Subliminal Communication Damn lies from people who ought

Subliminal Communication Damn lies from people who ought to know better!

The Judas Priest Subliminals case z 1990 Federal court case in Reno, NV z. Raymond Belknap (killed immediately) and James Vance (horribly disfigured) z$6. 2 million claim against CBS & J. Priest z. Conclusion: Judge rules against the plaintiffs, but….

Definitions z. What subliminals are not: using sex to sell, women in beer ads, half-naked men in perfume ads, etc. z. Classes of subliminals: yaudio embeds ybackward masking yvisual embeds z. Nature of the claims made: subliminals will lead you to unconsciously do things you wouldn’t consciously do

Some Terminology z. The limnus point z. Supra-liminal messages z. Subliminal messages

The Early Evidence z. James Vickery and the New Jersey theatre experiment z. A ripple across America z 1958 Canadian experiment z. Congressional hearings z. National Association of Broadcasting revises its code z. Australia and UK ban subliminals

Wilson Bryan Key and the pursuit of Subliminals z. Subliminal Seduction (1972) z. Media Sexploitation (1976) z. The Clam Plate Orgy (1980) z. The Age of Manipulation (1989) z. His thesis z. Places he has found subliminals: Ritz crackers, 18 th century paintings, gin ads, placemats in a restaurant, all kinds of music, and cigarette ads

Key Quotes z “Every person reading this book has been victimized and manipulated by the use of subliminal stimuli directed into his unconscious mind by the mass merchandisers of media. The techniques are in widespread use by media, advertising and public relations agencies, industrial and commercial corporations, and by the Federal government itself. ” Wilson Bryan Key Subliminal Seduction

Key Quotes, Part II z “The books are intended as exposes, critiques, revelations about the most dangerous affront to sanity, freedom, and survival that now threatens the earth’s population. Subliminal indoctrination may prove more dangerous than nuclear weapons. The substitution of cultural fantasies for realities on a massive, worldwide scale threatens everyone in this precarious period of human evolution. Present odds appear to favor total devastation” W. B. Key, 1989

Why Key (and all the others) are JUST PLAIN WRONG!! z. No supporting theory of perception z. Self-sealing arguments z. If true, no product would ever fail! z. No explanation of agency, that is, why would writing “SEX” on a Ritz cracker make you want to buy it? z. No empirical support for claims of subliminal effectiveness

Why Key is wrong, cont. z “There is no empirical documentation for stronger subliminal effects, such as inducing particular behaviors or changing motivation. Moreover, such a notion is contradicted by a substantial amount of research and is incompatible with experimentally based conceptions of information processing, learning and motivation. ” Dr. Timothy Moore Cognitive Psychologist

Why Key is wrong, cont. z “During the last few years, we have been collecting published articles on subliminal processes, gathering more than 150 articles from the mass media and more than 200 academic papers on the topic. In none of these papers is there clear evidence in support of the proposition that subliminal messages influence behavior. ” Pratkanis and Aronson, The Age of Propaganda

Empirical Evidence to the Contrary z. Study by Pratkanis and Aronson z. Analyzed subliminal self help tapes z. Tapes for improved memory and improving self-esteem z. Tapes divides into four groups: 2 with accurate labels, two with labels switched z. Study participants did pre-tests on memory and self-esteem, then listened every day for five weeks

The Results!!! z. Retested after five weeks--no evidence of improvement HOWEVER z. Participants who got tapes labeled “Selfesteem enhancement” believed they selfesteem was higher, WHETHER THEY GOT THE CORRECTLY LABELED TAPE OR NOT! z. Same was true for memory z. National Research Council--No effect on human performance or perception

Why all this matters… z. Foreward to Key’s 1989 book written by a professor of communication in Alabama z. Few published, academic responses to Key z. People already feel powerless vis a vis the media--no need to feed that with the myth of subliminals z. Recent Republican ad--’RATS, superimposed for 1/30 th of a second over Gore’s name