1. Subliminal Perception
The concept of subliminal perception is of considerable interest because it suggests that peoples' thoughts,
feelings and actions are influenced by stimuli that are perceived without any awareness of perceiving.
Another way in which subliminal perception has been demonstrated in controlled laboratory studies is by
showing that stimuli can be perceived even when they are presented under conditions that make it
difficult if not impossible to distinguish one stimulus from another stimulus.
The effectiveness of subliminal messaging has been demonstrated to prime individual responses
and stimulate mild emotional activity.
Some research has found that subliminal messages do not produce strong or lasting changes in
behavior.[2] However, a recent review of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies
shows that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions of the brain despite participants being
unaware.[3] Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual can process them, or
flashed and then masked, thereby interrupting the processing. Audio stimuli may be played
below audible volumes, masked by other stimuli, or recorded backwards in a process called
backmasking- a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward onto a
track that is meant to be played forward.
The threshold in subliminal stimuli research is the level at which the participant is not aware of
the stimulus being presented. The methodology of the research also varies by the type of
subliminal stimulus and the dependent variables they measure.
A subliminal sexual stimulus has a different effect on men compared to women. In addition,
subliminal stimuli have elicited significant emotional changes, but these changes are not valuable
for a therapeutic effect.The term subliminal perception was originally used to describe situations in
which weak stimuli were perceived without awareness.
Thus, although subliminal perception may allow us to make accurate guesses regarding the characteristics
of stimuli, subliminal perception cannot lead a person to drink Coca-Cola or to eat Ritz Crackers, and it
cannot be used effectively to improve a person's tennis skills or to cure a person's bad habits.