Psychology+Paper

 Hypothesis: Subliminal messages in media have no legitimate effect on people’s decision making.  My Initial Hypothesis Subliminal Messages: stimuli that appears too briefly to be perceived consciously (Bernstein, 2008). Examples in various media and other sources such as music in the past have raised great interest and concern amongst people. The most notable example occurred in 1957 in which James Vicary claimed that through “subliminal advertising” by flashing a message on a screen in a New Jersey movie theatre for a third of a millisecond he increased sales of popcorn and Coca-Cola (Truelove, 2010). Examples such as this and others in media made everyone wonder if subliminal messages or advertising can actually work. Through examples and studies I have seen, I do not believe that there is any legitimate effect on a person’s decision making. The Empirical Evidence  Arguments on whether or not subliminal messages work have been around for years and are still occurring today. After the event in the New Jersey movie theatre with the “Popcorn and Coca-Cola” subliminal messages, psychological studies on subliminal stimuli and their effects on individuals became very common. It’s argued also that subliminal messages and stimuli are used everywhere, all the time but we obviously do not consciously perceive them. "Subliminal perception is a subject that virtually no one wants to believe exists, and - if it does exist - they much less believe that it has any practical application... The techniques are in widespread use by media, advertising and public relations agencies, industrial and commercial corporations, and by the Federal government itself." (Key, 1974).  A study performed in 1985 by Harold Cook of Columbia University showed that there was a slight increase in test scores for a measurement and statistics class when some of the students were subjected to subliminal stimuli minutes before the test. He showed three groups of students three different messages over the time of the course and gauged progress based on a final exam. The results showed that there was a slight increase in the average test score with the two groups that received positive messages as compared to the control group who received a neutral message. The average increase between the experimental group and the control group was roughly 5.7 points (Cook, 1985). This study was an example that showed subliminal stimuli might have some impact on people and their conscious behaviors, though these numbers that show this increase are not very convincing.  A conflicting, and in my opinion, more reliable double-blind study completed in 1990 by four psychologists. The purpose of this study was to determine if subliminal messages played on tapes could be perceived unconsciously and would affect the behavior of the participants. Participants were given tapes that were either to help improve self-esteem or memory. To help with results, some of the tapes were mislabeled so that the participant would have a different tape than they expected to have. This would help show how expectations can influence the outcomes of experiments. The participants were tested to rank their self-esteem and memory before and after being exposed to these tapes. Although some believed that they had improved from before, none of them actually had. This experiment also served as a great example of the placebo effect (Eskenazi Greenwald, Pratkanis, and Spangenberg, 1990).  In 1984, Richard Dauber tested a hypothesis that he could subliminally activate, increase, or intensify depression in women who left home to attend college. He tested this by flashing the message “Leaving mom is wrong”. He hypothesized that this would increase depression in some subjects, while flashing the message “Mommy and I are one.” would decrease depression in the other subjects (Dauber, 1984). The test results at the end of the experiment showed that flashing the message “Leaving mom is wrong” did lead to a slight increase in depression while “Mommy and I are one” did not reduce depression like he had hypothesized. Although this study did find a slight increase in depression in the first experimental group, it was not high enough to be statistically significant. His second hypothesis, which by flashing the message “Mommy and I are one” would decrease depression was disproven in this experiment.  Although most subliminal messages and stimuli are supposed to be hidden well enough that we cannot consciously pick up on them, some is obvious enough that with careful concentration it can be found. Another study performed in 1984 by two doctors and a graduate student tried to prove the effectiveness of subliminal stimuli in magazine advertisements. To prepare for this experiment they gathered two different magazine advertisements and all agreed that there were in fact subliminal stimuli in the advertisement. From here they made copies of the advertisements to remove that stimulus. The next step was to show an experimental group the original ads while showing a control group the copies of the ads without the stimuli. The groups who saw the original ads with the stimuli said that they would be more likely to try that product over others. The control group’s results were indifferent towards the items. A second experiment had the subjects hooked up to monitor vitals while they viewed the ads, the group who saw the ads which contained the stimulus showed noticeable arousal but, again it was not enough to be considered significant (Kilbourne, Painton, and Ridley, 1984). My Current Opinion  In my opinion, especially with all of the evidence I have seen, subliminal messaging might exist but I do not believe that they affect people and their decision making processes. Subliminal messages were meant to persuade someone into acting, behaving, or doing something that they wouldn’t normally do. This has been disproven in many studies, including the ones that I discussed earlier. Although in some cases there were statistics that showed there was a slight influence on a person’s choice or behavior, none of these events were significant enough to be officially related to one another.  Many people argue about the use and even existence of subliminal stimuli simply because they cannot consciously perceive it. These people believe that it doesn’t exist because if it did, they believe they would be able to pick up on it. While some people have this viewpoint there are others that believe there are subliminal messages and stimuli everywhere. These people tend to believe that there are subliminal messages are in everything that we encounter on a daily basis, movies, television, and other forms of media. Some have gone as far as to say that even the Government has used subliminal messaging and stimuli in various ways.  Despite what some studies might say, and what their statistics show, there is no empirical evidence of subliminal stimuli legitimately affecting a person. Through my research I believe I have found enough evidence, or lack thereof, to support my hypothesis that subliminal messages have no effect on a person’s decision making, or behaviors. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">References <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: center 3.25in left 316.5pt; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Bernstein, Douglas A. (2008). //Essentials of Psychology, Fifth Edition.// Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: center 3.25in left 316.5pt; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Cook, Harold. (1985). Effects of Subliminal Symbiotic Gratification and the Magic of Believing on Achievement. //Psychoanalytical Psychology.// 365-371. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Dauber, Richard B. (1984). <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Subliminal Psychodynamic Activation in Depression: On the <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: center 3.25in left 316.5pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Role of Autonomy Issues in Depressed College Women. // Journal of Abnormal Psychology //, 93, 9-18. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: center 3.25in left 316.5pt; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Eskenazi, Jay, Greenwald, Anthony G., Pratkanis Anthony R., Spangenberg, Eric R. (1991). Double-Blind Tests of Subliminal Self-Help Audiotapes. //American Psychological Society//, 2, 119-122. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: center 3.25in left 316.5pt; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Key, Wilson Brian. (1974//). Subliminal Seduction: Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not So Innocent America//, New York, NY. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Kilbourne, William E., Painton, Scott., Ridley, Danny. (1985). The Effect of Sexual Embedding on Responses to Magazine Advertisements. //Journal of Advertising//, 14, 48-56. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Truelove, R.S. (2010). Lecture at Ball State University, Muncie, IN. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">