Today › Turn in missing/late work (from before test) › Turn in leftover multi-passes (extra credit) › Finalize grades (extra credit, participation)

Upcoming Schedule

Today› Turn in missing/late work (from before test)› Turn in leftover multi-passes (extra credit)› Finalize grades (extra credit, participation)

100 points -5 points (cell/tardies) -10 points (unexcused absences)

› Consciousness/Subliminal Messages Thursday

› The Psychology of Fear › Mask Fees $3

Tuesday› Sleep/Dream Myths› Return to packets from sub

Myth #6: Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Buy Stuff

What is consciousness?

What is a Subliminal Message?

Below “absolute threshold”› Smallest amount of a stimulus that a

person can detect

Examples: Sight: A candle flame at 30 miles

away Sound: A watch ticking 20 feet away

Definition of a Subliminal Message

Sights & sounds presented so briefly or faintly that we fail to perceive them.

Presented BELOW our absolute threshold of sensory awareness.

But can these feeble stimuli influence our behavior?

Some Hope You’ll Think So!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QYYOuQGEp0

Subliminal Messages, Puzzles, Illusions, Brain Teasers.mht

Advertising:Corporate logos

Widespread belief that these messages work!

More:› http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/hidden-l

ogos-in-graphic-designing/

How Are They Supposed to Work?

Claim #1: your brain understands complex meanings of phrases presented at WEAK levels

Claim #2: Subliminal stimuli worm their way into your unconsciousness

Modern Psychology

Accepts that much of our mental processing goes on OUTSIDE our immediate awareness.

Serial vs. Parallel processing

Dual processing

Conscious & unconscious work together

Serial Processing (CONSCIOUS): controlled› Step by step (one completed, go to the next)› New chess players take one move at a time.

Parallel Processing (UNCONSCIOUS): automatic

› Processing many different stimuli simultaneously› Experienced chess players, planning moves in

advance

Color, Depth, Movement, Form

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nQMnJqyvs

Parallel & Serial Processing

New experiences require MORE conscious attention

Behaviors can become automatic with practice.

What can you do without your conscious attention?

Normal Dissociation

Daydreaming

Getting “lost” in a good› Book› TV Show› Conversation

“Highway hypnosis”

Real vs. Pop Psychology

These examples are different from the “non-conscious” processing proposed by proponents.

Holdovers from Freudian view of the mind.

Freudian View

Unconscious:

Primitive, primarily sexual, urges

Operate outside of our awareness

Influences our behavior

View Popularized 1950’s

James Vicary

Subliminal advertising

“Drink Coca-Cola,” “Hungry? Eat Popcorn” flashed 1/3,000 of a second

Reported that sales increased

1962, Vicary admitted he lied

But the Idea Caught On…

Subliminal Seduction (1973)

Wilson Brian Key› Advertisers using sexual images

› Warned that single exposure could affect consumers 1 week later!

› No real evidence

Public Alarm

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

› Found no evidence

› But declared it “contrary to public interest”

Canadian Broadcasting System

Nationwide test Viewers informed Subliminally flashed “phone now” (352

times during program) Phone usage did NOT increase A few called in to say they felt hungrier

and thirstier!! Still NO evidence!

Other Bizarre Claims

Backmasking

Judas Priest (heavy metal rock band)

Encouraged suicidal behavior or subvert morality of teens

Queen; Another One Bites the Dust› Subliminal Messages, Puzzles, Illusions, Brain

Teasers.mht

This Week’s Schedule

Today› Finalize Psychology of Fear› Finalize Myth #6 › Turn in Fear Notes, Pop-up Posters, Notes #6› Check Mask Fees› Remind about Remind

801-335-9435 Text @feef8 FULL NAME

Thursday› Myth #7 – Sleep and Dreams› New Seats

John Vokey & J. Don Read (1985)

Controlled test

Participants given subtle suggestions as to what they were going to hear, perceived nonexistent messages in backward messages.

Top-Down Processing

Your background, experiences, & expectations influence what you perceive.

What Does Research Tell Us?

Short-lived and modest subliminal effects

Experiment:› Flash “priming” words or pictures briefly › Observers unaware› Speed & accuracy increases when asked to

identify a later stimulus

Example (Merikle, 1992):

Present subject with word stem “gui_ _”

Ask her to form a complete word (“guide” and “guile” are options)

Subliminally flash “direct,” “lead,” “escort” , probability for “guide”

Flash “deceit,” “treachery,” & “duplicity”, for “guile”

Subliminal Messages…Why?

Desire for quick fixes – sell products Word of mouth Media Portrayals

Debunked!› No replicable evidence that subliminal

messages can affect your behavior!› All they might do (and you have to SEE the

light) is prime you!