Subliminal Perception Lecture 7 last 1 for Test 1 2 11 04 You Decide Could 1 30th of a second really influence impressions of Al Gore SUB liminal Perception Minimum stimulation necessary to detect a particular stimulus Normal senses can smell one drop of perfume in a 3 room apartment See a candle 30 miles away Hear a watch ticking 30 feet away What about stimuli below the absolute threshold Can they influence us Sensation without perception Subliminal stimuli that sensory system responds to but due to short duration or subtle form don t reach threshold of cognition Can t report the info was perceived Awareness of info about environment depends on variety of cortical areas Many studies demonstrate perception without awareness Many call them hoaxes Quick Survey 1 Do you think you are influenced by subliminal messages in advertising 2 Do you think you are influenced by everyday advertisements that you perceive consciously e g laundry detergent beverages 3 Suppose you had a choice to listen to one of two speeches that argued against a position you believe in such as whether marijuana should be legalized In speech A the person presents arguments against your position in speech B all arguments are presented subliminally Which speech would you rather listen to 1 80 college students preferred not to receive a subliminal message b c they thought it might influence them in an undesirable way 2 28 preferred not to receive a regular ad b c it might influence them undesirably 3 69 chose speech A 31 chose B subliminal Why are people afraid Should you be EAT POPCORN Subliminal Persuasion New Jersey 1957 Over 6 weeks 45 699 ppl Eat Popcorn 57 5 Drink Coke 18 1 Minds have been broken and entered More recently 2 teenage boys committed suicide after listening to Judas Priest Lyrics promoted Satanism and suicide Rock music w satanic messages when played backwards Beatles The White Album John is dead now miss him miss him miss him Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven Human brains are capable of receiving scanning deciphering storing and later reacting to subliminal or subconscious messages Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven I sing because I live with Satan The Lord turns me off There s no escaping it Here s to my sweet Satan Whose power is Satan He will give you 666 I live for Satan Examples Madonna Backstreet Metallica Not the last of it Sexual imagery in ads Wilson Bryan Key sex in ice cubes nude figures in images from butter to icing in cake mix ads Even if images aren t consciously perceived they put us in good mood and pay more attention to ad Vokey Read 1985 Recorded sentences Backmasked What did you perceive Gender m f Type statement Meaning similarity meaning vs nonsense Behavioral influence Homonym task Climbing a mountain Perceptual set Perhaps listeners can hear a message that actually isn t there Jabberwocky and Psalm 23 I saw a girl with a weasel in her mouth When instructed to listen 90 hear Yes messages are there but are not effective EXPECTATIONS Can subliminal messages influence you in a desirable way Subliminal self help tapes 50 million Relax you are good you are capable calm Utah s South Pt Prison Texas Rangers Pitching Staff Department Store Music Contents vs Expectation Greenwald et al 1991 Fill out self esteem scales memory tests Self help tapes Improve memory or boost self esteem Every day for 5 wks Hear classical musical The Catch Where would you predict an increase MEMORY TAPE ACTUAL SELF ESTEEM TAPE M label SE label M label SE label ACTUAL PERCEIVED Expectation The Results MEMORY TAPE ACTUAL SELF ESTEEM TAPE M label SE label M label SE label ACTUAL PERCEIVED Expectation memory SE improved improved memory improved SE improved Evidence For In lab Flashed Kitten romantic couples VS Werewolf dead body Pictures of people Perceived a flash of light BUT Rated people associated with kittens couples more positively More FOR How much do you like these Chinese ideographs 1 Not at all 2 3 4 5 6 7 A lot Word search puzzle Hidden primes Neutral vs achievement words Buzzer stops P s at 3 minutes Hidden cameras detect who keeps working 57 achievement condition Conclusions so far Subliminal cues in a controlled lab setting Simple judgments actions Short term effects Conscious perception influences long term purchases Health Although we can perceive subliminal cues won t persuade us to take action unless already motivated or expecting What about perception with NO physical stimulus clip Extrasensory Perception An ability to perceive in absence of ordinary sensory info 57 Americans believe in ESP 3 types Telepathy Clairvoyance Precognition The Case For Rhine 1934 Special ESP deck Guess symbol on each card Telepathy sender looked P read mind Clairvoyance cards placed face down Precognition predicted before deck shuffled 100 000 responses Using 25 cards P s averaged 7 1 correct High followed by low Methodological problems Hoaxes Live stage psychics have associates circulating through crowd spying on conversations Uri Geller bend metal without touching it James Randi same stunts through trickery Mind sees what it expects to see PERCEPTUAL SETS James Randi Educational Foundation offers 1 million to anyone who can show under proper observing conditions evidence of any paranormal supernatural or occult power or event Ganzfeld Procedure Bem Honorton 1994 All sensory information reduced receiver in reclining chair in sound proof chamber with ping pong balls red light earphones white noise In Separate room sender concentrates on visual stimuli 32 hit rate chance WHY Illusions of Connection PPl mistakenly attribute coincidences to Psi as false alarms Perceptual system creates patterns and connections that do NOT exist Illusions of Control PPl mistakenly feel in control of what are really chance events Illusions of memory Selective memory makes coincidences appear to occur more frequently than they actually do TEST Monday Lectures 1 7 Chapters 1 5 Focus on ideas not facts Understand don t memorize Apply studies discussed to overall themes What s the point Focus on important diagrams terms not minor details Study together
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