Non-Conscious Flashcards
James Vicary’s “Study” of Subliminal Persuasion
Flashed “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Hungry? Eat Popcorn” every 5 seconds for 3 milliseconds during a movie
- Claimed sales of popcorn increase 58% and Coke increased 18%
- Was a hoax
Liminal
- the threshold of perception
- Able to consciously perceive
Subliminal
- beneath the threshold of perception
- Unable to be consciously perceived
Objective Threshold
- Amount of signal for the stimulus to be detected at all
Subjective Threshold
- Amount of signal for the stimulus to be consciously detected
Signal Detection Theory (SDT)
- Sensitivity for detecting a target
Four Types Of Responses
- Hit - its there and you saw it
- Miss - its there and you missed it
- False alarm - it is not there, but you saw it
- Correct rejection - its not there and you didn’t see it
Subliminal Seduction - Wilson Bryan Key (1973)
- Claimed to reveal subliminal sexual messages hidden in ads
- Believed subliminal sex increased attraction to products
Power of top-down processing (False alarms)
- Can see things that aren’t there if you really want to find them
Backward masking would…
Have no effect because the brain would not be able to process it - zero impact
In fact, there’s lots of evidence that…
our thoughts and behaviors can be influenced by things beyond our awareness
Priming is when ….
an idea is mentally “pre-activated”
Priming occurs in the….
preconscious (the information could be available to the conscious mind if attention was directed to it)
Ideas may be primed because of the strong links to other ideas
- The word “nurse” primes the idea of “doctor” - By thinking about nurses, you are prepared to think about doctors
Priming can________ OR ______ processing
Speed up (congruent pair) / Slow down (incongruent pair)
Facilitative Priming Effect
Faster processing of info congruent with the prime
Negative Priming Effect
Slower processing of info that is incongruent with the prime
Lexical Decision Tasks
Words recognized faster when primed to a related word (compared to being primed with an unrelated word)
Types of Priming
Evaluative, Semantic, and Mood Priming
Evaluative priming
- Use primes to measure valence of attitudes (good/bad)
- If you like something, easier to pair with “good” things
- If you dislike something, easier to pair with “bad” things
Semantic Priming
- Use of priming to measure content of stereotypes
- Faster to respond to congruent pairs vs. incongruent pairs
- Stereotypical associations act like congruent word pairs
- Is it easier to link “African-American” with “Athletic” than “Patriotic”
- “Women” with “Mother” easier than “Doctor”
Mood Priming
Priming that influences moods and evaluations
- Physical feedback
- Pull towards vs. Pushing away from
- Like someone more when pulling towards self
The Ideomotor Principle
Thinking about a behavior makes that behavior likely to occur
Action Priming
Use of primes to influence or alter behavior
Prime needs to be at….
objective threshold to be successful
Primes need to be,,,
relevant and applicable to the situation
“Lipton ice” vs. nonsense words flashed subliminally during a computer task
STUDY 1
- Thirsty subjects more likely to choose Lipton over water
- But, difference only for thirsty people
STUDY 2
Only people who liked Lipton tea and who were thirty were influenced by the prime
One can be primed to walk slowly, be quiet, want to clean, be more kind or patient, buy more expensive goods
One can not be primed to completely change morals or make decisions that aren’t their own
Marcel Results
Conscious mind can only process one meaning at a time
Non-conscious mind can process multiple things at a time
Marcel Study (Subliminal vs. Conscious Processing)
- Prime a word that has multiple meanings
- “PALM” could be a part of a hand or a tree
Test and see the differences between liminal vs Subliminal primes
