This article presents a study of the effects of tachistoscopic presentation of affective words on subjects' conceptualizations, intentions, and responses to a simulated client. The participants, 36 counseling students, were assigned randomly to one of the following treatments: (1) subliminal presentation of negative emotional concepts; (2) subliminal presentation of positive emotional concepts; (3) supraliminal presentation of positive emotional concepts. After the tachistoscopic presentations, all subjects were exposed to a simulated client, whom they were asked to evaluate, respond to, and report the cognitive intentions that guided their responses. Significant effects were found in the subliminal presentation of positive emotional concepts on subjects' conceptualizations, intentions, and responses. Some significant effects also were found for the supraliminal presentation, but only for the client evaluation measure.
University of Massachusetts, Amhersl
What relation is there among behaviors, cognitions, and unconscious processes in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy? This research presents a new methodology useful in the systematic analysis of the multiple processes that underly overt counselor and therapist behavior.
Influenced by the microcounseling (e.g., Ivey, 1971Ivey, , 1983) ) and the human resource models (e.g., Carkhuff, 1969), counseling and therapy process research, for the past 20 years, has focused on the understanding of behavioral processes, such as the effects of verbal and nonverbal skills (e.g., , skills across the process (e.g., and across theoretical orientations (e.g., Lee,