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Percentage
of correct 100%
detections

75

50

Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
25 Subliminal
Figure 1.6-2 stimuli Dan Dunkley/Science Source
Threshold detected
Hearing tests locate our 0
thresholds for various sound Low Absolute Medium
frequencies. threshold
Intensity of stimulus

Signal success When reading
mammograms, health professionals
seek to detect the presence of a
faint cancer stimulus (signal) amid
background stimulation (noise), and
without raising false alarms. New
3-D ultrasound breast-imaging Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
technologies aim to clarify the signal
and reduce the rate of false-positive
results.

TRY THIS
Try out this old riddle on a couple of
friends. “You’re driving a bus with Tamara Collins/Delphinus Medical Technologies, Inc.
12 passengers. At your first stop, 6
passengers get off. At the second
stop, 3 get off. At the third stop, 2
more get off but 3 new people get
on. What color are the bus driver’s
eyes?” Do your friends detect the
signal — who is the bus driver? — amid
the accompanying noise?

Stimuli you cannot consciously detect 50 percent of the time are subliminal — below
your absolute threshold (Figure 1.6-2). The unconscious mind is like the wind: We don’t see
it, but we see its effects. When your face appears on a screen faster than you can perceive it
consciously, researchers can nevertheless detect your brain’s response (Wójcik et al., 2019).
subliminal below one’s
absolute threshold for conscious The brain knows what the conscious mind doesn’t. So, can we be controlled by subliminal
awareness. messages? (See the Developing Arguments feature: Subliminal Sensation and Subliminal
Persuasion.)

118 Unit 1 Biological Bases of Behavior

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