Words: 1113
-Subliminal Messages- The definition of subliminal is to exist or operate below the threshold of consciousness or employing stimuli insufficiently intense to produce a discrete sensation but often being or designed to be intense enough to influence the mental processes or the behavior of the individual. Subliminal messages, on the other hand, are messages which your conscious mind does not have enough time to process, yet you understand on a subconscious level. They are things that we never think about, yet they are messages that we can understand.
The way they affect our brain is a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists for years. The subliminal messages often derive from entrepreneurs who offer recordings that speak directly to our brains. Such examples being to help us lose weight, stop smoking, or help with improving our memories. Subliminal messages are quick to the point that the conscious mind does not recognize them. They rarely last more than a second or two. Because of this, the conscious mind does not have enough time to figure them out.
These messages claim two assumptions. The first assumption is that we can unconsciously sense the subliminal stimuli. The second is that we can unconsciously sense stimuli without our awareness which have astonishingly suggestive influences. In some sense we can. The question is whether or not we can sense these messages and how they affect our behavior. Because subliminal messages do not last for a long time, they are picked up by the subconscious mind instead of the conscious mind.
Since the conscious mind is in control of short-term memory, the subconscious mind has more time to process all of the things the working memory picks up. Since working memory lasts less than a second for the most part, the subconscious mind has time to pick up the subliminal messages. Because of this, the working memory will pick up the signal and it will stick in your mind. Sometimes, people misconstrue messages in the media with their own conceptions within their settings.
Consequently, this results in unintentional subliminal messaging. This is especially true of associations with products and objects to certain colors, music and figures. After your mind picks up a subliminal message, your subconscious mind will tell you to obey that message the next time you see something that relates to it. Even though your conscious mind does not understand why you are buying the oven mitts, you are still motivated to buy them because your subconscious mind is telling you to buy them do so.
This is a clear example of priming, which is the activation that mostly occurs unconsciously, of certain associations thus predisposing one’s perception, memory or response. Psychologist use a typical experiment, like a word or image that flashes quickly, then replaced by a masking stimulus that interrupts the brain’s processing before conscious perception. An example from our text was with one experiment where they subliminally flashed either emotionally positive scenes, of kittens and romantic couples, or negative scenes, of a werewolf or a dead body, an instant before the individuals viewed slides of people.
The individuals consciously perceived either scene as only a flash of light yet they somehow looked nicer if their image immediately followed unperceived kittens over an unperceived werewolf. The experiment demonstrated the phenomenon that sometimes we feel what we don’t know and can’t describe. The imperceptibly brief stimulus often triggers a weaker response that we can detect by using brain scanning. Their conclusion was that much of our information processing occurs automatically or out of sight of our conscious mind.
The questions asked about subliminal sensation and whether or not it verifies entrepreneurial claims of subliminal persuasion, according to researchers, near consensus is no. Our text explains that their verdict is similar to that of astronomers who say of astrologers, yes, they are correct that the stars and planets are out there but no, the celestial bodies don’t directly affect us. Current laboratory research has revealed a subtle, fleeting effect. An example, priming “thirsty” people with the subliminal word “thirst” might for a brief interval make a “thirst quenching” beverage ad more persuasive.
The subliminal message hucksters claim something different an influential and persistent effect on behavior. Anthony Greenwald, mentioned in our text, and his colleagues wanted to test whether commercial subliminal recordings have an effect beyond that of a placebo. They randomly assigned students at a university to listen in daily for five weeks to commercial subliminal messages claiming to improve either their self-esteem or memory but the researched played a practical joke and switched around half of the labels.
Some of the students thought they were receiving affirmations of self-esteem when they were actually hearing the memory enhancement message. And the others listening in thought they were getting their memories enhanced but were listening to the self-esteem clips. The question was whether or not the recordings would be successful. The students’ scores for both self-esteem and memory, taken before and after the five week time frame, revealed no effects.
Though, those who thought they were listening to the memory recording believed their memories had improved. A similar result occurred for the self-esteem listeners. The recordings themselves showed to have no effect yet the students had perceived themselves receiving the benefits that they had expected. -Consciousness- In our class discussion we talked about a study done on self-regulation and conscious control. This is where we override our automatic responses or behavioral routines.
In the experiment one group was given cookies and the other was given radishes. Both were aware of what “treat” the other group got. After following the instructions the subjects were given a puzzle to solve. Those who were given radishes gave up faster than those who were given cookies. The cookie subjects’ results showed that they tried harder. What was this study about? The class concluded that when given a reward one is more likely to work harder at a given task, referring to the cookie subjects.
As goes for those who received the radishes as a reward, they were more prone to quit because they were angry that they didn’t get the cookies. When one’s conscious mind is exhausted it makes it harder to sufficiently complete any given task. Small applications of conscious control reduced our ability to engage in further conscious controls. Conscious control tends to quickly sap our bodies energy resources. Why do we bother? Humans have the ability to choose, unlike other species, to behave differently at different times. No need to “live in the moment” per say.