🚀 go-pugleaf

			B.C. SKEPTICS MEETING

		   Wednesday 7 September, 7:30 pm

		      Psychology Seminar Room,
		    Classroom Complex 5202, SFU

		 The Selling of Subliminal Perception
		  Lessons from the Judas Priest trial

			     Dr Timothy Moore
		    Chair, Department of Psychology,
	       Glendon College of York University, Toronto

		        Open to the public, free.

A leading researcher who questions popular notions of subliminal perception,
Dr. Moore was an expert witness in the infamous Judas Priest Trial in the
US. He appeared on behalf of Columbia Records and the Heavy Metal band,
Judas Priest, defendants in a suit brought by the families of two adolescent
boys who were allegedly driven to suicide by subliminal satanic messages
imbedded in the rock group's recordings.
    The plaintiffs' experts included Wilson Bryan Key, whose paranoid fears
of manipulation by subliminal advertisers punctuate his pop-psychology
best-sellers, _Subliminal Seduction_ and _The Clam Plate Orgy_. While no
reputable scientist supports Key's belief in the power of such messages,
there were others, well-known psychologists who cannot plead ignorance of
the relevant research, who were nonetheless willing to add their weight to
the plaintiffs' case. Without their prestigious names and testimony that
flies in the face of the best scientific work in the field, it is doubtful
that the case would ever have made it to trial.
    Moore's descriptions of the trial bring into focus larger issues such as
the role and ethical conflicts of expert witnesses and the low levels of
scientific literacy of many judges. These are topics on which he spoke at
the recent Seattle CSICOP conference. In addition to hilarious verbatim
renditions of Wilson Bryan Key's sworn testimony at the trial and other
interesting details of the Judas Priest case, Tim Moore will present his own
research demonstrating the impotence of the subliminal self-help tapes
aggressively marketed to the unsuspecting public.

Note the change from our usual Friday evening slot to *Wednesday*--to
accomodate Tim Moore's travel schedule.

For more detailed directions to the Psychology Seminar Room, go to
    http://www.wimsey.com/BC_Skeptics/
and follow the "next meeting" link, or email ted@wimsey.com

Please email me if you wish further information about either the meeting 
or B.C. Skeptics.

-- 
ted@wimsey.com  ted@eslvcr.wimsey.com  (Ted Powell)