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General Psychology Science Fair Project

Subliminal Messages and Color Choice

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Subliminal Messages and Color Choice | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Can a hidden message change what you choose without you knowing? You record two versions of the same music. One version has a quiet embedded message repeating that orange candy tastes best. The other has no hidden message at all. Forty participants listen to their assigned recording five times a day for five days. On day six, each person picks 5 pieces from a mix of orange, yellow, blue, and green candy. The group that heard the hidden message picks orange more often than the group that did not.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that persons exposed to subliminal messages will more likely respond accordingly to the information contained in the messages.

Method & Materials

You will need to record some songs with an embedded message that “Orange colored M&Ms taste better than the other colors” being repeated in the background. You will then divide the participants into two groups and have them listen to the recordings for five days. On the sixth day, the participants will be given 20 pieces of M&M each and asked to choose five out of the 20 pieces given to them.
You will need 20 boys and 20 girls age 12 who have their own stereo sound systems with CD players, or iPods (or equivalent MP3 players), an MP3 recorder/player with sufficient memory storage, 40 blank recordable CDs, and 200 pieces of each color of M&M.

Eureka Crateengineering & invention kits for ages 12+ — monthly projects that build real-world skills. (Affiliate link)

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Results

The results of the experiment showed that the group exposed to the embedded message had a preference for the orange colored M&Ms compared to the other colors. There was no specific tendency towards a specific color choice for the participants in the group not exposed to the embedded message.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it explores the effects of subliminal messaging, which is a controversial subject. It also provides insight into how our subconscious minds can be influenced by messages that our conscious minds may not agree with.

Also Consider

Variations of this experiment could include testing different types of messages, different age groups, or different lengths of exposure.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

Related videos

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