Abstract
The idea that choices can have a constructive effect has received a great deal of empirical support. The act of choosing appears to influence subsequent preferences for the options available. Recent research has proposed a cognitive model based on quantum probability (QP), which suggests that whether or not a participant provides an affective evaluation for a positively or negatively valenced stimulus can also be constructive and so, for example, influence the affective evaluation of a second oppositely valenced stimulus. However, there are some outstanding methodological questions in relation to this previous research. This paper reports the results of three experiments designed to resolve these questions. Experiment 1, using a binary response format, provides partial support for the interaction predicted by the QP model; and Experiment 2, which controls for the length of time participants have to respond, fully supports the QP model. Finally, Experiment 3 sought to determine whether the key effect can generalize beyond affective judgements about visual stimuli. Using judgements about the trustworthiness of well-known people, the predictions of the QP model were confirmed. Together, these three experiments provide further support for the QP model of the constructive effect of simple evaluations.
Highlights
There is a great deal of support for the constructive effects of choice, the phenomenon whereby the process of choosing influences the subsequent decision (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5,6])
The circumstances in which a judgement may be seen as constructive have been extended by White et al [8,9]. They describe a cognitive model based on quantum probability (QP) and empirical evidence, which suggests constructive effects for simple affective evaluations, so that articulating how one feels about a positively or negatively valenced stimulus leads to constructive effects
A model based on QP principles was proposed by White et al [8,9] to explain the results observed in their experiments, namely that whether or not someone articulates an affective evaluation for a positively or negatively valenced stimulus can influence how an oppositely valenced stimulus is rated
Summary
There is a great deal of support for the constructive effects of choice, the phenomenon whereby the process of choosing influences the subsequent decision (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5,6]). A second methodological question concerns the amount of time that participants had to process the images in the different conditions in the three experiments reported in White et al In the double rating condition, they saw the first image for 5 s and had no limit on the amount of time they could take before providing their response. As for White et al.’s [9] previous experiments, as the valence of the images had been established in the pilot study, we excluded four participants whose ratings for the first rated images in the double rating condition were over 1 s.d. below the mean for positive adverts
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