Author: Michael McGrath
It is confirmed that the brain registers subliminal messages by a study conducted at the University College London. Researchers found that hidden images were registered by the brain even when subjects were not aware they were there!
Scientists at the University College London have shown that subliminal messages which are hidden can have an affect on the brain and its attention while a person is totally unaware that there are visual images present!
Researchers, lead by Bahador Bahrami, discovered that a subject's brain was able to register images that were faint or those flashed at speed if they were in their visual line of sight, even when the subject was adamant that they had not seen anything i.e. subliminal messages.
Although current psychological assumptions work on the belief that what we pay attention to and what we are aware of are the same, this study shows otherwise. Bahrami and his team have shown that we do not need to be aware of subliminal messages for them to have an affect on the brain. Even though we can be totally unaware of any images being shown to us in the form of subliminal messages, the brain is aware and registers them!
These findings can support the idea that subliminal messages in advertising do grab our attention!
This could account for being aware of billboards on the roadside or flashing computer graphic ads on websites not to mention the use of visual subliminal messages in magazine advertisements! It could also account for the phenomenon of being in a crowed room with a lot of conversations going on and suddenly being aware of someone mentioning your name across the room!
The University's studies revolved around experiments that used volunteers who wore special eye-glasses. These glasses had one lens coloured red and the other lens blue.
One eye of the glasses projected blue flashing light while the other eye showed faint or fast flashing images.
As these two sets of images were given to the eyes of the volunteers they were required to perform simple mental tasks that varied in difficulty. Meanwhile the participant's brain was being monitored and the activity in the visual cortex was studied.
In the same way subliminal messages work the subjects in the scientific experiment registered the images but were not aware of having seen anything! This effect was greater when the participants had to use less concentration with easier tasks.
This supports the experimenter's view that some attention is needed for subliminal messages to be registered. If a person is fully occupied in another activity then the subliminal messages may not get through to the brain.
However, when we look at subliminal advertising we see that it does not require a great deal of concentration and our attention is usually on the advertisement which would mean the subliminal messages would easily get through!
This would be the same if we had flashing subliminal messages on our computer or television screen!
When James Vicary conducted the first experiments with subliminal messages back in 1958 he caused great controversy which has lasted to this day. Many experts disagree about the effectiveness of subliminal messsages with their main argument being that these messages could not even be percievedby the brain. This latest study proves that they are!
Although scientists at the University College London do not state that these subliminal messages are effective at influencing us they do admit that they are registered by the brain even though we are unaware of them.
I believe we are on the verge of having scientific proof about just how eefective subliminal messages are at influencing our behaviours. If they were not effective why would they be used in multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and why would the Bush campaign have flashed the words "bureaucrats" and "rats" over a pictorial representation of Al Gore's election proposals?
-----Subliminal Messages - We test and then review the best Subliminal products available on the web. Find out what really works! For a free subliminal manifestation meditation just sign-up for our free newsletter at Newsletter.
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_647667_24.html
About the Author:
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Why Do We Procrastinate? Learn to Stop Procrastination
Author: sanjaynair
How many times have you avoided cleaning your closet reasoning with yourself about other important tasks that you may have to do or convincing yourself how cleaning is not ‘significant’ enough to be completed at this point in time? Congratulations, for you are procrastinating the task. And hey, welcome to the club. It must be good to hear that you are not the only one. Well, here’s some more good news. There are millions of procrastinators in this world. Now it’s time for the bad part. If not acted upon, then procrastination can very well affect your productivity, your efficiency and even your ability to function normally in your day to day life if it isn’t doing it already.
Just for the record, I put off my visit to the dentist for weeks until the cavity in my tooth became deep enough to leak my brains out of it. It was then, that I decided to tackle the problem rather than brooding over it. What was stopping me from going to the dentist? I have been there several times before this (Yes, I have been gifted with bad dental health). I do not suffer from dentophobia. The answer surprised me to some extent but shocked me into action. It was ‘me’ who was stopping me from doing it. Sounds weird? That’s procrastination for you and most people are guilty of it at some point or the other in their lives. So what exactly is procrastination? What does it mean?
Procrastinationis the habit of delaying a task needlessly out of carelessness or laziness. So, which of these two best describe you? Are you lazy or are you plain careless? But wait; there might be more to it than the technical definition. Experts suggest that procrastination may either be a psychological problem or a physiological one. There are myriad psychological factors like anxiety, ADHD or even perfectionism that may lead to procrastination.
The common symptoms
A procrastinator often spends up more energy in putting off a task than what he/she would have spent in completing it. The mind gives them constant reminders about the task and the person will try his/her best to put the thoughts away, often eating up one’s own positive energy resource. Such thoughts can not only be an energy drainer but can also weigh down heavily on the confidence of a person. In simple terms, procrastination is nothing but self sabotage.
Types of procrastinators
Here’s some more juicy insight. There are different types of procrastinators. The first category is relaxed procrastinators and the second is tense-afraid procrastinators. I think the names are pretty self explanatory. But here’s a detailed description.
• A tense-afraid procrastinator will usually avoid a task because he/she is too tensed to handle the stress that the task may bring about. At times, he/she is confused about the importance of the task and is unable to prioritize the tasks in life. In most cases, this leads to further procrastination. For example, studying for an examination. He/she will be too worried about not being able to complete the studies and will in turn make frequent trips to the washroom, drink coffee and end up delaying the actual task further.
• The relaxed procrastinator on the other hand, avoids a task only because he/she doesn’t care. They focus their energies on other more enjoyable tasks. A prime example in teens is when they procrastinate their studies but do not do the same with their social lives. It’s just a matter of diverting the energy within the body to something more enjoyable.
So how do we avoid it?
Let me go straight to the point without getting into too many technical details.
1. Admit the fact that you are procrastinating: Yes, the most important step is to accept this fact and then work towards avoiding it. In most cases, we know that we are procrastinating but we keep doing it nevertheless and the situation often gets out of hand.
2. Create a list of ‘to do’ things: Write down a list of all the things that you have been procrastinating and create deadlines for each one of them. Deadlines have to be realistic (something that you can achieve).
3. Prioritize the list: Not all the tasks that you have written down must be equally important. Prioritize that list now. List the most important tasks first and the less important ones later.
4. Start working on them: Go slow and steady. But ensure that you complete each task and then cancel it out with a stroke on the paper. Keep it where you can see it frequently for it gives you immense satisfaction to see that you have completed the tasks which you have been delaying for so long.
5. Reward yourself: Take time and indulge in something that you absolutely love. Consider this to be your reward for completing those tasks.
6. Stick to the ‘write and complete’ schedule: Procrastination is like a stubborn weed. It will keep coming back at you. So get that writing pad and pen and write down whenever you feel that you are procrastinating a task.
This seems like a relatively simple solution to a seemingly complex problem. But you might just be surprised at the effectiveness of these techniques. With time and confidence, you should be able to eliminate it completely from your life.
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_787639_24.html
About the Author: Sanjay is a freelance content writer and blogger with over 3 years of experience. He loves to twiddle with words and blogs about freelance writing, copywriting and blogging. His articles are informative and make a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
http://www.sanjaynair.com
How many times have you avoided cleaning your closet reasoning with yourself about other important tasks that you may have to do or convincing yourself how cleaning is not ‘significant’ enough to be completed at this point in time? Congratulations, for you are procrastinating the task. And hey, welcome to the club. It must be good to hear that you are not the only one. Well, here’s some more good news. There are millions of procrastinators in this world. Now it’s time for the bad part. If not acted upon, then procrastination can very well affect your productivity, your efficiency and even your ability to function normally in your day to day life if it isn’t doing it already.
Just for the record, I put off my visit to the dentist for weeks until the cavity in my tooth became deep enough to leak my brains out of it. It was then, that I decided to tackle the problem rather than brooding over it. What was stopping me from going to the dentist? I have been there several times before this (Yes, I have been gifted with bad dental health). I do not suffer from dentophobia. The answer surprised me to some extent but shocked me into action. It was ‘me’ who was stopping me from doing it. Sounds weird? That’s procrastination for you and most people are guilty of it at some point or the other in their lives. So what exactly is procrastination? What does it mean?
Procrastinationis the habit of delaying a task needlessly out of carelessness or laziness. So, which of these two best describe you? Are you lazy or are you plain careless? But wait; there might be more to it than the technical definition. Experts suggest that procrastination may either be a psychological problem or a physiological one. There are myriad psychological factors like anxiety, ADHD or even perfectionism that may lead to procrastination.
The common symptoms
A procrastinator often spends up more energy in putting off a task than what he/she would have spent in completing it. The mind gives them constant reminders about the task and the person will try his/her best to put the thoughts away, often eating up one’s own positive energy resource. Such thoughts can not only be an energy drainer but can also weigh down heavily on the confidence of a person. In simple terms, procrastination is nothing but self sabotage.
Types of procrastinators
Here’s some more juicy insight. There are different types of procrastinators. The first category is relaxed procrastinators and the second is tense-afraid procrastinators. I think the names are pretty self explanatory. But here’s a detailed description.
• A tense-afraid procrastinator will usually avoid a task because he/she is too tensed to handle the stress that the task may bring about. At times, he/she is confused about the importance of the task and is unable to prioritize the tasks in life. In most cases, this leads to further procrastination. For example, studying for an examination. He/she will be too worried about not being able to complete the studies and will in turn make frequent trips to the washroom, drink coffee and end up delaying the actual task further.
• The relaxed procrastinator on the other hand, avoids a task only because he/she doesn’t care. They focus their energies on other more enjoyable tasks. A prime example in teens is when they procrastinate their studies but do not do the same with their social lives. It’s just a matter of diverting the energy within the body to something more enjoyable.
So how do we avoid it?
Let me go straight to the point without getting into too many technical details.
1. Admit the fact that you are procrastinating: Yes, the most important step is to accept this fact and then work towards avoiding it. In most cases, we know that we are procrastinating but we keep doing it nevertheless and the situation often gets out of hand.
2. Create a list of ‘to do’ things: Write down a list of all the things that you have been procrastinating and create deadlines for each one of them. Deadlines have to be realistic (something that you can achieve).
3. Prioritize the list: Not all the tasks that you have written down must be equally important. Prioritize that list now. List the most important tasks first and the less important ones later.
4. Start working on them: Go slow and steady. But ensure that you complete each task and then cancel it out with a stroke on the paper. Keep it where you can see it frequently for it gives you immense satisfaction to see that you have completed the tasks which you have been delaying for so long.
5. Reward yourself: Take time and indulge in something that you absolutely love. Consider this to be your reward for completing those tasks.
6. Stick to the ‘write and complete’ schedule: Procrastination is like a stubborn weed. It will keep coming back at you. So get that writing pad and pen and write down whenever you feel that you are procrastinating a task.
This seems like a relatively simple solution to a seemingly complex problem. But you might just be surprised at the effectiveness of these techniques. With time and confidence, you should be able to eliminate it completely from your life.
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_787639_24.html
About the Author: Sanjay is a freelance content writer and blogger with over 3 years of experience. He loves to twiddle with words and blogs about freelance writing, copywriting and blogging. His articles are informative and make a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
http://www.sanjaynair.com
Sunday, February 7, 2010
How Subliminal Learning Works
Your regular conscious way of learning is through repeated experience and practice; through this process the new information will be storeddeep within your mind on an unconscious level. This is how we learn to ride a bicycle, learn math, or even develp our confidence and establish self beliefs for example:
Subliminal learning bypasses this conscious experience and practice stage and sends information directly to your unconscious mind. If the same subliminal messages are sent frequently enough this will lead to the same outcome, i.e. shift in your self beliefs. The only difference is that the shift comes naturally, from within.
We are all exposed to subliminal messages every day due to the massive amounts of information we are exposed to, and our limited capacity to consciously register it. As a result this may lead to small changes in our minds, or over time if you are exposed to the same subliminal information over and over then there will be lasting changes.
Listening to a subliminal messaging album is simply a way to counteract this and take control. By targeting subliminal messages consistently at your mind, in larger and focused quantities you can make positive changes in areas of your choice.
Subliminal audio can be used to improve any area of your life-from deep internal changes, to improvements in the physical body. For example, you can increase your motivation, boost your self-esteem, treat illnesses and phobias, the possibilities are endless-even subliminal language learning is possible.
We will now go into the principles behind subliminal messaging and the technical side of how subliminal messaging works. The simplest way to show how subliminal messaging works is to describe it in relation to a more common form of mind programming---hypnosis.
A Form of Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be extremely effective at changing patterns of behavior,personal beliefs, bad habits, and much more. This is because it bypasses your logical mind, i.e. your conscious mind.
Your logical mind is a function you start to develop around the age of five or six. This is why you can suggest almost anything to a child and they will accept it as truth. When we are younger we are much more susceptible to suggestion---you don't need hypnosis or subliminal messaging to create self-beliefs in a child.
When we are adults our logical mind does not let us accept all the information presented to us, so bypassing it is critical for making any major changes in your self-beliefs, patterns of thinking, and physical behavior. These changes would be very difficult if using conscious learning / physical action alone, so by accessing your subconscious mind you can solve difficult problems or issues which you wouldn't be able to otherwise.
Hypnosis gains access to your subconscious mind by sending you into a trance. And this is where the difference between subliminal messaging and hypnosis comes in. Subliminal messaging doesn't send you into a trance, but it also accesses your subconscious mind, by bypassing your conscious logical mind. You won't feel drowsy, or need to take a time outfor an hour and enter a sleep / trance like state. This means that you can use subliminal cds and mp3s while you work, study, go about your daily chores, or even exercise.
We will now go even further into the technical side of subliminal messages and discuss how they are written.
Based On NLP Principles
NLP was created by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in the 1970s. Bandler used to sit in a lobby of a hotel and cure people of their fear of elevators for free with NLP. He did this in just 30-45 minutes; shocking the world of psychology and therapywho took months to cure someone of a phobia. NLP has been proven time and time again to make changes in people when other methods have failed, and to create big changes in small periods of time.
At the most basic level subliminal messaging is based on the principles of NLP. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, and basically looks at the type of language we use to speak to ourselves on a specific subject, recognizes the patterns, and then aims to change this language to match that used by someone who is successful in the area you wish to improve.
For example if you want to become more confident but your inner voice is saying things like "I can't do this" or "this will be hard" then NLP would aim to replace these beliefs with the core beliefs of someone who has abundant confidence - someone with an inner voice that says, "I can do anything I put my mind to."
Based on these principles of NLP, subliminal messaging and sends suggestions to your mind which overwrite your negative beliefs with positives ones. Subliminal messaging isn't just pseudo-science, it is based on one of the most effective form of therapy and personal develpment of modern times.
NLP has several ways of changing your beliefs and patterns of thinking, but one of the main and most effective ways, and certainly the simplest, is through the use of positive affirmations, and this is exactly how subliminal messaging works.
Positive Affirmations
A positive affirmation is simply a statement which affirms something is true. With repetition the statement become stored in your mind, and starts to change your beliefs, influence your personality and even alter your behavior. For example, if you say the phrase "I can do anything I put my mind to" over and over, you will start to really believe it, and it will influence your personality; you will become more confident.
The general guideline is to repeat the affirmations first thing on a morning, and then last thing at night. This is so your goal is fresh in your mind at the start of the day, and so you go to bed with it on your mind too. This is a very simple and effective method which will make dramatic and lasting changes in your mind.
Our subliminal suggestions are basically just positive affirmations, but instead of you having to repeat them we have done the work for you, and instead of hearing them aloud they enter your mind subliminally - without distracting you, and without you being aware of them.
The main benefit of using a subliminal audio album is that you can save time - you don't have to stand at the mirror every morning and evening and say the affirmations yourself; it is a more effortless method - you can even play the album while you do other things; work, study, exercise, and yes, even subliminal sleep learning is possible.
To start making changes in your life right now check out our full range of subliminal cds and mp3s.
Or if you would like further information please join our newsletter to receive our mini course in subliminal messaging.
Subliminal learning bypasses this conscious experience and practice stage and sends information directly to your unconscious mind. If the same subliminal messages are sent frequently enough this will lead to the same outcome, i.e. shift in your self beliefs. The only difference is that the shift comes naturally, from within.
We are all exposed to subliminal messages every day due to the massive amounts of information we are exposed to, and our limited capacity to consciously register it. As a result this may lead to small changes in our minds, or over time if you are exposed to the same subliminal information over and over then there will be lasting changes.
Listening to a subliminal messaging album is simply a way to counteract this and take control. By targeting subliminal messages consistently at your mind, in larger and focused quantities you can make positive changes in areas of your choice.
Subliminal audio can be used to improve any area of your life-from deep internal changes, to improvements in the physical body. For example, you can increase your motivation, boost your self-esteem, treat illnesses and phobias, the possibilities are endless-even subliminal language learning is possible.
We will now go into the principles behind subliminal messaging and the technical side of how subliminal messaging works. The simplest way to show how subliminal messaging works is to describe it in relation to a more common form of mind programming---hypnosis.
A Form of Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be extremely effective at changing patterns of behavior,personal beliefs, bad habits, and much more. This is because it bypasses your logical mind, i.e. your conscious mind.
Your logical mind is a function you start to develop around the age of five or six. This is why you can suggest almost anything to a child and they will accept it as truth. When we are younger we are much more susceptible to suggestion---you don't need hypnosis or subliminal messaging to create self-beliefs in a child.
When we are adults our logical mind does not let us accept all the information presented to us, so bypassing it is critical for making any major changes in your self-beliefs, patterns of thinking, and physical behavior. These changes would be very difficult if using conscious learning / physical action alone, so by accessing your subconscious mind you can solve difficult problems or issues which you wouldn't be able to otherwise.
Hypnosis gains access to your subconscious mind by sending you into a trance. And this is where the difference between subliminal messaging and hypnosis comes in. Subliminal messaging doesn't send you into a trance, but it also accesses your subconscious mind, by bypassing your conscious logical mind. You won't feel drowsy, or need to take a time outfor an hour and enter a sleep / trance like state. This means that you can use subliminal cds and mp3s while you work, study, go about your daily chores, or even exercise.
We will now go even further into the technical side of subliminal messages and discuss how they are written.
Based On NLP Principles
NLP was created by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in the 1970s. Bandler used to sit in a lobby of a hotel and cure people of their fear of elevators for free with NLP. He did this in just 30-45 minutes; shocking the world of psychology and therapywho took months to cure someone of a phobia. NLP has been proven time and time again to make changes in people when other methods have failed, and to create big changes in small periods of time.
At the most basic level subliminal messaging is based on the principles of NLP. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, and basically looks at the type of language we use to speak to ourselves on a specific subject, recognizes the patterns, and then aims to change this language to match that used by someone who is successful in the area you wish to improve.
For example if you want to become more confident but your inner voice is saying things like "I can't do this" or "this will be hard" then NLP would aim to replace these beliefs with the core beliefs of someone who has abundant confidence - someone with an inner voice that says, "I can do anything I put my mind to."
Based on these principles of NLP, subliminal messaging and sends suggestions to your mind which overwrite your negative beliefs with positives ones. Subliminal messaging isn't just pseudo-science, it is based on one of the most effective form of therapy and personal develpment of modern times.
NLP has several ways of changing your beliefs and patterns of thinking, but one of the main and most effective ways, and certainly the simplest, is through the use of positive affirmations, and this is exactly how subliminal messaging works.
Positive Affirmations
A positive affirmation is simply a statement which affirms something is true. With repetition the statement become stored in your mind, and starts to change your beliefs, influence your personality and even alter your behavior. For example, if you say the phrase "I can do anything I put my mind to" over and over, you will start to really believe it, and it will influence your personality; you will become more confident.
The general guideline is to repeat the affirmations first thing on a morning, and then last thing at night. This is so your goal is fresh in your mind at the start of the day, and so you go to bed with it on your mind too. This is a very simple and effective method which will make dramatic and lasting changes in your mind.
Our subliminal suggestions are basically just positive affirmations, but instead of you having to repeat them we have done the work for you, and instead of hearing them aloud they enter your mind subliminally - without distracting you, and without you being aware of them.
The main benefit of using a subliminal audio album is that you can save time - you don't have to stand at the mirror every morning and evening and say the affirmations yourself; it is a more effortless method - you can even play the album while you do other things; work, study, exercise, and yes, even subliminal sleep learning is possible.
To start making changes in your life right now check out our full range of subliminal cds and mp3s.
Or if you would like further information please join our newsletter to receive our mini course in subliminal messaging.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Subliminal Culture
It appears that there are a great many people becoming aware of the important and dynamic use of subliminal messages. Through the learning process in education, business and just change as it is seen through the users eyes. There is a way to effortlessly change any part of yourself, your personality, attitudes and behaviors. The way is through subliminal messages to the subconscious. Here are some of the things that can be accomplished.
*Improve Memory
* Building Self-Esteem
*How to become more assetive
*Supreme self-confidence
*Positive thinking
*Learn law of attraction
*Applying law of attraction
*Self-esteem hypnosis
*Memory exercise
*Self-esteem boosters
*Subliminal self-hypnosis
*Subliminal sleep learning
: Michael McGrath
It is confirmed that the brain registers subliminal messages by a study conducted at the University College London. Researchers found that hidden images were registered by the brain even when subjects were not aware they were there
Scientists at the University College London have shown that subliminal messages which are hidden can have an affect on the brain and its attention while a person is totally unaware that there are visual images present!
Researchers, lead by Bahador Bahrami, discovered that a subject's brain was able to register images that were faint or those flashed at speed if they were in their visual line of sight, even when the subject was adamant that they had not seen anything i.e. subliminal messages.
Although current psychological assumptions work on the belief that what we pay attention to and what we are aware of are the same, this study shows otherwise. Bahrami and his team have shown that we do not need to be aware of subliminal messages for them to have an affect on the brain. Even though we can be totally unaware of any images being shown to us in the form of subliminal messages, the brain is aware and registers them!
These findings can support the idea that subliminal messages in advertising do grab our attention!
This could account for being aware of billboards on the roadside or flashing computer graphic ads on websites not to mention the use of visual subliminal messages in magazine advertisements! It could also account for the phenomenon of being in a crowed room with a lot of conversations going on and suddenly being aware of someone mentioning your name across the room!
The University's studies revolved around experiments that used volunteers who wore special eye-glasses. These glasses had one lens coloured red and the other lens blue.
One eye of the glasses projected blue flashing light while the other eye showed faint or fast flashing images.
As these two sets of images were given to the eyes of the volunteers they were required to perform simple mental tasks that varied in difficulty. Meanwhile the participant's brain was being monitored and the activity in the visual cortex was studied.
In the same way subliminal messages work the subjects in the scientific experiment registered the images but were not aware of having seen anything! This effect was greater when the participants had to use less concentration with easier tasks.
This supports the experimenter's view that some attention is needed for subliminal messages to be registered. If a person is fully occupied in another activity then the subliminal messages may not get through to the brain.
However, when we look at subliminal advertising we see that it does not require a great deal of concentration and our attention is usually on the advertisement which would mean the subliminal messages would easily get through!
This would be the same if we had flashing subliminal messages on our computer or television screen
When James Vicary conducted the first experiments with subliminal messages back in 1958 he caused great controversy which has lasted to this day. Many experts disagree about the effectiveness of subliminal messsages with their main argument being that these messages could not even be percievedby the brain. This latest study proves that they are!
Although scientists at the University College London do not state that these subliminal messages are effective at influencing us they do admit that they are registered by the brain even though we are unaware of them.
I believe we are on the verge of having scientific proof about just how eefective subliminal messages are at influencing our behaviours. If they were not effective why would they be used in multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and why would the Bush campaign have flashed the words "bureaucrats" and "rats" over a pictorial representation of Al Gore's election proposals?
It is a must have in the 21st Century. The art and knowledge of Subliminal Messages as a way to change. It is my motto, "Turn your mind and your mouth around and you turn your life around.
*Improve Memory
* Building Self-Esteem
*How to become more assetive
*Supreme self-confidence
*Positive thinking
*Learn law of attraction
*Applying law of attraction
*Self-esteem hypnosis
*Memory exercise
*Self-esteem boosters
*Subliminal self-hypnosis
*Subliminal sleep learning
: Michael McGrath
It is confirmed that the brain registers subliminal messages by a study conducted at the University College London. Researchers found that hidden images were registered by the brain even when subjects were not aware they were there
Scientists at the University College London have shown that subliminal messages which are hidden can have an affect on the brain and its attention while a person is totally unaware that there are visual images present!
Researchers, lead by Bahador Bahrami, discovered that a subject's brain was able to register images that were faint or those flashed at speed if they were in their visual line of sight, even when the subject was adamant that they had not seen anything i.e. subliminal messages.
Although current psychological assumptions work on the belief that what we pay attention to and what we are aware of are the same, this study shows otherwise. Bahrami and his team have shown that we do not need to be aware of subliminal messages for them to have an affect on the brain. Even though we can be totally unaware of any images being shown to us in the form of subliminal messages, the brain is aware and registers them!
These findings can support the idea that subliminal messages in advertising do grab our attention!
This could account for being aware of billboards on the roadside or flashing computer graphic ads on websites not to mention the use of visual subliminal messages in magazine advertisements! It could also account for the phenomenon of being in a crowed room with a lot of conversations going on and suddenly being aware of someone mentioning your name across the room!
The University's studies revolved around experiments that used volunteers who wore special eye-glasses. These glasses had one lens coloured red and the other lens blue.
One eye of the glasses projected blue flashing light while the other eye showed faint or fast flashing images.
As these two sets of images were given to the eyes of the volunteers they were required to perform simple mental tasks that varied in difficulty. Meanwhile the participant's brain was being monitored and the activity in the visual cortex was studied.
In the same way subliminal messages work the subjects in the scientific experiment registered the images but were not aware of having seen anything! This effect was greater when the participants had to use less concentration with easier tasks.
This supports the experimenter's view that some attention is needed for subliminal messages to be registered. If a person is fully occupied in another activity then the subliminal messages may not get through to the brain.
However, when we look at subliminal advertising we see that it does not require a great deal of concentration and our attention is usually on the advertisement which would mean the subliminal messages would easily get through!
This would be the same if we had flashing subliminal messages on our computer or television screen
When James Vicary conducted the first experiments with subliminal messages back in 1958 he caused great controversy which has lasted to this day. Many experts disagree about the effectiveness of subliminal messsages with their main argument being that these messages could not even be percievedby the brain. This latest study proves that they are!
Although scientists at the University College London do not state that these subliminal messages are effective at influencing us they do admit that they are registered by the brain even though we are unaware of them.
I believe we are on the verge of having scientific proof about just how eefective subliminal messages are at influencing our behaviours. If they were not effective why would they be used in multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and why would the Bush campaign have flashed the words "bureaucrats" and "rats" over a pictorial representation of Al Gore's election proposals?
It is a must have in the 21st Century. The art and knowledge of Subliminal Messages as a way to change. It is my motto, "Turn your mind and your mouth around and you turn your life around.
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