What is "Subliminal"?
A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another medium, designed to pass below the normal limits of the human mind's perception. Like someone talking very quietly while you are listening to music or other sounds, or written words super-quickly flashing on a screen while you are watching something. These messages are unrecognizable by the conscious mind, but in certain situations can affect the subconscious mind and can negatively or positively influence subsequent later thoughts, behaviors, actions, attitudes, belief systems and value systems.
Do subliminal messages really work?
This has been debated for a long time. One of the early studies conducted by James Vicary in 1957 that demonstrated that consumers would buy more cola and popcorn by using subliminals in movies was later found to be fraudulent. Many opponents to the effectiveness of subliminals claimed this was evidence that they do not work.
Since then further studies have been conducted which have proven that subliminal images can indeed influence the choice of a consumer, or the emotional state of an observer.
Perhaps the most extreme example of the power of subliminal influence can be found in the work of Darren Brown, the famous English mind magician. In one show he demonstrated how with the correct use of emotional anchoring and subliminal triggering he was able to get some normal people to rob an armored van.
Volume 29 of The Journal of Counseling Psychology, reports a study by Dr. Kenneth Parker, a psychologist at Queens College, New York. His study demonstrated the effectiveness of subliminals in an academic environment. He was able to have a test group achieve a significant improvement in academic performance and information retention against a control group with the use of subliminals before class started.
From a more therapy based perspective Dr. Lloyd H. Silverman, a research psychologist from New York, has carried out extensive studies into subliminal effects in different therapeutic applications. These included improving or aggravating symptoms in schizophrenics as well as improving the success rates in those quitting smoking.
In March of 2007 BBC News reported on the work of a London team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience who had identified, through brain scans, that the brain does indeed respond to subliminal influences.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Dr Bahador Bahrami said: "What's interesting here is that your brain does log things that you aren't even aware of and can't ever become aware of. The brain is open to what's around it. So if there is 'spare capacity', in terms of attention, the brain will allocate that resource to subliminal activity."
On their own, subliminal messages can have little or no effect unless there is a natural desire in the person receiving them to be influenced by them. Much the same as hypnosis by itself can't get someone to do what they really don't want to do.
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