A new method of exploring the unconscious: results of an interdisciplinary study

Describes the results of an interdisciplinary study of the unconscious, obtained by a new method. Deciphering the features of the layers of the unconscious (by analyzing an anagram, a complete or a selective phonograms) on the material of 11000 Russian-language texts of the XII-XXI centuries (or their excerpts) allowed to identify and study phenomena of the unconscious: subpersonalities of the childlike and adult Self, the archetypal universal matrix (the material substrate of which is in the Amygdala), narrative codes that construct the "fate of the hero", levels of subjectness, etc. A hypothesis has been put forward about the relationship between impaired unconscious perception of certain signal sounds and various mental pathologies. Areas of application of this method are mentioned: from a description of the patient's inner world to attribution of literary works, understanding of the national mentality and revealing the deep value attitudes of "players" in the historical arena.

Forming of spontaneity and creativity during playback theater activities

Finding the solution of many problems requires from person an ability of quick unconscious perception. Between spontaneity and creativity, there are both positive and negative relationships. In accordance with the authors’ forming program, the participants were equated with Playback actors with only difference that the actors aim to improve their skills while the participants develop their spontaneity. The authors have built the forming program which contained a set of training and developmental exercises and games aimed at developing spontaneity, attention and creative thinking. Six interconnected blocks of the forming program structure were characterized (Introduction; The development of spontaneity through creativity; The development of spontaneity through tolerance to uncertainty; The development of spontaneity through autonomy; Generalization and combination; Summing up). Its effectiveness was analyzed with help of an initial and final survey of participants. During the study, the participants’ level of spontaneity increased.

Consumers’ Perceptions and Evaluations of Luxury and Luxury Brands

This chapter takes a critical look at concepts for measuring the perception and evaluation of luxuries by consumers. After a short clarification of the multifaceted relationship between consumers and luxury brands, the first focus lies on the presentation of relevant and much-noticed measurement concepts. The critical discussion of these approaches reveals three challenges that need to be mastered by future research: (1) the relevant points of reference for the perception and evaluation of luxury goods need to be identified in a more differentiated and systematic way; (2) the interplay between conscious and unconscious perception and appraisal must be considered; last but not least (3) the resulting perceived value of luxury brands should be recorded in a much more differentiated manner. Subsequently, the chapter mainly offers first proposals to close the highlighted research gaps.

Contents of Unconscious Color Perception

In the contemporary discussions concerning unconscious perception it is not uncommon to postulate that content and phenomenal character are ‘orthogonal’, i.e., there is no type of content which is essentially conscious, but instead, every representational content can be either conscious or not. Furthermore, this is not merely treated as a thesis justified by theoretical investigations, but as supported by empirical considerations concerning the actual functioning of the human cognition. In this paper, I address unconscious color perception and argue for a negative thesis—that the main experimental paradigms used in studying unconscious color perception do not provide support for the position that conscious and unconscious color representations have the same type of content. More specifically, I claim that there is no significant support for the claim that unconscious vision categorically represents surface colors.

Unconscious perception and central coordinating agency

One necessary condition on any adequate account of perception is clarity regarding whether unconscious perception exists. The issue is complicated, and the debate is growing in both philosophy and science. In this paper we consider the case for unconscious perception, offering three primary achievements. First, we offer a discussion of the underspecified notion of central coordinating agency, a notion that is critical for arguments that purportedly perceptual states are not attributable to the individual, and thus not genuinely perceptual. We develop an explication of what it is for a representational state to be available to central coordinating agency for guidance of behavior. Second, drawing on this explication, we place a more careful understanding of the attributability of a state to the individual in the context of a range of empirical work on vision-for-action, saccades, and skilled typing. The results place pressure on the skeptic about unconscious perception. Third, reflecting upon broader philosophical themes running through debates about unconscious perception, we highlight how our discussion places pressure on the view that perception is a manifest kind, rather than a natural kind. In doing so, we resist the tempting complaint that the debate about unconscious perception is merely verbal.

Looking behind eye-catching design: an eye-tracking study on wine bottle design preference

Purpose The purpose of this study is to find out how unconscious perception and conscious reactions differ when it comes to evaluate wine bottles in a shopping shelf. It was evaluated how attention is related to subjective evaluations of interest and value in the perception of wine bottle design choices. Design/methodology/approach The experiment combined implicit eye-tracking observations and a quantitative measurement on the assessment on wine bottle designs. In total, 37 participants rated eight different wine bottle designs based on their interest and assumed value, without any given information about the wines’ original price classification. Findings There is a significant difference between the perception of wine bottle designs. Eye-catchy designs do not automatically transform into a higher perception of value and interest towards the product. The unconscious perception of bottles and the conscious reaction differentiate. Research limitations/implications The greatest limitation, as with many other implicit studies, is the limited number of subjects and the associated limited validity. In addition, eight bottles in four categories were studied, which is adequate, but does not fully reflect the complexity of the wine market supply. Practical implications Manufacturers and wine label designers should challenge existing pre-disposition towards certain wine bottle design choices. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first German consumer study that focusses on unconscious perception (measured by implicit eye movement behaviour) and conscious reactions in the context of explicit value and interest evaluation.