Upcoming Reading
Read experiment 1 in the article by
Lee Brooks for Thursday March 29th
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• These messages tend not to be clear and
obvious
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• These messages tend not to be clear and
obvious
• Could it be that our brains mistakenly see or
hear messages that aren’t really there?
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• These messages tend not to be clear and
obvious
• Could it be that our brains mistakenly see or
hear messages that aren’t really there?
• Do brains make stuff up!?
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• These messages tend not to be clear and
obvious
• Could it be that our brains mistakenly see or
hear messages that aren’t really there?
• Do brains make stuff up!?
Absolutely! All the time.
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• Is there really a dog or
are the spots enough
like a dog for your brain
to fill in the rest?
Are All Subliminal Messages
Intentionally Inserted?
• Some other examples you already know about
:
• Missing fundamental, color constancy, size constancy,
the Kaniza triangle, stereo depth, the blindspot, illusory
conjunctions
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• How did Vokey and Read test the idea that
subliminal messages might just be a case of
mistaken perception?
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• They examined passages from various sources
(Jabberwokey and the 23rd Psalm) played
backwards to identify candidate messages
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Listeners were given each passage
(backwards) and asked to listen for 12 possible
messages
• Listeners detected “messages” in the
appropriate passage when primed to expect it
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Interpretation: Your brain is remarkably good
at “active construction” of patterns amid a
background of noise.
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Interpretation: Your brain is remarkably good
at “active construction” of patterns amid a
background of noise.
• Creative listening by (well-meaning?) public
censors can go very wrong
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Consider the trial of Judas Priest
– Band sued for inserting the message “do it” which
allegedly lead to the suicide of two teens
Listen for “Do It”
The “do its”
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Consider the trial of Judas Priest
– Band sued for inserting the message “do it” which
allegedly lead to the suicide of two teens
• Band acquitted on the basis of expert
testimony
Expert Testimony !
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• With enough creativity
and patience one can
see “subliminal
messages” just about
anywhere:
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Our perceptual mechanisms are great at extracting
meaningful images from noisy stimuli. For example - the
famous face on Mars:
Viking, 1976
Subliminal “Messages” Where you
Least Expect Them
• Given a clearer picture it looks a lot less like a
face:
Mars Global Surveyor,
2001
The message is…
• Don’t be fooled by messages!
Memory
Overview of Memory
• Atkinson-Shiffrin Model
RETRIEVAL
ATTENTION
Sensory
Signals
Sensory
Memory
Short-Term
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
REHEARSAL
Sensory Memory
Supplementary reading:
•Cognition (on reserve)
• Averbach and Sperling (course pack) Part 1
Capacity
• Describe a simple experiment that could
measure the capacity of “memory”
Capacity
• Describe a simple experiment that could
measure the capacity of “memory”
• Briefly present some letters or digits and then
ask the subject to report them
– Called “whole report”
Capacity
+
Capacity
F S F E
G S+ A U
T O C G
Capacity
“Recall as many letters as you can”
Capacity
• George Sperling - Systematic investigation of
memory capacity
– Result: subjects accurately recall about 4 items
– What can you conclude from this result?
– Maybe subjects can only hold about 4 items?