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I don't like it because it eats sprouts: conditioning preferences in children
1Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9QH, UK. andyf@sussex.ac.uk
Behaviour Research and Therapy
|May 12, 2005
Summary
Children can learn preferences through classical conditioning. Associating novel cartoon characters with liked or disliked foods changed children's preferences for the characters, demonstrating early learning of evaluative responses.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Adult research indicates that preferences can be acquired via classical conditioning.
- Limited understanding exists regarding the development of preferences in childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether children can acquire preferences for novel stimuli through classical conditioning.
- To examine the persistence of conditioned preferences in children.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments exposed children to novel cartoon characters paired with liked (ice cream) or disliked (Brussels sprouts) foods.
- Preferences were measured before and after conditioning using relative preference ratings and affective priming.
- Preference persistence was assessed after 10 unreinforced trials.
Main Results:
- Children showed decreased preference for characters paired with Brussels sprouts.
- Children showed increased preference for characters paired with ice cream.
- These conditioned preferences remained stable after 10 extinction trials.
Conclusions:
- Preferences for novel stimuli can be effectively conditioned in children.
- Conditioned preferences in children result from learned associations between stimuli and their affective valence.