Three replications of a doirble-blind experiment tested siibliminal airdiotape products that were claimed to itnprove memory or to increase selfesteem. Conditions of use adhered to tnatiirfacturers' recommettdariotis, arid subjects (N = 237) were limited to persons who desired the effects offered by the tapes. Actual content arid labeled content of tapes were itidepetidetitly varied, so that some siibjects who believed they were using memory tapes were actirally using self-esteem tapes, and vice versa. After a month of use, neither the mentory nor the self-esteem tapes produced their claimed effects. Nevertheless, a general improvement for all subjects in both memory and self-esteem (a nonspecific placebo effect) was observed, and tnore than a third of the subjects had the illrision of improvement specific to the domain named on the tape's label.Subliminal self-help (SSH) audiotapes are widely advertised as being able to produce many desirable effects, including weight loss, smoking cessation, anxiety reduction, and improvement of sexual function. In ordinary use, purchasers of SSH tapes know and desire the target effect, which is clearly marked on the tape label and in accompanying literature. However, in listening (perhaps daily) to the tape, the user may hear nothing relevant to the target effect. The audible content of the tape typically consists of relaxing material, often music or recorded nature sounds.T h e r e a r e numerous reports of claimed therapeutic effects of subliminal audiotapes, but no such report has apAddress correspondence to A.G. Greenwald, Dept. of Psychology, NI-25, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. Telep h o n e : ( 2 0 6 ) 5 4 3 -7 2 2 7 , e m a i l : agg@u.washington.edu. peared in a competitively refereed psychology journal. Further, many of these reports have been produced by researchers associated with manufacturers of the tapes (Becker see review by Eich, in press).The present research was conducted to provide a rigorous assessment of therapeutic effectiveness of selected SSH audiotapes. Four aspects of procedure were essential to the experimental protocol. First, a double-blind method was used in order to separate effects of subliminal content from possible placebo effects. Second, conditions closely resembled the conditions of ordinary use of SSH tapes, in order not to omit contextual aspects of the ordinary procedure that might be necessary to claimed effects. Third, the research used subjects who were motivated to achieve the goals claimed by the tapes, because such motivation is plausibly a precondition for occurrence of claimed effects and is a condition that applies generally in the marketplace. And, fourth, the research used both pretest and posttest measures of status relative to the target goals, in order to obtain the increased sensitivity afforded by analyses of covariance with pretests used as covariates.Among the target goals for which SSH tapes were available from several manufacturers, improving memory and increasing self-esteem were selected both because...
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