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PubMed1992

Subliminal psychodynamic activation method and annihilation anxiety: preliminary findings.

Research with the subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method has led to improvements in subjects' functioning in a variety of areas, including but not limited to weight control, school grades, and feelings of general anxiety. In 1987, Hurvich proposed that the SPA method could be used to further the understanding of annihilation anxiety. 100 nonclinical subjects completed questionnaires pertaining to annihilation anxiety, psychological differentiation, and state anxiety and were tachistoscopically exposed to the subliminal message of symbiotic-like oneness, MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, and to control messages. Analysis showed that women with low annihilation anxiety had significantly lower state anxiety than women with high annihilation anxiety, regardless of the content of the subliminal message; results did not reach significance for men. Correlations among scores on the questionnaires also were noted.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Subliminal psychodynamic activation: updated comprehensive list of experimental results and comments on previous lists.

A comprehensive list of results from visual subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments is presented. This list includes results reported since the publication of the last comprehensive list by Weinberger and Hardaway in 1990 and several results not found on that list. On the present list, SPA results are categorized according to criteria that we contend are more objective than those used previously. In contrast to conclusions drawn from previous lists prepared by Silverman in 1980 and 1983, by Weinberger and Hardaway in 1990, and by Weinberger and Silverman in 1987, the present list indicates that the results of a majority of experiments do not clearly support hypotheses tested by the subliminal psychodynamic activation method. Aspects of Hardaway's meta-analyses from 1987 and 1990 for major areas of research on subliminal psychodynamic activation are discussed in terms of suggestions for further research.

Arousal↗
PubMed1992

Effects of subliminal backward-recorded messages on attitudes.

This study was designed to measure the effects of subliminal backward messages on attitudes. It was hypothesized that subliminal backward-recorded messages would influence the attitudes of listeners. Three subliminal backward-recorded messages from a popular song were used. 82 undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: a three-message group heard a tape containing the backward messages recorded three times in succession, a six-message group heard a tape with the same backward messages recorded six times in succession, two control groups heard nonbackward recorded music. No statistically significant differences were found between the groups on a posttape attitude questionnaire. The results are discussed in terms of unconscious processing and the tricomponent theory of attitudes and attitude change.

Attitude↗
PubMed1993

Comments on Hudesman and Page's reply to Fudin's comments on Hudesman, Page and Rautianen's subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment.

Hudesman and Page's contention that Gustafson and Källmén's 1991 results indicate that subsequent subliminal psychodynamic activation experiments do not require the controls suggested by Fudin in 1986 is questioned. The rationale for Fudin's 1993 comment concerning the limited generalizability of Hudesman, et al.'s (1992) results, a comment Hudesman and Page contended is unfounded, is discussed.

Arousal↗
PubMed1993

Final comments on Hudesman, Page, and Rautiainen's (1992) subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment.

Hudesman, et al.'s (1992) contention that their finding shows that subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) improved academic performance is questioned. That experiment lacked controls outlined by Fudin in 1986 which are needed to support the assumption that a positive SPA outcome is effected because the meaning of an entire experimental message is encoded. In 1993 Hudesman and Page argued that Gustafson and Källmén's 1991 results, obtained with such controls, indicated that the controls do not have to be used in subsequent SPA experiments. The 1990 results of Greenberg and of Kothera, Fudin, and Nicastro, however, do not support those of Gustafson and Källmén. From a different perspective, it is argued that good experimental controls are needed in all SPA experiments because they increase internal validity. Given that Hudesman, et al.'s subjects scored in a limited range on the mathematics portion of the 1978 CUNY Skills Assessment Test, the implication that their result can be generalized to all subjects is questioned.

Educational Status↗
PubMed1993

Effects of subliminal stimuli on unconscious processing of anxiety: an examination of implicit perception.

Researchers in cognitive psychology generally accept that information, including emotions, may be processed outside of awareness. Some have postulated that anxiety may be induced by stimuli presented below the level of detection, a process called implicit perception; however, conflicting findings as to the validity of subliminal stimuli in influencing anxiety have been reported over the past decade. In the present study, 39 subjects were exposed to either positive, negative, or neutral subliminal stimuli, and half the subjects were informed as to the type of stimuli they received. All subjects were monitored for frontalis muscle tension, a physiological indicator of anxiety, on an electromyograph (EMG). No significant effects of the exposure upon EMG recordings were noted. Awareness of the type of stimuli presented had a small but insignificant effect. These results, although tentative, when replicated would question the validity of subliminal visual presentation in altering emotive states.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

A zoom lens before the eyes during imagery: individual differences and strange, unexpected responses.

The research examined some aspects of an hypothetical involvement of the eyes in the process of imagery and the individual differences in the modulation of the imagery-perception interaction of 59 (7 male and 52 female) undergraduate students in psychology. The subjects were asked to image with open eyes and to project, looking through a zoom lens, the "mental" image onto a white screen. While the subject was imaging, the experimenter moved the lever of the zoom lens in the direction of an hypothetical enlargement. This movement evoked different classes of responses: 46% of the subjects had a loss, even if for a short time, of the image, 37% of the subjects observed a strange and unexpected enlargement of the mental image, 7% did not observe any change in imagery, and 10% had other responses. A psychophysiological discussion concerned the strange phenomena observed in this research that have not yet been explored enough.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The method of subliminal psychodynamic activation: do individual thresholds make a difference?

The present experiment investigated the effects of subliminal psychodynamic stimuli on anxiety as measured by heart rate. Following an anxiety-inducing task, male and female subjects were tachistoscopically shown, at their subjective thresholds, one of five subliminal stimuli, MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, DADDY AND I ARE ONE (symbiotic messages). MOMMY HAS LEFT ME (abandonment message), I AM HAPPY AND CALM (positively toned but nonsymbiotic phrase), or MYMMO NAD I REA ENO (control stimulus). It was hypothesized that men would exhibit a greater decrease in heart rate after exposure to the MOMMY stimulus than the control message. No definitive predictions were made for women. The abandonment phrase was expected to increase heart rate. A positively toned message was included to assess whether its effects would be comparable to those hypothesized for the MOMMY message. The results yielded no significant effects for stimulus or gender and so provided no support for the hypotheses.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Effects of nondirective suggestions on pain tolerance, pain threshold and pain intensity perception.

In this experiment, we followed the issue whether nondirective suggestions have an effect on pain threshold, pain tolerance, and perception of pain intensity. 48 healthy subjects consented to take part. At intake into the study (t1), pain threshold and pain tolerance were assessed in all subjects using a pressure algometer. Perception of maximum pain intensity perception was rated on a scale of 0 to 25. Seven days later, the session was repeated (t2). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received nondirective suggestions as pretreatment. Subjects listened to a tape of 20 min. which consisted of general information about pain theory. In this context, suggestions for coping with pain were placed. The other group served as a control and received no pretreatment. Analysis showed that pain tolerance was significantly prolonged in the group who received nondirective suggestions, while pain threshold and perception of maximum pain intensity did not differ across groups. This study demonstrates that nondirective suggestions are effective in prolonging pain tolerance. It can be stated that, beside information, cues on coping with pain may be helpful in clinical practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Alexithymia in patients with eating disorders: an investigation using a new projective technique.

The concept of alexithymia was scrutinized in a group of female patients with eating disorders: 15 anorectics and 13 bulimics (mean age of 27 yr.), plus a control group of 21 (mean age 38 yr.). Subjects were interviewed and tested. In the main test an ambiguous face was flashed briefly on a screen opposite the viewer who had to describe her impressions. To enhance the ego-involvement, subliminal words (I, I ILL, I WELL) were presented before each exposure. Contrary to expectations the present patients used more emotional words than controls. Instead, they employed alternative strategies to avoid empathizing. The results were interpreted as indicating a pronounced incapacity for emotional understanding.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Failure to uncover the effects of unconscious symbiotic fantasies on heart rate and fine motor performance.

18 men and 18 women were tachistoscopically shown the stimuli MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, DADDY AND I ARE ONE, and MYMMO NAD I REA ENO, at subjective thresholds (subliminal condition) and at 500 msec. (supraliminal condition). Following exposure to each stimulus, subjects performed a fine motor line-tracing task. Heart rate was monitored continuously during stimulus presentation and the fine motor task. Analysis showed subjects did not respond more positively with decreased heart rate or fewer errors on the fine motor task following the MOMMY message than the anagram phrase, thereby providing no support for the hypotheses. No correlation was found between responsiveness to the MOMMY message and scores on measures of self-perception and kinship. In the light of mounting negative evidence, the validity of the method of subliminal psychodynamic activation is questioned.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

How limited is the unconscious? A brief commentary.

This report discusses the problems associated with the prevailing view that the province of unconscious influence is highly restricted. It is argued that present empirical data neither strongly support nor argue against a circumscribed notion of the unconscious.

Cognition↗