Subliminal Messages Improve Recall

A new study has been released again showing that subliminally received information has a definite effect on our minds.

Researchers at Northwestern University showed volunteers 12 kaleidoscope images for two seconds each while the volunteers also performed an unrelated number task to distract them from consciously committing the images to memory. A minute later, the volunteers were asked to look at pairs of similar-looking images and choose the one they had seen before. They were also asked whether they were sure, had "a feeling" they were right, or were just guessing.

Those who said they were guessing still were 70 to 80 percent accurate, indicating the information had been stored even though they were unaware of it. A true guess based on pure chance would be only about 50 percent accurate.

During the memory task, the brain activity was monitored via electrical sensors attached to the volunteers’ heads. The pattern of activity differed between the "guessers" and the other groups, suggesting that we access unconscious and conscious visual memories differently.

Click here for the New Scientist article.