Unconscious fantasies are often inferred from behavior in the treatment situation, but they rarely appear in a form that can be

measured or studied for long periods. Taking advantage of the fact that a subliminal stimulus is, by definition, outside of awareness, it was hypothesized that it would provide a point of entry for the unconscious fantasy, much as the day residue is believed to enable the unconscious wish to emerge in the dream. With such a mediating subliminal stimulus, we would expect that the unconscious fantasy would appear in consciousness in a relatively undistorted form. Inferences about the underlying fantasy, based on these derivatives, would, accordingly, be less subject to error.