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The subliminal mere exposure effect does not generalize to structurally related stimuli.

Ben R Newell1, James E H Bright

  • 1Department of Psychology, University College London. b.newell@ucl.ac.uk

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology = Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale
|April 4, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Subliminal mere exposure effects did not generalize to structurally related stimuli, failing to support implicit learning. When participants were unaware of exposure, structural similarity blocked familiarity effects.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Implicit Learning
  • Perception

Background:

  • Subliminal mere exposure effects are thought to influence preferences.
  • Generalization of these effects to related stimuli could indicate implicit learning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if subliminal mere exposure effects generalize to structurally related stimuli.
  • To test Bornstein's (1994) claim regarding implicit learning.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments used artificial grammar letter strings.
  • Masked exposure to grammatical strings was followed by recognition and preference tests.

Main Results:

  • Experiment 1: Masked exposure impaired recognition but did not yield a mere exposure effect for related strings.

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  • Experiment 2: Mere exposure effects were found only when identical strings were used at test.

    • Conclusions:

    • Structural relationships between training and test items inhibit mere exposure effects when awareness is absent.
    • The findings provide no evidence for implicit learning through generalized subliminal mere exposure.