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The Reality Distortion Field Is Real

Posted by kdawson on from the roped-tied-and-branded dept.

TimeZone writes "Apparently, even subliminal exposure to the Apple logo can make you 'think different.' Researchers at Duke University subjected participants to subliminal images of the iconic Apple and IBM logos (during what subjects thought was a visual acuity test), and those who were shown the Apple logo generated more creative ideas after the test than did those who were shown the IBM logo. In a second test, subjects exposed to the Disney logo acted more honestly than those who saw an E! Channel logo." Here's a preprint of the paper (PDF) due for publication in the Journal of Consumer Research.

27 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, but... by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nobody ever got fired after staring at the IBM logo.

    1. Re:Yeah, but... by Naughty+Bob · · Score: 5, Funny

      The same cannot be said of Ubuntu.

      --
      "Be light, stinging, insolent and melancholy"
  2. So.. by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 5, Funny

    What does the "Microsoft" logo do to you (down there)?

    --
    1. Re:So.. by CodeBuster · · Score: 5, Funny

      You have a sudden and irresistible urge to pick up the chair that you are sitting in and throw it across the room while repeating the mantra, "developers, developers, developers".

    2. Re:So.. by Hinhule · · Score: 5, Funny

      Personaly I just stop breathing until I get blue in the face.

  3. Logos by doctortommy · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and the Microsoft logo caused test subjects to experience extreme confusion and frustration.

  4. Other logos by slashdotlurker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft - made you more likely to be cruel to little animals
    Tux - made you grown a long beard and lose all your friends
    Novell - made you betray your friends
    Democrat donkey - made you find new ways to destroy yourself
    Republican elephant - made you question the value of an education

    What is next ?

    "Judge, I crashed my car because I stared at a Ferrari logo for too long." ?

    1. Re:Other logos by webmaster404 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tux - made you grown a long beard and lose all your friends

      I'm assuming your talking about Stallman in which case it would be the GNU not Tux. Rule Number 1 of geek humor: Be accurate.
      --
      There is no "disagree" moderation, and troll, flamebait and overrated are not valid substitutes
    2. Re:Other logos by Draconix · · Score: 5, Funny

      Slashdot logo - made you move back into your mother's basement.

      --
      By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
    3. Re:Other logos by Mox-Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

      QED.

    4. Re:Other logos by Trespass · · Score: 5, Funny

      Adobe- Makes you try and think of new ways to make the internet slower

    5. Re:Other logos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You appear to have two rule number 1s there.

  5. Yaa! CreativIty can be measured now! by mikeabbott420 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or maybe this study is a steaming pile of platypus dung. See that there? Platypus Dung? that's creativity baby!

    --
    This program was made possible by a grant from the Ultra-Humanite, and viewers like you.
    1. Re:Yaa! CreativIty can be measured now! by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Informative

      Indeed. This is not a scientific study, it's a bunch of marketers trying to "prove" that what they do matters. Journal of Consumer Research? Surely no conflict of interest there. In other news, a study backed by McDonald's proves that their food is actually good for you! Film at 11. The Journal of Consumer Research is a peer-reviewed academic journal put out by the University of Chicago Press. Some people can claim that it isn't "real science" or whatever, but the researchers certainly follow the scientific method and this study, like others published in the journal, has survived a peer review process overseen by its credentialed editorial staff.
    2. Re:Yaa! CreativIty can be measured now! by porcupine8 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Because obviously if you didn't know about any ways of measuring creativity, it means that there can't possibly be an entire field devoted to creativity research that's spent decades operationalizing aspects of it and developing valid and reliable tests for it?

      Which isn't to say we can measure it with 100% accuracy or that there's no debate still about what it is, what should be included, etc etc. But it's so nice of you to completely dismiss out of hand the very idea of measuring it in any way.

      --
      Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
  6. I knew it! by vodevil · · Score: 5, Funny

    I see my apple logo on my laptop all the time. People always tell me I'm full of shit, but I always explain that I'm full of great ideas. Now I have proof that I'm the one that's right, and they're full of shit.

    1. Re:I knew it! by vodevil · · Score: 5, Funny

      That wasn't very creative. You must have just viewed the IBM logo.

    2. Re:I knew it! by VisceralLogic · · Score: 5, Funny

      I see my apple logo on my laptop all the time. People always tell me I'm full of shit, but I always explain that I'm full of great ideas. Now I have proof that I'm the one that's right, and they're full of shit.

      Maybe because if you're seeing the Apple logo, you're looking at the wrong side of the screen...

      I keed, I keed... typing this from my MacBook.

      --
      Stop! Dremel time!
    3. Re:I knew it! by SEWilco · · Score: 5, Funny

      I see my apple logo on my laptop all the time.
      Open your laptop more often.
  7. RDF, not in the logos! by countSudoku() · · Score: 5, Funny

    The RDF emanates from The Steve, not the Apple logo. Unless, of course, The Steve laid hands upon the device bearing the logo. It's all right in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field

    --
    This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
  8. and the playboy bunny logo... by bagboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    has what reaction?

    1. Re:and the playboy bunny logo... by Jimmy+King · · Score: 5, Funny

      turns you furry?
      On your palms, anyway.
  9. Windows logo? by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 5, Funny

    By extrapolating these results, I assume that those shown a Windows logo got into their car, drove extremely slowly while telling those behind them to "please wait," and then crashed into a telephone pole due to a driver problem.

  10. Apple is just the new Microsoft by Heembo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple is the new Microsoft, Microsoft is the new IBM.

    --
    Horns are really just a broken halo.
  11. It's a refleciton of pre-test scores by Ieshan · · Score: 5, Informative

    The research is neat, but essentially what they're showing is that they can validate pre-test measures of "creativity" and "honesty" using a priming technique.

    They chose the brands that they chose because Apple was rated as more creative a brand than IBM in pre-test:

    "As predicted, there was a significant difference in the extent to
    which Apple and IBM were perceived to be creative, t(23) = -4.91, p .001, with Apple receiving
    higher ratings (M = 7.62, SD = 1.23) than IBM (M = 4.17, SD = 2.12). Thus, pilot tests confirmed that in
    our college sample, Apple is believed to be more creative than is IBM. IBM, it is important to note, is
    not seen as particularly creative or uncreative; it is rated at approximately the mid-point of the scale."

    And because Disney is rated as being more "honest" than E!:
    "As predicted, there was a significant difference in the extent to
    which Apple and IBM were perceived to be creative, t(23) = -4.91, p .001, with Apple receiving
    higher ratings (M = 7.62, SD = 1.23) than IBM (M = 4.17, SD = 2.12). Thus, pilot tests confirmed that in
    our college sample, Apple is believed to be more creative than is IBM. IBM, it is important to note, is
    not seen as particularly creative or uncreative; it is rated at approximately the mid-point of the scale."

    It's not showing that people subliminally exposed to the Apple logo - regardless of prior beliefs - will be spontaneously more creative. It's showing that people spontaneously exposed to things that they (at least, a similar sample) feel reflect creativity will prime, behaviorally, creativity.

    It doesn't mean that people who work with Apple are more productive, or that people need to buy Apple to be creative. It's a neat implementation of priming on future behavior, but it's really showing that specific brands are associated with specific traits (and that those specific traits prime actions).

  12. Experiment 1 is flawed.... by Ardeaem · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As a researcher doing research in the field of subliminal perception, I read their preprint with interest. However, their experiment 1 is flawed. The did the IBM and Apple priming tasks on DIFFERENT DAYS. Which days, they do not say, but it is likely that there are differences in days of the week with respect to how "creative" people are. In my research, we fail to detect any subliminal effects of the type discussed here - the literature is full of methodological problems. I suspect their effect is a methodological artifact, as well.

    They don't mention whether exps 2 and 3 were done on different days, but given that they did it for expt 1, they probably did for 2 and 3 too.

  13. Hogwash. Hooey. Hokum. by jpellino · · Score: 5, Funny

    As a scientist familiar with subliminal perception and the power of brands, I'd like to say: Bunk. Unless You Make Equal All Prior Observations, "Research" Simply Can't Harbor Effects.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."