Failure to Uncover the Effects of Unconscious Symbiotic Fantasies on Heart Rate and Fine Motor Performance

Abstract

18 men and 18 women were tachistoscopically shown the stimuli MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, DADDY AND I ARE ONE, and MYMMO NAD I REA ENO, at subjective thresholds (subliminal condition) and at 500 msec. (supraliminal condition). Following exposure to each stimulus, subjects performed a fine motor line-tracing task. Heart rate was monitored continuously during stimulus presentation and the fine motor task. Analysis showed subjects did not respond more positively with decreased heart rate or fewer errors on the fine motor task following the MOMMY message than the anagram phrase, thereby providing no support for the hypotheses. No correlation was found between responsiveness to the MOMMY message and scores on measures of self-perception and kinship. In the light of mounting negative evidence, the validity of the method of subliminal psychodynamic activation is questioned.

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