The Spence Holland Theory of Subliminal Perception: A Reexamination

Abstract

Two experiments replicated the Spence and Holland (1962) study which yielded positive support for a psychoanalytic theory of subliminal perception. In Experiment I groups were exposed to stimuli whose quality ranged from slightly above to well below the forced-choice detection threshold. In Experiment II groups were exposed to stimuli whose quality was at three different levels below the forced-choice detection threshold. Only one of the 10 experimental groups gave support to the Spence and Holland theory that subliminal stimuli affect retention of words by communicating with unconscious associations on the basis of meaning. An attempt to replicate this finding with a second group proved unsuccessful. Although some support may have been obtained for the contention that stimuli which are slightly above the forced-choice detection threshold affect retention of words on the basis of structural similarities between stimulus and words, the findings as a whole do not support the Spence and Holland psychoanalytic theory of unconscious perception.