Self-report and physiological responses to subliminal and supraliminal motion pictures

Influence of Subliminal Visual Images on the Experience of Anxiety

Can affect-generating cues be processed outside awareness? A study is reported that examined the effect on subjective affect caused by stimuli presented subliminally. Threatening images, neutral images, and humorous images were embedded in three (separate) videotapes, which were shown to subjects at exposure times that precluded recognition of the images. Self-rated state anxiety assessed immediately afterward (via two separate measures) was highest among subjects exposed to the threatening images, lower in the group exposed to the neutral images, and lowest in the group exposed to the humorous images. In contrast, but consistent with expectations, the subliminal stimuli had no effect on a measure of trait anxiety.

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.