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About Subliminal suggestion

Some Dictionary definitions first:

sub·lim·i·nal: 1: Below the threshold of conscious perception. Used of stimuli. A stimulus inadequate to produce conscious awareness, yet able to evoke a response: (see subliminal propaganda). Inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception 2: Existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness.

1b: Not recognized or understood by the conscious mind, but still having an influence on it: without awareness: entering, existing in, or affecting the mind without conscious awareness. (The Prime Minister was interviewed in front of a factory to give the subliminal message that he was a man of the people). 2b: Describes advertising that uses indirect ways of influencing people to be attracted to a product, such as using a picture of a farm to advertise food to suggest that it is fresh. (Sourced from Websters & the Cambridge Dictionary)

In a nutshell, subliminal messaging describes the act of presenting subliminal messages to a person/persons below the level of conscious awareness. The intention is to instill an unconscious (or not consciously decided) response. The effects created through the use of subliminal messaging, are such that the recipient has an an impulse to 'do something' that they may not have ordinarily done. With years of research however, it has also been demonstrated that not only can a person be influenced to 'do something', but that ingrained behaviors or emotional responses can be changed too.

Over the last 50 years, hundreds of carefully controlled scientific studies have been carried out in a bid to fully understand subliminal perception. An abundance of scientific data, (the result of decades of research), indicates that subliminal perception does indeed occur and that information perceived subliminally 'does' affect the unconscious mind. Perhaps most importantly though, subliminal programming has been consistently shown to be an effective tool for influencing and changing human behavior.

A covert test into the effects of Subliminal Messaging was first made public in 1957, when researcher, James Vicary, conducted a controversial experiment in a New Jersey movie theater. In this, by now well-known experiment, Simple phrases such as "drink coke" and "Eat popcorn" were inserted into every 35th frame of movie film. Because movie film was 'played' at 35 frames per second, you can easily imagine that the message flashed onto the screen was completely imperceptible. The audience watching the movie were totally oblivious to this covert experiment, and not one person reported "seeing" the messages, however popcorn sales shot up a reported 57% and Coke-Cola sales by 20%!

Behavioral modification studies. New York university psychologist, Dr. Lloyd Silverman, has been at the forefront of subliminal testing for the past 20 years. Working with over 40 groups of test subjects, he has systematically demonstrated that human behavior can be significantly improved via exposure to subliminal messages.

In one 1980 study, Dr. Silverman incorporated subliminal messages into a treatment of half of a group of smokers who were trying to quit smoking using behavior modification therapy. One month after treatment ended, 66% of the group exposed to the subliminal messages were still nonsmokers, compared with 13% of the control group. Silverman also states the positive effect of subliminal messages has been observed in assertiveness training classes, adolescents receiving psychotherapy, college students in group therapy, alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous programs, & in people undergoing therapy for phobias & overeating.

Subliminal Messages improve academic performance. Volume 29 of The Journal of Counseling Psychology, reports a study by Dr. Kenneth Parker, a psychologist at Queens College, New York. Dr. Parker's research project was designed to see if subliminal messages can improve academic performance. One group of students received a visual subliminal message, (a single sentence) three times a week before their lessons. Another group, or a 'control' group, in the same class, received none. Analysis of the results of the group exposed to the subliminal messages showed a significant improvement in overall academic performance. This group achieved grades in the range of a high B to low A. The group not exposed to the subliminals, achieved grades in the low B/C range. In addition, it was also found those who received the subliminal messages had a higher retention of the study material after one month, than the control group had.

In 1951, Dr. Hal Becker, a behavioral scientist began his investigation into the effects of subliminal messaging. One of Dr. Becker's investigations, involved the use of subliminal 'stress reduction' messages incorporated into the sound system at the McDonagh Medical Center in Missouri. His seven-month trial produced dramatic results. Fainting due to needle pain dropped to nearly zero, smoking in the staff lounge was cut as much as 79%, and temper flare-ups in the crowded patient waiting room were reduced by nearly 60%. These problems returned to their previous levels however, when the subliminal messages were stopped.

Becker's research has also shown that subliminal messages can influence weight-loss with surprising results. In Dr. Becker's weight loss clinic, patients were exposed to video and audio subliminal messages, as part of a diet plan, and one woman lost over 100 pounds in 12 months! In a follow-up study, Becker found that 50% of the patients maintained at least half their weight loss for up to two years after the subliminal program, while 23% maintained 75% to 100% of their loss. This is a significantly better record than that of diet programs not accompanied by subliminal messages.