Two studies were conducted to determine whether positively toned words, negatively toned words, and nonsense syllables, projected subliminally over TAT cards on a screen, would influence the emotional tone of stories told to these TAT cards. In the first experiment stimuli presented below the level of awareness failed to affect the emotional tone of TAT stories. In the second experiment the ambiguity of the TAT slides was markedly increased, and stories told to these slides did reflect the influence of the different incidental stimuli. However, the emotional impact inherent in the different TAT cards was still stronger