<p>Subconsciously processed fearful stimuli are routed via the limbic system directly from the thalamus to the amygdala and can automatically trigger physical and behavioural fear responses to prevent humans from getting injured. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there were any autonomic responses to stimuli containing positive valence and a high arousal level. The stimuli were normative pictures, picked from the IAPS that were presented subliminally in a masked condition. Reactions were measured by skin conductance responses. Changes of SCR were registered when the participants were exposed to negative, positive and neutral stimuli. Responses were strongest as the participants were exposed to the positive pictures. These findings support that there could be more functions to automatic responding than a direct survival purpose. Further research needs to be done to investigate what functions these kinds of responses constitute.</p>

Subconsciously processed fearful stimuli are routed via the limbic system directly from the thalamus to the amygdala and can automatically trigger physical and behavioural fear responses to prevent humans from getting injured. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there were any autonomic responses to stimuli containing positive valence and a high arousal level. The stimuli were normative pictures, picked from the IAPS that were presented subliminally in a masked condition. Reactions were measured by skin conductance responses. Changes of SCR were registered when the participants were exposed to negative, positive and neutral stimuli. Responses were strongest as the participants were exposed to the positive pictures. These findings support that there could be more functions to automatic responding than a direct survival purpose. Further research needs to be done to investigate what functions these kinds of responses constitute.

Digital signature is widely used to implement many secure protocols. A digital signature has three parameters. They are the message, the key pair, and the signature. In general, the message is given. The key pair is chosen randomly by the signer. The signature is computed from the message and the key pair. But in some cases, we can choose the value of one of the parameters, this may make it possible to other applications such as blind signatures or subliminal channels. There are some researches to discuss the relations between the parameters and the applications of the digital signatures. In this research, we will propose three new schemes as examples of this technique. The first one is a fair blind signature scheme. The other two are subliminal channel schemes. These three new schemes have some important properties. The concept of this research may help the future researches to find new applications of the digital signature. Meanwhile, these new schemes can show that how the concept can help us to develop or improve applications.

The following thesis explores the conditions of possibility for remix culture through the work of Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid. Beginning with the impact and vertigo of Dj Spooky's language and practice, it explores the reciprocal relation of media to language in the construction of the proper (property) and the author (authority). The context of Dj Spooky as a conceptual artist and the material of his book, Rhythm Science , provides the setting and scenario for extended readings of the paradoxes and cultural effects of remix culture, including the relation of writing to djing, practices of incorporative media, tactics of digital email, combat over copyright, and the sampling of the archive. The formalization of these effects is outlined by writing in-between the theories of Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. This formalization signals the advent of the network over the territory, the form over the content, the formal over the expressive (while nonetheless recognising the distinction, persistence and difference of these terms). It argues that remix culture regenerates and redefines the parameters of the author and the proper through technological and political forces that nonetheless retain their structures of power. The conduit and context of this formal, paradoxical transformation are the cultural forces of global and digital networks, which is here defined as the "oceanic network."

Title: Swedish consumers say – ”Subliminal marketing is smart marketing!” Authors: Vickie Hedgren and Angelica Persson Adviser: Klaus Solberg Søilen Level: Dissertation in Marketing, 15 ECTS, Spring 2015 Keywords: Subliminal, Messages, Advertising, Advertisement, Neuromarketing, Psychology, Subconscious, Primal instincts, Subliminal techniques, Ethics, Acceptance, Emotional Connection Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to find out what Swedish consumers think about marketing that is meant to influence their subconscious in their decision making, with a focus on subliminal messages, and whether it is ethically acceptable. This will be carried out by examining the two following research questions: 1. What marketing methods aimed at building a psychological connection with the consumer are ethically acceptable and in what areas of marketing or situations? 2. Is it ethical to use subliminal marketing for a cause-related brand, a luxury brand or aimed at a specific income group? We will further examine theories and studies done over the years as well as carry out our own to come up with our conclusions. Frame of Reference: We start of by presenting overall theories regarding subliminal advertising which leads us to various breakdowns such as psychology, primal instincts, subliminal techniques, ethics, causerelated marketing, high- and low end consumers. Methodology: The dissertation is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative studies. We conducted one survey with 200 respondents and two interviews with marketers. We bring up the importance of validity, reliability, generalizability, carefulness and criticism. Empirical Framework: We will present the collected data from the performed online survey as well as the information from the two personal interviews. Conclusion: Swedish consumers have a high level of ethical acceptance when it comes to marketing that is meant to create a psychological connection. The conclusions made are that 1. Out of the 14 methods we chose to include in our dissertation, 12 of them had a high level of ethical acceptance; subliminal messages in fashion advertising and in an active situation is ethical 2. It is more unethical if a good-cause company uses subliminal marketing than if a luxury brand uses it.

Est-ce que des stimuli non conscients peuvent modifier des processus classiquement considérés comme conscients ? Cette question est d’un intérêt particulier dans la schizophrénie où il existe à la fois des anomalies de processus implicites et des anomalies de processus conscients, comme par exemple, initier une stratégie ou se sentir en contrôle de son action. Pour réaliser des études chez les patients, nous devions savoir dans quelle mesure le choix d’une stratégie ou le sentiment de contrôler son action sont soumis à des influences non conscientes. Nous avons réalisé deux études chez le sujet sain montrant qu’un stimulus non conscient peut influencer la préparation d’une stratégie. Cependant, il existe des limites à ces influences non conscientes : le traitement du stimulus non conscient ne doit pas être interrompu trop tôt, et des filtres attentionnels le modulent. Notre troisième étude a analysé l’effet de distorsions subliminales du retour haptique (tactile et kinesthésique) sur l’adaptation motrice et sur le sentiment conscient de contrôler son action. Nous avons montré que le sentiment de contrôler l’action était modulé par des distorsions du retour haptique, même quand celui-ci est subliminaire. Les influences non conscientes ont un impact sur les processus habituellement conscients, dans des circonstances limitées et contrôlées. / Do unconscious stimuli modify processes that are typically associated with consciousness? This question is of particular interest in schizophrenia in which there is both impairments of implicit processes and abnormalities of conscious processes. For instance patients have difficulties to initiate a strategy or to feel in control of their actions. For this purpose, we wanted to know to what extent the choice of a task set or the feeling of control over the action could be influenced by unconscious cues. We conducted two studies in healthy subjects showing that unconscious stimuli can influence the preparation of a task set. However, we have shown that there are limitations to these unconscious influences: the processing of unconscious stimuli must be uninterrupted for some time, and it is modulated by attentional mechanisms. Our third study analyzed the effect of subliminal distortions of the haptic feedback (tactile and kinesthetic) on motor adaptation and on the conscious sense of control over the action. We have shown that the feeling of control was modulated by subliminal distortions of the haptic feedback. Unconscious influences have an impact on conscious processes, but in limited and controlled circumstances.

This thesis is a study about subliminal messages and consumer attitudes towards the use of product placement as subliminal advertising and their behaviors afterwards. The effects of subliminal advertising have been ambiguous and controversial for a long time. Therefore this thesis was designed to understand consumer attitudes towards the way companies use product placement in movies or TV shows and how it may affect their behaviors by using focus group interviews, and the previous study about consumer attitudes towards product placement were also studied. As for the interviews, the samples from Karlstad University were divided into three groups: the Swedish group, the French group, and the German group; so that the results can be compared in order to see if people from different cultural backgrounds have different points of view. The results showed that most of the participants have the same idea that subliminal advertising is interesting, and as long as the product placement does not ruin the entertainment that they are supposed to get from watching a movie, then the attitude is still positive. The behaviors that can happen the most are talking with friends and looking up for information about products or brands, but the possibility of them to buy those brands are less since it also depends on other factors, such as brand preferences, center of interests, and purchasing power.

Master´s Thesis aims to find the answer to the question whether subliminal advertising is able to influence consumer behaviour and make him to choose the specific product. The first, theoretical part, deals with literature review which focuses on the issue of subliminal advertising. In the second and third part, it concentrates on the description of methodology used in studies of aforementioned topic and definition of statistical methods used for evaluating the experiment. The practical part of the Master´s Thesis concentrates on realisation of the experiment verifying the effects of subliminal advertising. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if pictorial subliminal priming of bottle of specific brand of mineral water is able to influence the choice of consumer. Experiment was conducted on students of University of Economics, Prague and consisted of subliminal priming of participants by Poděbradka bottle. Afterwards it was investigated whether participants, opposed to those who were not subliminally primed, chose subliminally primed mineral water in the higher extent. The experiment determined that subliminal advertising of brand of specific mineral water did not affected the choice of participants and their intention to drink this mineral water. At the end, Master´s Thesis indicates limitations of conducted experiment and recommends alignment for the future research.

Silverman's technique of subliminal psychodynamic activation via tachistoscope has been demonstrated to facilitate competitive performance in college males when a sanctioned oedipal gratification fantasy stimulus is utilized. This effect is presumed to result from a decrease in unconscious neurotic conflict. The cognitive component of Meichenbaum's Cognitive Behavior-Modification has been shown effective in reducing test anxiety. This effect is presumed to stem from conscious identification and modification of negative self-statements. The hypothesis that a combination of the two approaches would prove more effective than the cognitive group therapy alone in reducing test anxiety was tested. Thirty-four test-anxious male students attended 10 sessions wherein they received subliminal stimulation and cognitive group therapy. Half of the students were presented active, and half neutral stimuli subliminally via tachistoscope. All received the cognitive group therapy. Therapists conducting the groups were blind to the hypothesis being tested and the assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups. Subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions in order to control for group and therapist effects.

In the EU proposal for a regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AIA), article 5.1.a forbids the use of AI systems deploying subliminal techniques. As the meaning of the term subliminal techniques lacks a definition in the proposal, the intended meaning of the phrase requires interpretation to clarify the scope of this prohibition. Using a method based on the legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice, the meaning of the expression subliminal techniques is interpreted based on arguments from a grammatical, contextual, teleological and historical standpoint. After reviewing EU documents concerning the proposal as well as the current versions of AIA, it becomes clear that the intended meaning of subliminal techniques is broader than the ordinary meaning of this phrase. Although subliminal stimuli are generally described as stimuli that are beyond human perception, the presence of a binary threshold of perception is not fully supported by brain imaging research. From the descriptions of subliminal techniques in documents regarding AIA, as well as in formulations present in different versions of the proposal, there is support for interpreting the legislators intent as adhering to this non-binary view of subliminal techniques. Instead of strictly focusing on a perceptual threshold the determination of whether an AI deployed technique is regarded as a subliminal technique focuses on whether the technique in some sense targets human perception, as well as the degree to which this technique infringes on human autonomy.