Directions:
Read the passage. Then click on the inference that is most firmly based on the given facts in the
selection
1. (1) Can people be influenced by information of which they are not consciously aware? (2) The
answer is a qualified yes. (3) For example, in one study an experimental group was exposed to a
subliminal list of words related to competition, whereas a control group was exposed to a
subliminal list of neutral words. (4) The words were flashed on a screen too rapidly for
participants to identify them. (5) But later, when they played a game, participants from the
experimental group were especially competitive. (6) In another study, one group of participants
was subliminally exposed to words conveying honesty (a positive trait), and another group, to
words conveying meanness (a negative trait). (7) Then, all the participants were asked to read a
neutral description of a woman and then assess the woman's personality characteristics. (8)
Members of the first group gave her more positive ratings, whereas members of the second
group tended to judge the woman more harshly. (9) A review of more than 50 such studies
found that subliminal presentations of "comfort" phrases tended to reduce feelings of anxiety,
hostility, and threat, and to promote recall of more positive memories.
1. We can infer from the passage that subliminal means
a. disagreeable.
b. difficult to understand.
c. beneath the level of consciousness.
m