Evaluative Conditioning Effects Research Articles

Stimulus-Stimulus Versus Stimulus-Valence Learning in Evaluative Conditioning: Insights on the Ecological Conditions of Unconditioned Stimulus Revaluation Effects

Previous research into the influence of postconditioning revaluation of unconditioned stimuli (USs) on evaluative conditioning (EC) effects produced inconsistent results. One potential factor determining the sensitivity of EC to US revaluation is whether conditioned stimuli (CSs) get linked to valence (stimulus-valence learning) or the specific USs (stimulus-stimulus learning). The present research tested the ecological conditions of stimulus-valence learning and thereby US revaluation. In a sequential procedure, Experiment 1 paired CSs with either different USs of the same valence (one-to-many pairings) or the same US repeatedly (one-to-one pairings). Although EC effects were equally large, US revaluation effects and memory for CS-US pairings were reduced for one-to-many compared to one-to-one pairings. Experiments 2 and 3 presented one-to-many pairings in a forward versus backward manner but found the two versions of a sequential pairing procedure equally effective in inducing stimulus-valence learning. We present potential learning mechanisms underlying the outcomes and discuss approaches to their investigation.

The role of evaluatively conditioned stimuli in iconic memory

In the present study, an attempt was made to replicate results found about the influence of valence on prioritisation and decay in iconic memory. Hereby, the evaluative conditioning effect was used to induce valence for formerly neutral stimuli. The effect is gained by pairing neutral stimuli with either positive, negative, or neutral images in a conditioning phase. Afterwards, the conditioned stimuli acted as targets in an iconic memory test. In the iconic memory test, targets were presented together with seven other stimuli on a circular placement on the screen for a short time. A cue delayed by either 17, 68, 221, 493, or 1003 ms pointed at the target to be reported. Participants rated the targets before and after the conditioning phase. In addition, the affective and neutral images used in the pairing procedure were rated at the end of the experiment. While no significant change in rating could be observed for the conditioned targets, a significant effect of conditioned valence was still present in the response times and the accuracy of the iconic memory test. Participants reacted the quickest in response to a cue for positively conditioned targets compared to neutral or negatively conditioned targets. Accuracy was highest for positively conditioned targets and was lowest for negatively conditioned targets. Unlike in prior studies, slower decay of information in iconic memory for negative targets was not revealed. Further research should be conducted to identify reasons for this inconsistency.

The influence of repetitive thoughts of CS-US pairing on expectancy learning and evaluative conditioning: a fundamental study.

Repetitive thinking is a common phenomenon, also implicated in a variety of mental disorders. The content of repetitive thoughts can take the form of prediction of aversive events (in worry) or evoking negatively valenced information (in rumination), for instance. Investigating the influence of repetitive thinking through the lens of associative learning could help deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved in its effects.In two experiments, non-clinical participants were exposed to CS-US pairings with the aim of creating non-threatening expectancy learning (Experiment 1) or evaluative conditioning (Experiment 2). After each conditioning trial, participants were instructed to initiate repetitive thoughts about the pairing (i.e. rehearse) or follow control instructions.Experiment 1 (N = 64) showed that such intervention strengthen the association between the mental representations of the CS and the US, leading to a stronger US expectancy in response to the CS. In Experiment 2 (N = 107), an evaluative conditioning effect was observed; however, it was not influenced by instructions.The study demonstrated that simulated repetitive thinking strengthens the CS-US association and leads to greater US expectancy in expectancy learning, despite appearing not to influence the evaluative conditioning effect. The potential implications of these findings on repetitive thinking are discussed.

The interplay of multiple unconditioned stimuli in evaluative conditioning: A weighted averaging framework for attitude formation via stimulus co-occurrences.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a key effect in attitude formation, leading to changes in the liking of neutral attitude objects due to their pairing with positive or negative stimuli. Despite EC's significance, current theories and most empirical findings are limited to stimulus pairings with a single affective stimulus at a time. In contrast, social environments often involve more complex combinations of affective stimuli. In this article, we introduce a novel framework grounded in information integration research to understand how conditioned attitudes develop in the presence of multiple affective stimuli. Through 10 experiments with different designs, measures, materials, and pairing procedures, we find that individuals' conditioned attitudes follow the average valence of all affective stimuli present with a stronger weighting of negative stimuli. This weighted averaging rule bears two implications for EC in more complex stimulus combinations. First, EC effects are nonmonotonous, such that additional stimuli of the same valence do not produce incremental EC effects. Second, EC effects are interdependent, such that the impact of one stimulus is weakest when accompanied by another negative stimulus and strongest when no other affective stimulus is present. We examine different cognitive processes underlying this weighted averaging rule, including potential differences in pairing memory or changes in the affective stimuli's valence when other stimuli are present. Our findings present a novel theoretical perspective on EC and offer valuable insights into attitude change from stimulus co-occurrences in stimulus-rich environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Bridging the Gap Between Metamemory and Attitude Formation: Judgments of Learning Predict Evaluative Conditioning Effects Above and Beyond Memory

Evaluative Conditioning (EC), the change in liking towards a neutral stimulus due to its pairing with a positive/negative unconditioned stimulus, is a central effect in attitude formation. Current research emphasizes the role of explicit memory in EC. However, human memory is no passive information-storage device, but people actively monitor and control their own memory processes. In the present research, we examined whether people can monitor their memory processes in attitude formation via EC and let participants predict whether they will remember the stimulus pairings in the future (judgments of learning, JOLs). In seven preregistered experiments, judgments of learning predicted actual memory of stimulus pairings above chance, showing that people can indeed monitor their memory in EC. Higher JOLs were also associated with stronger EC effects. Surprisingly, actual memory explained this effect only to a small degree. Following a Brunswikian perspective, we identified several variables contributing to the correlation between JOLs and the EC effect, such as the extremity of the unconditioned stimuli, the fit between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, and the feeling of processing ease, which all correlated with higher JOLs and stronger EC effects. Further experiments showed the robustness of these effects across different boundary conditions, such as whether judgments and memory tests target the valence or the identity of the stimuli. Our results attest to the role of metamemory in attitude formation via EC, whereby expecting that one will remember a stimulus predicts actual memory but also the size of the EC effect over and above actual memory. By integrating two previously unrelated research areas, our studies provide important theoretical insights into both attitude formation and metamemory.

Experimental Evidence That Demand Characteristics Do Not Play a Dominant Role in the Evaluative Conditioning Effect

The evaluative conditioning (EC) effect has been documented in many experiments: Participants typically prefer stimuli that co-occurred with positive stimuli over stimuli that co-occurred with negative stimuli. The present research attempted to test whether demand characteristics are a dominant cause of the EC effect. In three experiments, we informed participants of the research hypothesis, sometimes indicating an expectation of a contrast effect, rather than an assimilative effect. That manipulation hardly moderated the EC effect. The manipulation influenced participants’ beliefs regarding the research hypothesis, although participants generally believed that an assimilative effect is a more plausible research hypothesis than a contrast effect. Even participants who believed that the researchers expected a contrast effect or assumed that stimulus co-occurrence typically causes a contrast effect still showed an assimilative effect. The results suggest that although demand characteristics might influence the EC effect, the overall influence of that factor is minor.

Two roads leading to the same evaluative conditioning effect? Stimulus-response binding versus operant conditioning

ABSTRACT Evaluative Conditioning (EC) refers to changes in our liking or disliking of a stimulus due to its pairing with other positive or negative stimuli. In addition to stimulus-based mechanisms, recent research has shown that action-based mechanisms can also lead to EC effects. Research, based on action control theories, has shown that pairing a positive or negative action with a neutral stimulus results in EC effects (Stimulus-Response binding). Similarly, research studies using Operant Conditioning (OC) approaches have also observed EC effects. The aim of the present study is to directly compare EC effects elicited by two different response-based approaches – S-R bindings and OC. To this end, participants were randomly assigned to an S-R binding procedure and an OC procedure. EC effects were measured in conditions and compared. Implications for EC theory are discussed.

Uncovering the potential of evaluative conditioning in shaping attitudes toward sustainable product packaging.

The necessity to promote pro-environmental behavior change in individuals and society is increasingly evident. This study aimed to investigate the effect of evaluative conditioning on consumers' perception of product packaging. We first produced two stimulus sets: one including images of supermarket products with different packaging and the other containing affective images of healthy nature (positive) and climate change impact (negative). These images were then paired in an evaluative conditioning experiment where respondents were informed about the impact of product packaging. We found an effect of conditioning depending on the initial sustainability perception that participants had toward product packaging. Pairing products for which participants were uncertain about their sustainability with negative or positive affective images had a significant effect on the sustainable associations of the consumers in a negative or positive direction, respectively. However, the impact of conditioning on products that clearly had (un)sustainable packaging was not that strong. These results provide new tools and evidence to further investigate the power of evaluative conditioning in pro-environmental attitude and behavior change.

When Learning Negative Brand Associations Leads to Positive Evaluations of Effectiveness

Abstract Research on associative learning suggests that marketers can enhance consumer attitudes by repeatedly pairing their brands with pleasant or “positively-valenced” stimuli (e.g., attractive models, babies, cute animals) rather than unpleasant or “negatively-valenced” stimuli (e.g., garbage cans and disgusting insects)—an evaluative conditioning effect also known as affect transfer. In this research, we combine the associative learning and the goal pursuit literatures to show that the influence of affect transfer on brands depends on the mindset that is active at the time of judgment. Four experiments and one field study uniquely demonstrate that negatively-valenced brand pairings may become desirable when consumers have an instrumentality mindset, which increases attention to the instrumentality, or effectiveness, of a given consumption behavior. This pattern of results occurs due to a bidirectional association between unpleasantness and instrumentality, making a brand with negative associations seem more effective. Results are robust across contexts (health, entertainment, news) and persist regardless of whether the (un)pleasant images are within or adjacent to the advertisement. The effect attenuates when consumers have a weaker association between unpleasantness and instrumentality, and reverses when consumers are cued to focus on favorability (vs. instrumentality). Contributions and implications for associative learning and brand management are discussed.

Unconstraining Evaluative Conditioning Research by Using the Reverse Correlation Task

In the evaluative conditioning effect, pairing neutral stimuli (conditioned stimuli) with valenced stimuli (unconditioned stimuli) changes the evaluation of the former. We examined this effect with a reverse correlation task that assesses how participants visually remember the conditioned stimuli. Importantly, this measure (1) does not require participants to evaluate stimuli and (2) allows them to capture multiple trait attributions. In a pre-registered experiment with US Prolific Academic users, we observed an evaluative conditioning effect in both an evaluation task and a reverse correlation task. Moreover, the effect in the reverse correlation task went beyond mere changes in valence. Our work opens new empirical and theoretical challenges for future conditioning research.

Disgust-reduction evaluative conditioning (DREC) and brain stimulation in patients with contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder: a protocol for a randomized control trial

BackgroundThe negative emotional valence of a stimulus can be altered if paired with a pleasant stimulus, a phenomenon referred to as evaluative conditioning. Disgust, as a central emotion in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in the contamination subtype, may be an appropriate target for such a method. We know that disgust processing and OCD pathophysiology share in some brain areas, including the orbitofrontal cortex, as the neuromodulation techniques targeted in this area have been able to decrease OCD symptoms. We aim to conduct a randomized clinical trial to investigate the evaluative conditioning effect on disgust reduction in patients with contamination-based OCD when administered with or without neuromodulation targeted orbitofrontal cortex.MethodIn a single-blind randomized control trial (RCT), 55 patients with contamination-based OCD will be randomly assigned to four arms. In a factorial design, they will receive 10 sessions of evaluative conditioning training (either sham or real) plus cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the orbitofrontal cortex (either sham or real). The intensity of disgust experience and clinical symptoms will be investigated as primary outcomes and quantitative electroencephalogram and cognitive functions as secondary outcomes. The data will be collected at three assessment levels: baseline, after completing intervention sessions, and 2-month follow-up.DiscussionThe present RCT is the first study that applies evaluative conditioning training in the OCD clinical sample. It will clarify the effect of the evaluative conditioning method alone and with tDCS on disgust reduction in patients with contamination-based OCD. It will provide initial evidence for such an emotion modulation method in the OCD population. The effect of this emotion-focused protocol on cognitive functions and electroencephalogram components is also of interest.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05907369. Registered on 16 June 2023. Retrospectively registered.

Sonic Influence on Initially Neutral Brands: Using EEG to Unveil the Secrets of Audio Evaluative Conditioning.

The present study addresses the question of whether explicit, survey-type measures of attitude differ in sensitivity when compared to implicit, non-conscious measures of attitude in the context of attitude changes in response to evaluative conditioning (EC). In the frame of a pre-test, participants rated 300 brand names on a Likert-type scale, the results of which were then used to create personalised lists of neutral brands. After this initial online component, the participants were exposed to one, five, and ten rounds of EC (during three separate sessions), during which half of the brands were paired with pleasant audio excerpts (positive EC) and the remainder were paired with unpleasant audio excerpts (negative EC). Following each conditioning round, the participants rated the brand names again, whilst changes in the brain's electrical activity in response to the brands were recorded via electroencephalography (EEG). After having rated the brand names, the participants also completed two implicit association tests (IAT; one for each of the neutral conditions). The results revealed that self-reported, explicit responses of brand names remained unchanged despite having been conditioned. Similarly, the IAT did not reveal any declines in reaction time. In contrast, the EEG data appeared to not only be sensitive to initial brand ratings, but also the conditioning effects of initially neutral brands. Respective neurophysiological effects were found at frontal electrode locations AF3 and AF4 for a 1 s-long time window starting at 400 ms after stimulus onset. Furthermore, the EEG revealed that changes in brand attitude are more susceptible to the effects of negative conditioning than positive conditioning. Given the rather small sample size, any generalizability seems vague, but the present results provide scientific evidence that EEG could indeed be a valuable additional method to investigate EC effects. The results of this study support the notion of utilising a multidimensional approach, inclusive of neuroscience, to understanding consumer attitudes instead of solely relying on self-report measures. In the end, the brain knows more than it admits to consciousness and language, which is why objective methods should always be included in any study.

WITHDRAWN: Four studies Yield limited evidence for prepared (disgust) learning via evaluative conditioning

Prepared learning accounts suggest that specialized learning mechanisms increase the retention of associations linked to ancestrally-prevalent threats. Few studies have investigated specialized aversion learning for pathogen threats. In four pre-registered studies (N's = 515, 495, 164, 175), we employed an evaluative conditioning procedure to test whether foods (versus to non-foods) are more readily associated with negative content associated with pathogens than negative content not associated with pathogens. Participants saw negatively valenced (either pathogen-relevant or -irrelevant), neutral or positively-valenced stimuli paired with meats and plants (in Studies 1 and 2) and with meats and abstract shapes (in Studies 3 and 4). They then evaluated each stimulus explicitly via self-reports (Studies 1–4) and implicitly via an Affect Misattribution Procedure (Studies 3 and 4). Linear mixed models revealed general evaluative conditioning effects, but little evidence for specialized (implicit or explicit) learning for a food-pathogen association. However, across Studies 2–4, participants who saw pathogen-relevant (vs. -irrelevant) negative stimuli at any point during evaluative conditioning evaluated the conditioned stimuli more negatively, regardless of whether that stimulus had previously been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Results speak against the hypothesis that evaluative conditioning effects are stronger for foods paired with disgust-eliciting images than for foods paired with other negative images.

A conditional judgment procedure for probing evaluative conditioning effects in the absence of feelings of remembering.

Attitude research has capitalized on evaluative conditioning procedures to gain insight into how evaluations are formed and may be changed. In evaluative conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., an unfamiliar soda brand) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) of affective value (e.g., a pleasant picture). Following this pairing, a change in CS liking may be observed (e.g., the soda brand is liked better). A question with far-reaching theoretical and practical implications is whether the change in CS liking is found when participants feel they do not remember the CS-US pairings at the time an evaluation is produced about the CS. Here, we introduce a new conditional judgment procedure-the two-button-sets (TBS) task-for probing evaluative conditioning effects without feelings of remembering about the valence of the US paired with the CS. In three experiments, the TBS is (1) is successfully validated; it is also used to (2) provide preliminary information on the feeling of remembering question, and (3) to examine an affect-consistent bias in memory judgments for CS-US pairings. Results do not support evaluative effects in the absence of feelings of remembering, and they oppose the view that affect-consistent bias is limited to memory uncertainty. We discuss these findings in light of previous evidence and of dual-learning models of attitudes. We also discuss limitations and research avenues related to the new procedure.

Just Playing the Role of Good Study Participants? Evaluative Conditioning, Demand Compliance, and Agreeableness

Evaluative Conditioning (EC) is the change in liking of stimuli due to their co-occurrence with other valenced stimuli. Recent research has shown stronger EC effects for more agreeable individuals. Because EC procedures are prone to demand characteristics, we hypothesized that more agreeable individuals might simply play the role of good study participants and therefore show stronger EC effects. We tested this in two preregistered experiments (N = 700). In Experiment 1, self-reported Agreeableness and a behavioral measure of Demand Compliance moderated EC. However, Agreeableness and Demand Compliance were uncorrelated, and the moderations were independent. Experiment 2 used an instructional EC paradigm, showing only a moderation by Demand Compliance but not Agreeableness. Our studies imply that although EC effects are related to Demand Compliance, more agreeable participants are not more likely to comply with demand characteristics in EC experiments.

From Deviant Likes to Reversed Effects: Re-Investigating the Contribution of Unaware Evaluative Conditioning to Attitude Formation

Evaluative Conditioning (EC) is the change in liking of an object due to its mere pairing with a positive/negative stimulus. A central question in EC research is whether EC effects also emerge without awareness of the stimulus pairings. This is often tested by asking participants after the conditioning whether an object had been paired with positive or negative stimuli. If participants’ answers in these memory measures mismatch with the US valence (e.g., “positive” response when an object was paired with a negative stimulus), the pairings are classified as unaware. The last decade of EC research has found mostly no evidence for unaware EC, and sometimes even reversed unaware EC effects when using such memory measures. The present work demonstrates that such valence memory measures underestimate unaware EC effects due to differences between the normed and the subjective US valence. In two simulation studies, a re-analysis of previous studies, and four preregistered experiments (N = 502), we assess when this bias is more or less severe, depending on common procedural variations in EC experiments. We also propose an improved memory measure of aware/unaware EC. Yet, even when the bias was reduced in the corrected measure, no evidence for unaware EC could be found. Overall, our research shows that unaware EC may be difficult to detect with valence memory measures. Also, they support current memory-based and propositional EC accounts.

Enjoy exercise more: The effects of dual-channel evaluative conditioning on implicit attitudes toward exercise.

Researchers have been looking for effective interventions to promote physical activity due to its great impact on both physical and mental health. In two studies, the current research investigated (1) whether evaluative conditioning could increase implicit attitudes toward exercise; (2) whether dual-channel evaluative conditioning had a greater influence compared to single-channel evaluative conditioning. In Study 1, results from 32 participants (7 males, 25 females; Mage = 19.470, SDage = 1.174) were used to compare the audiovisual dual-channel with the visual single-channel evaluative conditioning. In Study 2, we analyzed data from 100 participants (35 males, 65 females; Mage = 20.990, SDage = 3.141) and compared the visual-kinesthetic dual-channel with the visual single-channel evaluative conditioning. The results showed that individuals' implicit attitudes toward exercise were more positively affected by dual-channel than single-channel evaluative conditioning.

평가적 조건화가 흡연자의 담배에 대한 태도에 미치는 영향

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Evaluative Conditioning (EC) intervention techniques on smoking cessation intentions and changes in both implicit and explicit attitudes towards smoking. EC involves repeatedly associating target stimuli with emotional stimuli to induce automatic attitude transformations. Participants (n=52) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Positive Evaluation Conditioning (PEC), Negative Evaluation Conditioning (NEC), or Neutral Evaluation Conditioning (NC). The treatments involved establishing associations between emotional stimuli and smoking or smoking cessation stimuli. After the interventions, participants completed self-report questionnaires and a single target implicit association task to assess their attitudes. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in smoking cravings and positive attitudes towards smoking among participants who received negative evaluation conditioning training(time x group interaction effect, F=3.19, p<.05; F=3.30, p<.05.). These findings indicate that EC techniques effectively facilitate changes in automatic and implicit attitudes, which are influential factors in smoking behavior.

Japanese written pseudowords can be conditioned to Japanese spoken words with positive, negative, and active emotions.

This study aimed to examine whether Japanese participants condition spoken words' meanings to written pseudowords. In Survey 1, we selected spoken words associated with negative (α = .91) and positive (α = .79) features for Experiment 1 and passive (α = .90) and active (α = .80) features for Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, participants evaluated four written pseudowords' emotional valence using a 7-point semantic differential scale (1: negative; 7: positive) before and after conditioning spoken words with negative, neutral, or positive features to each pseudoword. In the conditioning phase, participants read each pseudoword, listened to a spoken word, and verbally repeated each spoken word. The results showed that a pseudoword was conditioned to spoken words with positive and negative features. In Experiment 2, participants evaluated four pseudowords' activeness using a 7-point semantic differential scale (1: passive; 7: active) before and after conditioning spoken words of passive, neutral, and active features to each written pseudoword. In the conditioning phase, the participants read each written pseudoword, listened to a spoken word, and repeated the spoken word. The results showed that the activeness evaluations were more increased for pseudowords conditioned to spoken words of active and neutral features after conditioning than before conditioning but were unchanged for a pseudoword conditioned to those with passive features before and after conditioning. Additonally, Survey 2's results showed that although the positiveness and activeness responses of the words used in Experiments 1 and 2 were controlled well, the lack of significant differences among positiveness responses of words may influence the evaluative conditioning in Experiment 2. That is, when participants condition passive (low arousal) words' activeness (arousal) ratings to those of pseudowords, words' positiveness (valence) ratings would be important in the evaluative conditioning. Our findings suggest that participants can condition spoken word meanings of preference and activeness to those of written pseudowords. It also indicates that linguistically evaluative conditioning's effects are robust in a non-alphabetic language.

Effect of emotion dysregulation and emotion regulation strategies on evaluative conditioning

Evaluative conditioning (EC) appears when a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly paired with a positive or negative unconditioned stimulus (US). Most studies on EC have focused on the influence of procedural factors (e.g., number of presentations) and awareness, while emotional factors have been understudied. However, literature shows that emotional processes could be involved. In this paper, we assume that, upon appraisal, the US elicits a particular emotion that is then paired with the CS. In this perspective, the ability to regulate emotions could modulate how individuals pay attention to stimuli, appraise them, and, more generally, use them. For these reasons, emotion regulation could be an interindividual moderator of the EC. To test this assumption, we explore whether (i) emotional dysregulation and (ii) emotional regulation strategies moderate EC effects. We conducted an integrative analysis (n = 236) based on two studies using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and an observational study using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (n = 128). Higher levels of emotional dysregulation were associated with less positive conditioning. Furthermore, the reappraisal strategy was associated with higher positive conditioning. Therefore, people differ in how they are conditioned (particularly positively conditioned), and part of it is because of emotion regulation differences. This contribution opens several new questions for the EC field to understand more precisely when and where these emotional processes are involved.