subliminal presentation of other faces (but not own face) primes behavioral and evoked cortical processing of empathy for pain. In: Brain research. (2011). 1398, pp. 72-85.
  13. ^ Zixu Yang, Eddie MW Tong: The effects of subliminal anger and sadness primes on agency appraisals. In: emotion. (2010). 10 (6), p. 915.
  14. ↑ a b c d Omri Gillath, Mario Mikulincer, Gurit E. Birnbaum, Phillip R. Shaver: Does subliminal exposure to sexual stimuli have the same effects on men and women? In Journal of sex research. (2007). 44 (2), pp. 111-121.
  15. ↑ a b c d Birgit Mayer, Harald Merckelbach: Do subliminal priming effects on emotion have clinical potential? In: Anxiety, Stress and Coping. (1999). 12 (2), pp. 217-229.
  16. ^ A b c D. Vorberg, U. Mattler, A. Heinecke, T. Schmidt, J. Schwarzbach: Different time courses for visual perception and action priming. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2003). 100 (10), pp. 6275-6280.
  17. ↑ a b c d Frank WR Taylor: The discrimination of subliminal visual stimuli. In: Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie. (1953). 7 (1), p. 12.
  18. ^ S. Kouider, S. Dehaene: Levels of processing during non-conscious perception: a critical review of visual masking. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. (2007). 362 (1481), pp. 857-875.
  19. ^ RL Abrams, AG Greenwald: Parts outweigh the whole (word) in unconscious analysis of meaning . In: Psychological Science , 11 (2), 2000, pp. 118-124.
  20. ↑ a b c d B. G. Breitmeyer, H. Ogmen: Subliminal Speech Priming. 2007.
  21. ^ Hauke ​​Egermann, Reinhard copyz, Christoph Reuter: Is there an effect of subliminal messages in music on choice behavior. In: Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis. (2006). 4 (2), pp. 29-45.
  22. ↑ AT Moller, HF Kotze, KJ Sieberhagen: Comparison of the effects of auditory subliminal stimulation and rational-emotive therapy, separately and combined, on self-concept. In: Psychological reports. (1993). 72 (1), pp. 131-145.
  23. ↑ AR Pratkanis: The cargo-cult science of subliminal persuasion. In: Skeptical Inquirer. (1992), 16 (3), pp. 260-272.
  24. ^ AG Greenwald, ER Spangenberg, AR Pratkanis, J. Eskenazi: Doubleblind tests of subliminal self-help audiotapes. Psychological Science. (1991), 2 (2), pp. 119-122.
  25. ↑ BC Auday, JL Mellett, PM Williams: Self-improvement Using Subliminal Selfhelp Audiotapes: Consumer Benefit or Consumer Fraud? In: Poster presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Western Psychological Association, San Francisco. 1991.
  26. ^ TE Moore: Subliminal self-help auditory tapes: An empirical test of perceptual consequences. In: Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement. (1995). 27 (1), p. 9.
  27. ↑ a b Kirk H. Smith, Martha Rogers: Effectiveness of subliminal messages in television commercials: Two experiments. In: Journal of Applied Psychology. (1994). 79 (6), p. 866.
  28. ↑ a b c J. C. Karremans, W. Stroebe, J. Claus: Beyond Vicary's fantasies: The impact of subliminal priming and brand choice. In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. (2006). 42 (6), pp. 792-798.
  29. ^ Joel Cooper, Grant Cooper: Subliminal motivation: A story revisited. In: Journal of Applied Social Psychology. (2002). 32 (11), pp. 2213-2227.
  30. ^ WB Key: Subliminal Seduction: Ad Media's Manipulation of Aq Not So Innocent America. Englewood Cliffs 1973, ISBN 0-13-859090-7 .
  31. ↑ Ap. Dijksterhuis, Pamela K. Smith, Rick B. van Baaren, Daniel HJ Wigboldus: The unconscious consumer. Effects of environment on consumer behavior. In: Journal of Consumer Psychology. (2005). 15 (3), pp. 193-202.
  32. ↑ Ronald E. Milliman: Using background music to affect the behavior of supermarket shoppers. In: The journal of Marketing. (1982). Pp. 86-91.
  33. ↑ 03 Misleading Advertisement. ( Memento of July 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (n. D.). Retrieved December 16, 2015.