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SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS
FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION
By
N. F. DIXON, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON

SUMMARY Bressler (1931); Baker (1937); Williams (1938);

From research into the effect upon verbal and
autonomic behaviour of subliminal stimulation,
evidence has come to light which suggests that
verbal responses made during such stimulation
tend to be associations to the material presented.
The content of these associations, moreover,
points to their being symbolic versions, in the
Freudian sense, of the act or object connoted by
the stimulus material.
It is this latter finding, from the above re-
search, with which this paper is primarily con-
cerned; a more detailed account of the method-
ology of the relevant experiments being reported
elsewhere.
INTRODUCTION
In the present context and throughout what
follows • subliminal stimulation' refers to
stimulation, either visual or auditory, of such
low intensity that the subject remains unaware
of both its nature and its presence. That such
stimulation may determine behaviour, that the
awareness threshold is not necessarily the
physiological threshold, has been shown by
several previous researches: Dunlap (1904);
Table I
SUBLIMINAL STIMULUS WORDS
Miller (1940).
Evidence for experimentally induced symbol-
ism in situations where the subject remains un-
aware of the exciting stimulus has also been
forthcoming. Schroetter (1911) and Roffen-
stein (1924) induced their subjects to dream
symbolic versions of tabu material related to
them during hypnotic trance. Nachmansohn
(1925), similarly, by post-hypnotic suggestion,
influenced the ordinary night dreams of his
subjects. In the course of experiments involving
verbal responses to briefly exposed words
Bruner 1 and McGinnies 1 have noticed that
pre-recognition hypotheses frequently appeared
to be associations, often of a symbolic kind, to
the stimulus material being shown. Fisher
(1954),also using the tachistoscopic method, has
shown, as Poetzl (1917)did earlier, that that part
of the display not consciously discriminated at
the time of exposure often served a symbolic
function in a subsequent dream.
Finally, Licklider 1 has reported informally
upon what he describes as • Freudian influences',
as a by-product of word articulation tests carried
out at particularly low signal/noise ratios.

Neutral Of Emotional Interest Of Primary Emotional Sexual and Tabu

or having Sexual Meaning Interest

BREAD NAILS DOPE HOT BIRTH PENIS

SPADE BLUE MAN COLD DEATH VAGINA
CHURCH COAL WOMAN ABUSE FATHER SEXUAL-INTER-
POVERTY TRAP BLUSH MOTHER COURSE
WATER FIGURE BABY BROTHER FEMALE SEX-
YELLOW SOAP I ANGER SISTER ORGAN
I
NOSE WET ENVY LOVE
BLACK SMOOTH
I KISS HATE
SING LIMB PUBIC INCEST
COAT SUCK BREAST
EYE RED I
GREEN HAIR
I
1 Personal communications.
159
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160 N. F. DIxON
General Experimental Method This distribution 01 abnormal latencies justified
In the three experiments to be described. subjects the assumption that a causal relationship existed
were required to make verbal responses, subjectively between the stimulus werds and the verbal responses.
experienced as guesses, while being presented with To assist in examining the latter for evidence of an
words, either auditorily or visually. at subliminal associative tendency the four subjects were subse-
intensities. quently asked for their immediate association to
EXPERIMENT 1 each of their responses and also to the fifty stimulus
In this experiment the subject, wearing head- words.
phones, and seated in a dark near-soundproof Subject M.A.
room, was instructed to write down the first word In addition to the single word associations men-
that came to mind every time a small light flashed on tioned above, this subject kindly agreed to give
in front of him. Alternate presentations of this chains of free associations to certain of his responses.
light signal, given at regular intervals, were accom- These will be considered first:
panied by auditory stimulation, with a word, at an 1. Free associations to CLOCHEMERLE. the
intensity of two decibels below his awareness response which had followed the subliminal
threshold. The hypothesis under test was that his stimulus word FATHER:
choice of word, and the time taken to respond, '. . . Thinking about the film- about a
would be determined by the nature of the stimulus girl and a soldier making love outside the
material. The latter consisted of fifty English words village; I remember there was something
classified in terms of their • emotional' value as ridiculous, out of place about this - gave my
Table I on page 159. wifethe book (Clochemerle) as a present. She
promptly lost it. There was a bit of malice
Results in the present, I'm afraid. I gave it to try
For the four subjects who took part there was a and counteract her rather Victorian up-
significant tendency for abnormal response latencies bringing and puritanical attitude towards
to follow those stimulus words which belonged to sex. That makes me think of Chevallier, the
one of the three emotional categories; an abnormal author-the name always reminds me of
latency being taken as one which was twice as great Chevalier the comedian. The film made a
as or less than half the modal latency for each sub- big impression on me because of the light
ject. way sex matters were discussed. In my
Table II family such talk had always been rigidly
STIMULUS WORDS FOLLOWED BY ABNORMAL
suppressed. I remember once my father
. REsPONSE LATENCIES
discussed them with some frivolity and I
resented it. I suppose I put mother on a
Free pedestal-I adored her and always resented
Emotional Category I quency
Fr.- Neutral Category quency the attitude of treating women as mere
objects for male enjoyment. . . ."
Blush 5 Blue 3 2. Free associations to SINUS, the other response
Birth 4 Woman 3 following the subliminal stimulus word
Incest 4 Red 3 FATHER:
Hot 4 Figure 3 ' . . . makes me think of B-- (an ex-
Kiss 4 Man 2 student); he had sinus trouble-oh yes, and
Mother 3 Soap 2 M-- (subject M.A.'s son) has had it too.'
Brother 3 Eye 2 (The ex-student B-- had in fact just walked
Hate 3 Coat 2 out on his father after a major row.)
Baby 3 Trap 2 3. Free association to SOPORIFIC, the re-
Vagina 3 Yellow 2 sponse following the subliminal words
Sexual inter- Suck 2 FEMALE SEX ORGAN:
course 3 Limb 1 '. . . I can't think of anything except the
Female sex organ 3 Water 1 two words .. suffer" and .. terrific".'
Penis . 2 Nose 1 4. Free association to GNOME which had fol-
Father 2 Sing 1 lowed the subliminal stimulus word
Death 2 Wet 1 BIRTH:
Breast 1 Smooth 1 '. . . illustrations in children's books-
Envy 1 Dope 1 little men with long red heads and big ears.'
Abuse 1 Green 1 5. Free associations to TITANIC which had
Pubic 1 Black 1 followed the subliminal stimulus word
Church 1 INCEST:
-- -- '. . . sinking of the ship. Remember
Total 52 Total 36
being horrified as a child and impressed by
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SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION 161

the fact that the captain stopped the men at
revolver point while the women took to the
boats. . . . '
(The symbolism here is doubly significant in
the light of responses shown under the next
experiment.)
6. Free association to LOG which had followed
the subliminal stimulus word FIGURE:
'. . . thinking of mathematical logs. Al-
ways wanted to do rnaths, but unable to
manipulate the symbols well enough. Maths
has always had great emotional significance
for me as something I can't do as well as I'd
like to. The integral sign has always stood
Cor the unapproachable or forbidden.
Makes me think of sine which, of course,
makes me think of " sinus" again.'
7. Free associations to MOLE, the other response
following the subliminal stimulus word
FIGURE:
'. . . all my girl friends had one on their
faces. Always found it very attractive. Have
heard , it stands for a lively temperament.
8. Free associations to FIGURE, the subliminal
stimulus word which was followed by LOG
and MOLE:
'. . . the first word I think of is " good".
Both my mother and my wife had very good
ones. Good shape. Human and maths
figures have always been of importance to
me.'
All these free associations were obtained before
the subject knew any of the stimulus words. No
time limit was put on the subject; he just went on
until no further ideas suggested themselves.
Using these free associations merely as pointers, it
remains to consider the subject's responses during
the original experiment. In the following schematic
presentation, words in brackets are subliminal

Schema 1
(PENIS) ~
- --------------··------------------------+SEPARATIoN -+marriage
---·------------.------------------·--+MOSQUITO----........., bite
(LOVE) ------------------------------------+SADIST -+masochist
-------------------------------------+HERNIA -+breakage

/
--~RIGHT ) birth
doonl+-----(SEXUAL INTERCOURSE) ----+ROLLS , Royce
-----+CLUTCH -+Car
habitual-<c--(FEMALE SEX ORGAN) [free associations were
l·----~SOPORlFIC -+~' suffer' and' terri-
l fie'
(PUBIC) {:~~~~~~==~_~~~~_~~~~_-~_~-~~~~~~:=:~~~iNT =:~~~~~~nding
rthe response here was
(VAGINA) ----------------------------------+SON -+ ~ the name of the
l subject's own son
(BIRTH) {====::::=::=::::::::::::::~~~~ ~~:~~ble(free associa-
tions to
GNOME
were -u It Ie'
men with long
red heads,etc.)
(FATHER) {=:::~:==:::~~~:::::::::::::::::::::::;I~OUC:EMERLE,----+-+'~:~o~~~Yv 0 n 0 k 0 sY
(LIMB) {:::==:=::=::::::::::::::::::::::=:~~~E =:~~~ ~:~f~g'" c~~:
associations to
CLOCHE·
MERLE re-
vealed ideas
about father.
wife and mo-
ther. Free asso-
ciations to SI-
NUS concerned
son and student
who had row
with father)
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162
stimulus words. those in capitals but not in brackets
are the original responses to these stimulus words,
and those not in capitals are conscious associations.
Dotted lines represent hypothetical unconscious
N. F. DIXON
associations. solid lines conscious associations.
The stimulus words and responses suggestive of
similar ideas have been grouped together.

Schema 2

saturation +------(lNCEST) ~
r +TITAN
C----~{free associations were 'sinking
of ship, etc.'
l------------------*LOOP -----------'>twist
have+----- - - - - -(MOTHER)-------------------- --+GYRATE ---_______+revolve
have+------------(BREAST)-·---------------------+SPAN - - - ---------'>distend
. {-----.----- ..-...-;.GUN------------'>Pistol
incest...------(SING) ->-MOTHER------------>-father
10ve~--------rNOMAN)--· ..---·..·..·.. ----->MOTHER-------------+father
love....... -~-----(SUCK).------ ..----- ....--..-->CREAM -----------'>sour

Schema 3

(FIGURE){ ---~~---·-·---·:.·.-.~-:-~--·--::~:~~~E ----------'>hole

(PUBIC)--m--m--..-----m---m-+HOLE , vagina

Free association to FIGURE, LOG, and 'MOLE
revealed a constellation of ideas about maths,
mother and wife.
Subject F.B. (female)
The results for this subject are a good example of
the use of a single symbolic extra-signalizing re-
sponse for affectivcly linked ideas. It is significant
that words obviously related for the subject at a
conscious level evoked identical responses when
presented subliminally:

Schema 4
CAR ...·---------------..-------..-..-----..-..---..--------------(ANGER)--------.-+fear
t r....... (BABY)··----------------------..-..- ..------;.-LIFE ---om_light

'1'1~}
(HAIR) ..---....--..-------+
;;;'i:~~\~~~~::::~~-:~-::~:l~::
CAT <e.---.. -----......- (SEX ORGAN)

In addition to the above constellation this young stimulus evokes aSSOCIatIOns when the subject is
female subject produced three groups of responses asked for verbal responses:
which support the hypothesis that the subliminal

Schema 5
strength .......----(POVERTY)-------......----------;.-MIGHT ------strength
green ( (BLUE) ....-....---------·mm------..CAR _green
white~------(PENIS)---- ..------------..-----·-·---...RED---------->-white

Finally there were a number of symbolic responses
not included in the above schemata; of these the
response FIRE following the subliminal stimulus
words SEXUAL INTERCOURSE and the re-
sponse SHIP following the stimulus word VAGINA
were perhaps of greatest interest. The former has
been referred to by Mullahy (1948) as a frequent
symbol of coitus; the latter is especially significant
in view of responses obtained in the next experiment.
Subject R.N. (female)
The results for this subject showed several ' con-
nections' strongly suggestive of unconsciously
associated ideas:

Schema 6
water ~----- -(WEn------------ ----..--.;.-WATER
hot,,--------(COAL}---------- -----;.TEMPERATURE--- --------+hot
blood~-----(RED)--- ..---------..-->-MEAT
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SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION 163

Schema 7
(FATHER) ---..-.-------------------...---...-....---.-..-..-..--··...F EELING
(FEMALE SEX ORGAN){·-······..·--··---·_···,..STUDY ---;.feeling
··-------·-·----------,..ENLIVEN------;.like
(BLUSH)---··-·····-··-----·--··--··-·---····-·------..--....---- ··-...FEEL -+hurt
(SEXUAL INTERCOURSE) {:~~~~~~~~=~~~~_~~~:~~'6~S -:~::rds
rider ( HORSE..----------------·-·----- }(GREEN)
rubber~ MATTER..-.--.-.-.--.---.----. -------+grass

In addition to the various symbolic responses shown above this subject also produced the following:

Schema 8
(BIRTH)--·--------------------- ·--~CARRY------_+l basket
(SISTER)-----..··-..···-·-----·-··-·...T IGER
(MOTHER)··-·-··--···----·----+HATCHWAY
(PENIS)------·----·--·-·-·--------...WILLOW
Subject P.B.
This subject produced a number of discrete responses suggestive of autistic symbolism:

Schema 9
(SEXUAL INTERCOURSE}------------------·-~FALL (Quoted by Freud (1900) as a frequent symbol of
intercourse. Dict. def.: • To become prostrate,
to issue or discharge oneself, to sink into sin.
The Fall-original sin, etc.')
(PENIS)----·---····--·..--------·--·..··-·..-..-··-----·-----··-~PIG (Matrilineal phallic symbol. Oblong bar or vessel.)
(FATHER)------·-------·-----·--··------·---·-··-...SAINT
(BROTHER)--·....·-··----·····..··------·---~LOWN
(MOTHER)--··-·-·-------·-..··..·..---·-··-·-···,..CELL (A room. A source of life.)
(BIRTH)-------·----------------·..··-·---····-·..·--..-·······...SEVER

There were also a number of responses suggestive of a not improbable association of ideas:

Schema 10
(ENVY)··-..·····......-----,..FLIRT-----;»jealousy
blood..----I(RED)·---··-·..· - ·..----,..LAMB ) slaughter
(CHURCH) -·----..··---·-·,..MOUSE
(FIGURE)--·..··-..···--..·---···_FACE
(LOVE}·--···--·--··-·----·~IM
(ANGER)----------------·--·· ···...GUST

Summary and Discussion the conclusion of the experiment revealed little

Of the 400 responses made by the subjects in this
experiment 22 per cent. followed abnormally long
or short latencies and were significantly distributed
amongst those responses made following subliminal
stimulation with emotionally charged words. This
finding justified the hypothesis that the subjects were
in some way aware of the meaning of the stimulus
words. This and the further hypothesis that the
responses were in fact associations to the stimulus
words received some support when an examination of
the former revealed a number of them to be Freudian
symbols, metaphors, or common associations to the
acts or objects connoted by the stimulus words.
The introspections obtained from the subjects at
beyond the fact that the responses were not in-
fluenced by anything consciously heard. As one
subject put it: • after fixation of the light a word
came up which I wrote down without hesitating to
analyse it, although the sort of words that came up
rather startled me. Some responses arose spontane-
ously, others with difficulty, but all seemed quite
arbitrary and uninfluenced by associations or other
factors. I had no imagery.'
Generally the results from this experiment were
deemed sufficiently interesting to warrant a second
experiment in which the hypothesis that subliminal
stimulation tends to evoke symbolic response
selection might be put to statistical test.
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164 N. F. DIXON
EXPERIMENT 2 stimulated with the word MOTHER the subject
The procedure differed from that adopted in the would tend to select the word LOVE).
previous experiment in one respect only. Instead of Of the six subjects taking part four were psycho-
being asked to respond with the first word that came logy students who knew that subliminal stimulation
to mind the six subjects who took part were required was involved but were ignorant of the fact that some
to select one word from a prescribed list of twenty. of the response words bore a symbolic relationship
To this end twenty words were arranged in a circle to some of the stimulus words. The other two
upon a panel which could be illuminated at regular subjects knew neither the method nor the object of
intervals, the subjects being instructed • every time the experiment. All the subjects were given one
the words light up scan them rapidly and write down trial of forty responses, two of the subjects then
the first one that catches your eye'. Alternate pre- being given one further trial each.
sentations of these words were accompanied by
subliminal auditory stimulation with a word from a Results
list of twenty stimulus words. The two lists are
shown below: An analysis of the 320 responses obtained
Table III revealed the following:
1. The tendency to select a symbol when the stimu-
Response Words Stimulus Words (in order in which lus item was one of the three sexual words was
(on panel)" they were presented subliminally)
significant at the 1 per cent. level of probability.
TREE TREE 2. The tendency to select the response SHIP when
MUM MUM the stimulus word was VAGINA was significant at
CUSHION CUSHION the one in a thousand level of probability.
BIRTH BIRTH 3. The tendency to select the response MOTHtR
PONG PENIS when the stimulus word was VAGINA was signifi-
WATER WATER cant at the 5 per cent level of probability.
MOTHER PING
4. The tendency to select the response ABUSE
FATHER FATHER
when the stimulus was FATHER was significant at
SHIP VAGINA
the 2 per cent level of probability.
PENCIL PENCIL
LOVE LOVE 5. There were no other response tendencies
TIGER TIGER which differed significantly from what might he
TACK TACK expected on a chance basis.
DAD DAD 6. There was no significant difference between lh~
SIX SEX ORGAN response tendencies of the naive subjects and those
HATE HATE of the sophisticated subjects.
TIN TIN
BOX PENCIL
BLOOD BLOOD Discussion
ABUSE ABUSE The statistical test made possible by the design of
this experiment adds considerable weight to the con-
• The wordsweredistributedon the panel in a random clusion from the previous experiment that sub-
order. liminal stimulation with words tends to evoke
symbolically related responses, and also that these
It will be noticed that the two lists differ, in as much responses tend to express emotional attitudes felt
as the • stimulus' list contains three sexual tabu towards the persons or objects connoted by the
words, whereas the response list contains in their stimulus words. The subject M.A., for example, who
place only words traditionally regarded as sexual produced the interesting response CLOCHE-
symbols, namely PENCIL, BOX and SHIP, the MERLE in the first experiment, a response which
hypothesis being that when subliminally stimulated stood for, amongst other things, feelings of hos-
with a sexual tabu word the subject would tend to tility towards the father, selected the response
select for his response the appropriate symbol. ABUSE twice and the response HATE once on the
The lists were also designed to test the subsidiary two occasions in the present experiment when the
hypotheses that: subliminal stimulus word was FATHER. The
I. There would be a tendency to select the same probability of this happening by chance was less
word as the stimulus word. than one in a hundred.
2. There would be a tendency to select the verbally The highly significant tendency to select the
familiar association (e.g, stimulated with TIN the response SHIP when the stimulus word was
subject would tend to select TACK). VAGINA is also of particular interest in view of the
3. There would be a tendency to select affectively symbolic responses SHIP, TITANIC and HATCH-
determined predicates of the stimulus word (e.g, WAY in the first experiment.
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SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION
EXPERIMENT 3 Procedure
The two previous experiments raised several
questions concerning the symbolic response. It is
with three of these that the present experiment is
concerned. Firstly, does the subliminal stimulus,
as associations to the response seem to indicate,
actually create an emotional disturbance of which
the subject may remain unaware? Secondly, is the
subject in any sense aware of the meaning of the
symbols which he produces? Finally, is the evoca-
tion of symbolism confined to those situations where
the stimulus is auditory, or would the more sophisti-
cated process of ' discriminating' words presented
visually, produce comparable results?
General Experimental Method
To test the hypothesis that visual subliminal
stimuli would determine verbal behaviour in the
same way as had auditory stimuli, the subjects in
this experiment were required to make single word
verbal responses while facing an illuminated screen
upon which words were projected at subliminal
intensities.
In an endeavour to answer the first two questions
the experiment was designed so that this end would
serve the extra purpose of confirming a causal
relationship between stimulus and response. As a
measure of emotional disturbance the psycho-
galvanic reflex was used, the hypothesis being that
changes in skin resistance would be a function of the
, emotional ' value of the stimulus word presented
at the time. As a measure of insight into the
symbols used, each subject at the conclusion of the
experiment was asked to match his responses against
the stimulus words which had in fact preceded them.
These stimulus items consisted of six words of
primary emotional interest, four neutral words, and
two straight lines, one vertical, the other horizontal.
The order of presentation was as shown below:
Table IV
SUBLIMlNAL STIMULUS MATERIAL
THIS
PENIS
BARN
FATHER
I stimulation received further support from the nature
VAGINA
SEVEN
MALE SEX ORGAN
LINE
MOTHER
FEMALE SEX ORGAN
165
The subjects, five male undergraduates, of whom
three were students of psychology, and two female
undergraduates, of whom one was a student of
psychology, were seated in tum before an evenly
illuminated translucent screen upon which by rear
projection the twelve items of stimulus material were
presented at regular intervals. The intensity of the
stimulation was maintained at ·3 log ft..lamberts
below the awareness threshold. Coincident with
each exposure a momentary spot of light appeared
at the top of the screen at a supraliminal intensity.
The instructions to the subjects were to respond with
, the first word that comes to mind' following each
appearance of the spot of light.
In addition to the verbal responses, changes in
skin resistance between the first finger and the third
finger of the right hand were recorded for each
presentation.
Each subject was given four trials, following
immediately upon each other, thus eliciting four
responses to each of the twelve stimulus items.
Directly following this experiment each subject
was asked for his immediate association to each of
his responses.
A week later each subject was given a. list of the
stimulus items arranged in a random order. His
forty-eight responses of the previous week were then
read back to him, again in a random order. His
instructions were to say to which of the twelve
stimulus items he most readily associated each
response.
Results
1. The hypothesis that galvanic skin responses
recorded during the presentation of • emotional •
stimulus items would exceed by a significant amount
those recorded during presentation of the neutral
items was supported at the one per cent level of
confidence. All the subjects contributed to this
effect.
2. The hypothesis that the subjects would to some
extent be aware of the meaning of their symbolic
responses as shown by their ability to match
responses against the appropriate stimulus items was
supported at the one per cent level of confidence.
Table V shows the extent and nature of these
matchings for each subject.
3. The general hypothesis that subliminal visuaJ
stimulation with words would evoke symbolic
responses comparable to those elicited by auditory
of the associations to the responses.
In Table VI those responses which the subject
himself paired with the correct stimulus word
have been italicized. For the sake of brevity only
those associations are shown which shed some light
on the stimulus-response relationship.
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166 N. F. DIXON
Table V
TEST OF HYPOTHESIS THAT SUBJECTS WOULD TEND TO PAIR THE ORIGINAL STIMULUS WORDS WHEN
GIVEN SUPRALIMINALLY WITH THE SAME REsPONSE WORDS AS HAD FOLLOWED EACH STIMULUS WORD
ciIVEN SUBLIMINALLY.

Correct Stimulus word Selected Original Responses to Stimulus Words now Paired with Same
M.M. M.T. M.T.p. M.D.p. F.B. F.S.p. M.B.p. Subject>
I
PENIS I I Run
I
(eject)"
i Shower
I I

I
I I
- - II
MALE SEX ORGAN Brush (red) II
I I
FEMALE SEX ORGAN
I supply I follow
I I
I
i
VAGINA shade
I mouth I (glorify) I focus
(ready) triumph
I I
FATHER bulbous
ear

MOTHER

BARN

LINE

SEVEN
.

.-

Totals 6 7 4

Grand total 39 I-~

I
Note. Subjects-The prefix' M or' F' denotes sex. The suffix' p ' indicates that the subject was a student of psychology.
J

* The words in brackets were paired with the synonym of the original stimulus word. They have not been taken
into account in assessing the statistical significance of the results.

In Table VI statistical significance can be claimed
only for those responses which are italicized,
i.e. those which the subject himself, after con-
sidered judgement, paired with the appropriate
stimulus word. For the remainder it can merely be
said that many are suggestive of an associative
connection.
The types of possible associations are similar to
those found in the experiments involving subliminal
auditory stimulation, i.e.
1. Freudian symbols such as ' cheroot', , screw',
'cartridge', 'mouth', 'nostril', etc. (the two
latter exemplifying perhaps the Freudian
mechanism of ' displacement upwards ').
2. Descriptive of object-e.g. ' pleasant', , sugar',
, soft " etc.
3. Descriptive of function-e.g. 'eject', 'rain',
'shower', 'lash', 'beat '.
4. Expressive of attitude-e.g. . blast', 'bust',
, bent', , excite', etc.
Perhaps most suggestive of all are those cases
where the same subject gave similar responses each
time any particular stimulus word was presented
(e.g, 'nose', 'bulbous', 'ear " following the
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SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION 167

Table VI
Supraliminal
Subject Subliminal Stimulus Word Response Association Remarks
to Response
I
PENIS and MALE SEX I
M.M. ORGAN I ice
brush
. pick
The use of ' brush' as a symbol
of the male organ has been
cartridge case dealt with by Baudouin (1922);
iI 'ice' was paired with
VAGINA'
M.T.p. case • case' was paired with FEMALE
i SEX ORGAN
I
eagle I soar •eagle' was paired with
FATHER
run i jump
I •
shower : ram
"
F.S.p. rain
eject
sensory 'sensory' was paired with
VAGINA
F.B. bird I water • bird' was paired with
I MOTHER
jump : hurt 'jump' was paired w i t h
FATHER
M.D.p. screw
girl ' girl' was paired with VAGINA
"
M.B.p. cheroot
M.T. tunnel
" FEMALE
VAGINA and
M.M. SEX ORGAN poppycock parakeet ' poppycock ' was paired with
I MALE SEX ORGAN
soft i sweet
wonder well
"
M.T. wonder : stare 'wonder' was paired with
MOTHER
nostril I nose
bloodshot eye
swan 'swan' was paired with
MOTHER
horror
"
F.S.p. glorify
abominable
fear
supply
bountiful ' bountiful' was paired with
MOTHER
M.B.p. triumph
focus
follow fornicate
"
~.B. bird rise 'bird' paired with MOTHER
ring glitter
mouth open
eye • eye' paired with MOTHER
"
M.M. "
MOTHER pleasant
sacrifice
"
M.T.p. silver gold
sugar sweet
"
F.B. beat stick
M.T. lash hurt
M.B.p. parrot
Copyrighted Material. For use only by UniMelbourne. Reproduction prohibited. Usage subject to PEP terms &
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168 N. F. DIXON
Table VI-continued
Supraliminal
Subject Subliminal Stimulus Word Response Association Remarks
to Response
I
F.S.p. MOTHER I cleft •cleft' paired with VAGINA
M.M. FATHER blast powder
bust break
,. bent burnt
M.T. ear nose
nose brow
bulbous nose
"
F.B. face . eyes
eye
"
F.S.p. excite I I .excite' paired with VAGINA
rage
"
M.D.p. friend
"
BARN
M.M. cartwheel
product
"
M.D.p. pony
M.T.p. wood chopper
M.M. "
LINE • Valparaiso' liner
circle round

stimulus word FATHER; words which the same of levels of progressively higher threshold, and
subjectassociated with each other and with •father'that, while classification into say one of two
at a conscious level. A further point of interest is
classes occurs at the lowest level, the output
the frequent use of • bird' or types of bird as re-from this level is submitted to a higher for place-
sponses following presentation of the tabu sexual ment in a narrower class, and so on: this after
words. This type of symbolism has been specifically
referred to by Ernest Jones (1912) in his paper, all being an economical way of eliminating
• Theory of Symbolism'. hypotheses .
Secondly, let us assume that the classificatory
process occurs by the scansion of experientially
CONCLUSIONS determined ensembles of possible inputs, with
The results from the three experiments support matching of the particular input against the
the evidence from previous researches to the best fitting item of this ensemble.
effect that in the case of both hearing and vision Finally, I would suggest that the structure of
the awareness threshold is not necessarily the these classificatory levels is ontogenetically
physiological threshold. The results further determined; the broad generalizations of child-
suggest that verbal responses subjectively ex- hood and generous flow of symbolism in
perienced as random guesses may be determined thought and language which characterizes this
both in latency and content by verbal material period exemplifying classification of the crudest
presented subliminally. That this betokens kind at the lowest levels of the yet to be formed
some discrimination of meaning, at an uncon- hierarchy referred to above.
scious level, is further supported by the observed Now the crucial aspect of this system, for our
significant correlation between sympathetic present purpose, concerns the fate of inputs
activity and the' emotional' value of the stimu- whose classification is halted at some intermedi-
lus material. Finally, this apparent discrimina- ate level. Into this category fall those inputs
tion without awareness receives confirmation which are subliminal by reason of their low
from the fact that subjects were able to select intensity. In this case I would suggest that the
subsequently those stimulus words which had output from the last level at which signal in-
preceded certain responses. tensity permits of classification is the best repre-
What of the mechanism underlying these sentative of the last class to which the input has
phenomena? As tentative working hypotheses been assigned; in other words that item of
I would suggest the following. Firstly the experience which possesses in the most exag-
organism classifiesall information at a hierarchy gerated form those particular attributes of the
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conditions (see terms.pep-web.org).
SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOWING SUBLIMINAL STIMULATION 169
act or object connoted by the input that are, or
were, of chief importance to the individual.
This mechanism 2 would account for such
features of the symbol as its over-emphasis on
the symbolized attributes, its neglect of the
emotionally unimportant, its cultural determina-
tion and the condensation of ideas which it
exhibits.
Of these hypotheses, that postulating a hier-
archy of organizational levels differentiated in
terms of threshold is not of course original. Put
forward by Miller (1942), following his findings
regarding • discrimination without awareness'
it is also implied by the mass of experimental
evidence that has given rise to the hypothesis of
• perceptual defence'. In particular, the exist-
ence of at least two such levels has received
support from the results of a recent experiment
by Lazarus and McCleary (1951) in which the
duration threshold for the conditioned g.s.r. was
found to be significantly lower than that for
conscious verbal report.
Regarding the question of classification in
terms of emotionally important attributes, the
objection may be raised that it is not the object
itself which has been discriminated and classi-
fied, but only a quite arbitrary sign that has
come to stand for the object-in short a word.
However, this perhaps no longer constitutes a
difficulty when it is considered that it is a func-
tion of words to provide an economical way of
handling groups of associated attributes; the
word in fact helps to segregate the concept.
REFERENCES
(I) BAKER, L. E. (1937.) • The Influence of
Subliminal Stimuli upon Verbal Behaviour', J. expo
Psychol., 20, 84.
(2) BAUOOUlN, C. (1922.) Studies in Psycho-
Analysis. (Allen & Unwin.)
(3) BRESSLER, J. (1931.) • Illusion in the Case of
Subliminal Visual Stimulation', J. Gen. Psychol., 5,
244.
(4) DUNLAP, K. (1904.) • The Effect of Imper-
ceptible Shadows on the Judgment of Distance',
Psychol. Rev., 7, 435.
(5) FISHER, C. (1954.) • Dreams and Percep-
tion " J. Am. Psychoanal. Ass., Vol. II, No.3, 389.
(6) FREUD, S. (1900.) The Interpretation 0/
Dreams.
(7) LAZARUS, R. S., and McCLEARY, R. A. (1951.)
• That the production of a symbol reflects regression
to a level of crude classification and easy generalizing
brought about by reduced awareness is well exemplified
by the . auto-symbolic effect' described by Silberer
Thus it might be that with the acquisition of
words and consequent growth of associations
between objects and their names these latter will
come to initiate the classificatory process that
previously operated solely in terms of attributes,
without regard to the segregated object. The
word, in fact, which evokes a symbolic response
is perhaps evoking the result of a generalization
that occurred so easily in the first place for the
very lack at the time of a segregating nomen-
clature.
In conclusion it might be said that a predic-
tion which follows from this hypothesis, namely
that the subliminal stimulus depends for its
effect upon the' facilitation' of a long-standing
• connection ' between the object and its name,
has been put to the test in a recent experiment
by the author. In this experiment two groups of
subjects were required to make guesses regard-
ing the identity of three subliminal stimulus
items presented visually. For one group the
three items used consisted of a vertical line, a
horizontal line, and a diagonal line. This group
were taught to refer to these lines as UP, FLAT
and SLOPE respectively. For the other group
the stimulus items consisted of the figures I, 2,
and 6 which they were instructed to refer to as
• one " • two " and • six' respectively. The
results confirmed the hypothesis in as much as
only the latter group who were making responses
that had long been associated with the stimulus
items showed their guesses to be influenced by
the subliminal stimulus.
• Autonomic Discrimination without Awareness: a
Study of Subception" Psychol. Rev., 58, 113.
(8) MILLER, J. G. (1940.) • The Role of Motiva-
tion in Learning without Awareness', Am. J.
Psychol., 53,229.
(9) - - . (1942.) Unconsciousness. (Wiley.)
(10) MULLAHY, P. (1948.) Oedipus: Complex
and Myth. (Hermitage.)
(11) NACHMANSOHN, M. (1925.) • Concerning
Experimentally Produced Dreams'. Translation
and Commentary in The Organization and Pathology
0/ Thought. D. Rapaport. (Columbia University
Press, 1951.)
(12) POETZL, .0. (1917.) • Experimentell erregte
Traumbilder in ihren Beziehungen zum indirekten
Sehen '. Ztsch. [. Neurl. und Psychiat., 37, 278.
(1909); theeffect whereby thought processes immediately
prior to sleep regress to a primitive level of symbolic
representation.
Copyrighted Material. For use only by UniMelbourne. Reproduction prohibited. Usage subject to PEP terms &
conditions (see terms.pep-web.org).

170 N. F. DIXON
(13) ROFFENSTEIN, G. (1924.) 'Experiments on
Symbolization in Dreams '. Translation and Com-
mentary in The Organization and Pathology of
Thought. D. Rapaport. (Columbia University
Press, 1951.)
(14) SCHROETIER. K. (1911.) , Experimental
Dreams'. Translation and Commentary in The
Organization and Pathology of Thought. D. Rapa-
port. (Columbia University Press, 1951.)
(15) SILBERER, H. (1909.) 'Report on a Method
of Eliciting and Observing certain Symbolic Hallu-
cination-phenomena ',Jhb. Psa. Psychopath. Forsch.,
1,513.
(16) WILLIAMS, A. C. (1938.) 'Perception of
Subliminal Visual Stimuli', J. Gen. Psychol., 5--6,
187.
(Received 3 June, 1955)
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