Effect of Subliminal Pictorial Stimulation on Skin Resistance

Abstract

In a test of the hypothesis that a subliminally presented emotionally charged picture will elicit a greater deflection of skin resistance than a subliminally presented neutral picture, 24 subjects were stimulated subliminally at three standardized exposure times which were 3, 2, and 1 SDs shorter than their mean detection threshold. Mean deflections of skin resistance for 12 male and 12 female subjects, neutral and emotional stimuli, and the three exposure times were compared. The mean deflection for emotional stimuli was significantly larger than for neutral stimuli as hypothesized.