An experimental technique for the study of unconscious conflict

Silverman, Lloyd H.

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8341.1971.tb02142.x

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Written response data The second measure of the meaning of the homophones to which subjects had been responding, namely the spelling of these words in the written 'recall' task, afforded an opportunity of examining whether the effects of the subliminal cue words upon voluntary response behaviour were greater after a delay of the order of minutes. Such a finding would be consistent with the finding by Silverman et al (see Silverman, 1971) that the effects of subliminal stimuli are frequently delayed. It might also explain the failure of the subliminal cues to have a significant influence upon performance in the word association task.…”

Section: Word Association Datasupporting

confidence: 93%

“…That performance on the written 'recall' task was influenced by the subliminal cues, in the direction predicted, to a greater extent than performance on the word association task, suggests that the more specific effects of the subthreshold stimuli (at least upon voluntary responses) were delayed. This conclusion receives some support from tho results of researches by Silverman et al (see Silverman, 1971), which have shown that when the effects of drive-related subliminal stimuli are sought on more than one task, they are more apparent in the later tasks given.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

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Responses to Homophones as a Function of Cue Words on the Unattended Channel

Henley

1976

British J of Psychology

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A prediction based on the model of attention advanced by Dixon (1971) wm tested: namely, that responses to homophones presented to one ear, at supraliminal intensities, would be influenced by subliminal cue words presented to the other ear. Considerable support was found for the hypothesis in terms of response latencies, but not in terms of verbal content. It is suggested that these data make it possible to reconcile apparent discrepancies between the results of other recent studies of dichotic listening. The view of those attention theorists (Deutsch & Deutsch, 1963; Norman, 1968; Dixon, 197 1 ) who maintain that selection among inputs follows a preliminary semantic analysis of all signals, both attended and unattended, has received support from recent studies of dichotic listening (Lewis, 1970; Corteen & Wood, 1972; Mackay, 1973; Henley & Dixon, 1974), and dichoptic viewing (Somekh & Wilding, 1973).Data from these studies have suggested not only that material, of which subjects remain unaware, on an unattended channel, is analysed for meaning, but moreover that it may be integrated with primary material on the attended channel when it is relevant to the ongoing task. Mackay, for example, has shown that a word on the unattended channel in dichotic listening will serve to reduce the ambiguity of an attended sentence.According to the model of attention put forward by Dixon (1971), a supraliminal stimulus, having passed through analysers to dictionary units, ultimately activates conceptually associated units while at the same time setting in motion a central control mechanism which, acting upon information from various inputs (relating to past and ongoing events, motivational states, etc.), selectively inhibits such conceptual associates as are not relevant to the task in hand. A subliminal stimulus, on the other hand, activates the conceptual associates, but is of insufficient strength to set the central control mechanism in operation. Under these conditions, sensory data are analysed and classified, but nothing is blocked.The present experiment tested a prediction from this theory that responses to homophones presented to one ear, a t supraliminal intensities, should be affected by subliminal cue words on the other ear. It was postulated that a supraliminal homophone would activate associates belonging to two spheres of meaning. Assuming responses to either meaning of the homophone to be equiprobable, there would be no a priori reason why any one set of conceptual associates should be inhibited more than the other. Under these circumstances, the ambiguity should be resolved by a subliminal cue word activating its associates. The latter would, presumably, overlap one set of those associates activated by the supraliminal stimulus, and as a result of the 'extra strength' thus gained, it would be to this meaning of the homophone that the subject should respond. By the same token, if the subliminal stimulus did reduce the ambiguity facing the central control a t the level of the 37-2 upon personal preferences. J. Pers...

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Section: Word Association Datasupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Responses to Homophones as a Function of Cue Words on the Unattended Channel

Henley

1976

British J of Psychology

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“…The subliminal presentation of a conflict-related stimulus produced pathological reactions which did not appear after the subliminal presentation of a neutral stimulus and, in a number of the studies, also did not appear after the same conflict-related stimulus was presented supraliminally and in the subject's awareness. 4 4 For example, in a number of experiments in which schizophrenics served as subjects (summarized in Silverman, 1971), the cognitive and motoric pathology so characteristic of this disorder intensified after the subliminal presentation of stimuli containing aggressive content. Further, with two groups of male homosexuals, homoerotic feeling intensified following the subliminal presentation of a stimulus suggesting the theme of incest (Silverman, et al 1973).…”

Section: New York Veterans Administration Hospital and New York Univementioning

confidence: 99%

A psychoanalytic reinterpretation of the effectiveness of systematic desensitization: Experimental data bearing on the role of merging fantasies.

Silverman¹,

Frank²,

Dachinger³

1974

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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Ten women with insect phobias were subjected to a variant of systematic desensitization in which a procedure aimed at stimulating a fantasy of "merging with mother" was substituted for muscle relaxation. The procedure, which had been used effectively in earlier experiments, consisted of the tachistoscopic subliminal exposure of the verbal stimulus MOMMY AND i ARE ONE during the visualization part of desensitization, whenever the subject's anxiety rose above a specified level. A control group of 10 other women with insect phobias underwent the same procedure except for them the subliminally exposed message was the neutral stimulus PEOPLE WALKING. On measures of both phobic behavior and anxiety, the experimental group manifested significantly more improvement than the controls. This was seen as lending support to the proposition that (part of) the effectiveness of systematic desensitization resides in its activating unconscious merging fantasies. This is the first in a series of studies in which an attempt is being made to explore from a psychoanalytic persepotive some of the underlying psychological processes that may be operative in systematic desensitization. At the very start we would like to make the spirit of our inquiry clear. The elucidation of psychological variables that may be crucial in desensitization but which have been ignored by behaviorists is not intended as a derogation of that technique. The effectiveness of any technique should be judged in its own right, not "deduced" from the psychological processes that are believed to underly it. However, an understanding of these processes can be valuable not only in terms of their furthering theoretical knowledge about the conditions under which behavioral change takes place, which is our interest, but also for the practitioners of the technique as an aid to increasing its efficiency and effectiveness.Systemic desensitization is the most widely used of the behaviorist techniques. It consists of the induction of deep muscle relaxation followed by the visualization of scenes involving a phobic situation graded for their fear-arousing

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“…Silverman ( 1968) indicated that Silverman and Spiro (1967b) recognized that no data can provide absoIute proof that supraliminal cues are unavailable during SPA. Silverman (1971) stated that "it hardly matters whether everyone would agree that hir criteria for subIimindity have been mec by the conditions of our experiments" (p. 19). Silverman (1976) contended that the relevance of SPA findings in support of olstrapsychoanalytic theory does not require a demonstration of subliminal re,' tion in its strictist sense.…”

Section: An Individual Looks Into the Eyepiece Of A Tachistoscope Andmentioning

confidence: 92%

Subliminal Psychodynamic Activation: Mommy and I are Not Yet One

Fudin

1986

Percept Mot Skills

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S;immary.-Aspects of Silverman's subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method are critically evaluated and SPA results are discussed within the context of information processing. Silverman's method has quesiionable fearures that involve visual-field position of the stimulus and structural matching of experimental and control stimuli. It lacks the converging operations required to support his contention that successful SPA experimental outcomes are due to differences in the contents of experimental and control stimuli. Evidence is offered to support the 1984 contention of Bornstein and Masling that SPA research has several unanswered questions about how consciously nonperceived stimuli are encoded and how such information can influence subsequent behavior. Extensive procedural changes for further SPA research are offered.

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An experimental technique for the study of unconscious conflict

Cited by 26 publications

References 13 publications

Responses to Homophones as a Function of Cue Words on the Unattended Channel

Responses to Homophones as a Function of Cue Words on the Unattended Channel

A psychoanalytic reinterpretation of the effectiveness of systematic desensitization: Experimental data bearing on the role of merging fantasies.

Subliminal Psychodynamic Activation: Mommy and I are Not Yet One

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