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The authors investigated the influence of realistic and symbolic sexual pictures, presented subliminally, on check list and drawing responses to a consciously perceived figure of ambiguous sex. Effects of the realistic figures of the genitals were highly consistent on both check list and drawing; the subjects tended either to incorporate or to exclude attributes of the subliminal figure in their impressions of the consciously seen figure. Symbols of genitals were significantly effective in influencing subjects' drawings, but this effect was not correlated with responses on the check list. Recognition thresholds for the genital figures were related to check list responsiveness, while thresholds for the symbolic figures were related only to responsiveness on the drawings. Findings imply that stimuli may acquire psychological representation without the subject's awareness, and subsequently affect cognitive and behavioral processes to a measurable degree. Principal effects, however, appeared only in subtle measures and were complicated by idiosyncratic interactions among the variables. This seemingly unstable phenomenon may imply that unconscious influences on perception are small under ordinary circumstances. Maximizing their effects might bring important theoretical issues into relief.