Subliminal stimuli

Applications of subliminal stimuli are often based on the persuasiveness of a message. Research on action priming has shown that subliminal stimuli can only trigger actions a receiver of the message plans to perform anyway. However, consensus of subliminal messaging remains unsubstantiated by other research. Most actions can be triggered subliminally only if the person is already prepared to perform a specific action. The context that the stimulus is presented in affects their effectiveness. For example, if the target is thirsty then a subliminal stimulus for a drink is likely to influence the target to purchase that drink if it is readily available. The stimuli can also influence the target to choose the primed option over other habitually chosen options. If the subliminal stimuli are for a product that is not quickly accessible or if there is no need for it within a specific context then the stimuli will have little to no effect. Subliminal priming can direct people's actions even when they believe they are making free choices. When primed to push a button with their off-hand, people will use that hand even if they are given a free choice between using their off-hand and their dominant hand. subliminal messaging is only effective in behaviour in very specific present intentions and contexts, which means they do not have visible results for mischievous use. It is suggested, however, that subliminal stimuli can bias acting decisions, including internally and freely generated ones, but, since that effect remains along with the aforementioned intentions and contexts, any impact on the choice of action are not mischievous but rather appropriate and adaptive. ==Method==

In subliminal stimuli research, the threshold is the level at which the participant is not aware of the stimulus being presented. Researchers determine a threshold for the stimulus that is used as the subliminal stimulus. That stimulus is then presented during the study at some point and measures are taken to determine the effects of the stimulus. The way in which studies operationally define thresholds depends on the methods of the particular article. The methodology of the research also varies by the type of subliminal stimulus (auditory or visual) and the dependent variables they measure. Objective threshold The objective threshold is found using a forced-choice procedure, in which participants must choose which stimulus they saw from options given to them. For example, participants are flashed a stimulus (like the word orange) and then given a few choices and asked which one they saw. Participants must choose an answer in this the objective threshold is obtained when participants' results in this task reach the level of (i.e. are no better than) that predicted by chance. and empirical demonstration of emotionally-subliminal stimuli as stimuli that do not induce the expected emotional reaction even if consciously perceived. Direct and indirect measures Perception without awareness can be demonstrated through the comparison of direct and indirect measures of perception. Direct measures use responses to task definitions in accordance to the explicit instructions given to the subjects, while indirect measures use responses that are not a part of the task definition given to subjects. Both direct and indirect measures are displayed under comparable conditions except for the direct or indirect instruction. For example, in a typical Stroop test, subjects are asked to name the color of a patch of ink. A direct measure is accuracy—true to the instructions given to the participants. The popular indirect measure used in the same task is response time—subjects are not told that they are being measured for response times. Similarly, a direct effect is the effect of a task stimulus on the instructed response to it, and is usually measured as accuracy. An indirect effect is an uninstructed effect of the task stimulus on behavior, sometimes measured by including an irrelevant or distracting component in the task stimulus and measuring its effect on accuracy. However, a debate was raised in the scientific literature because of the heterogeneity of paradigms to make stimuli subliminal and to assess their effectiveness: the best solution has been proposed to be a trial-by-trial assessment of each stimulus' conscious detection. Despite its rigorousness, this assessment can be problematic in studies comparing the brain responses to detected versus undetected stimuli, as the resulting differences could be attributed to the act of answering (e.g., pressing a button) rather than to the (un)conscious processing: in these cases, a no-report paradigm could be preferable. ==Visual stimuli==

In order to study the effects of subliminal stimuli, researchers often prime participants with specific visual stimuli, and determine if those stimuli elicit different responses. Subliminal stimuli have mostly been studied in the context of emotion; in particular, researchers have focused a lot of attention to the face perception and how subliminal presentation to different facial expression affects emotion. Visual subliminal stimuli have also been used to study emotion eliciting stimuli and simple geometric stimuli. A significant amount of research has been produced throughout the years to demonstrate the effects of subliminal visual stimuli. Images Attitudes can develop without being aware of their antecedents. Individuals show right amygdala activity in response to subliminal fear, and a greater left amygdala response to supraliminal fear. This study paved the way to a prolific research field investigating the psychophysiological and behavioral correlates of emotionally-relevant stimuli made subliminal. Spider-fearful and non-fearful undergraduates experienced either a positive, negative, or neutral subliminal priming stimulus followed immediately by a picture of a spider or a snake. Using visual analogue scales, the participants rated the affective quality of the picture. No evidence was found to support that the unpleasantness of the pictures can be modulated by subliminal priming. Masking visual stimuli Visual stimuli are often masked by forward and backward masks so that they can be displayed for longer periods of time without the subject being able to recognize the priming stimuli. A forward mask is briefly displayed before the priming stimulus and a backward mask usually follows it to prevent the subject from recognizing the stimulus. ==Auditory stimuli==

Auditory masking One method for creating subliminal auditory stimuli is masking, which involves hiding the target auditory stimulus in some way. Auditory subliminal stimuli are shown to have some effect on the participant, but not a large one. authors found no evidence for a manipulative effect. Self-help audio recordings A study investigated the effects on self-concept of rational emotive behavior therapy and auditory subliminal stimulation (separately and in combination) on 141 undergraduate students with self-concept problems. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups receiving either rational-emotive therapy, subliminal stimulation, both, or a placebo treatment. Rational-emotive therapy significantly improved scores on all dependent measures (cognition, self-concept, self-esteem, anxiety) except behavior. Results for the subliminal stimulation group were similar to those of the placebo treatment except for a significant self-concept improvement and a decline in self-concept-related irrational cognitions. The combined treatment yielded results similar to those of rational-emotive therapy, with tentative indications of continued improvement in irrational cognitions and self-concept from posttest to follow-up. == Studies on advertising with subliminal stimuli in still images ==

Formula 1 car served as advertising for Marlboro. Among the researchers in favor of subliminal stimuli was Wilson Bryan Key. One of Key's most cited studies is a whisky ad in which he found several hidden figures in ice cubes. However, Cecil Adams characterises Key as "the kind of guy who could find something suggestive in a dial tone", citing an anecdote where Key objected to the use of subliminal sexual imagery in one of his own book covers, mistakenly believing that the publisher must have used an illustrative photo from an advertisement that employed subliminal stimuli. It had been a simple unaltered photograph of a martini glass. Luís Bassat suggests an interesting observation by indicating that the current objective of advertising is "to get the consumer to take into account the brand when making the decision", a trend opposed to the objective of subliminal advertising. In turn, Fernando Ocaña showed that the essential thing in the field of media planning is to obtain the greatest possible memory, which implies a conscious perception and not a subconscious one. ==Consumption, television and criticism==

Some studies looked at the efficacy of subliminal messaging in television. Subliminal messages produce only one-tenth of the effects of detected messages and the findings related to the effects of subliminal messaging were relatively ambiguous. Johan Karremans suggests that subliminal messages have an effect when the messages are goal-relevant. Karremans conducted a study assessing whether subliminal priming of a brand name of a drink would affect a person's choice of drink, and if this effect was caused by the individual's feelings of being thirsty. Some studies showed greater effects of subliminal messaging, with up to 80% of participants showing a preference for a particular rum when subliminally primed by the name being placed backwards in an advert. Martin Gardner, however, criticizes claims, such as those by Wilson Bryan Key, by pointing out that the "recent studies" serving as the basis for his claims were not identified by place or experimenter. He also suggests that claims about subliminal images are due to the "tendency of chaotic shapes to form patterns vaguely resembling familiar things". In 2009, the American Psychological Association stated that subliminal stimuli are subordinated to previously structured associative stimuli, and that their only role is to reinforce a certain behavior or a certain previous attitude, without there being conclusive evidence that the stimulus that provokes these behaviors is properly subliminal. Currently, there is still speculation about this effect. Many authors have continued to argue for the effectiveness of subliminal cues in changing consumption behavior, citing environmental cues as a main culprit of behavior change. Authors who support this line of reasoning cite findings such as Ronald Millman's research that showed slow-paced music in a supermarket was associated with more sales and customers moving at a slower pace. Findings such as these support the notion that external cues can affect behavior, although the stimulus may not fit into a strict definition of subliminal stimuli because although the music may not be attended to or consciously affecting the customers, they are certainly able to perceive it. Subliminal messaging is prohibited in advertising in the United Kingdom and France, as well as German television and radio. == See also ==