Subliminal perception is when a stimulus is registered by the appropriate sensory organ without that stimulus reaching conscious awareness. Far from the outrageous claims of subliminal persuasion in the 1950s, present research focuses on how features of our environment are processed outside of conscious awareness, and the effects of such processing. Subliminal perception has been demonstrated to have downstream effects on attitudes, judgments, and behavior. Such research gives us greater insight into the similarities and distinctions between conscious and unconscious processes.