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Implicit misattribution of evaluative responses: contingency-unaware evaluative conditioning requires simultaneous
Mandy Hütter1, Steven Sweldens
1Psychologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. mandy.huetter@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|September 6, 2012
Summary
Evaluative conditioning (EC) can alter attitudes unconsciously. Unaware EC effects emerge only when stimuli are presented simultaneously, not sequentially, supporting dual-process learning theories.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Learning Science
Background:
- Evaluative conditioning (EC) can modify attitudes without conscious awareness of stimulus contingencies.
- Implicit misattribution of evaluative responses is a proposed mechanism for unaware EC.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a theoretical explanation for unaware EC effects.
- To identify stimulus simultaneity as a boundary condition for unaware EC.
- To differentiate between contingency-aware and contingency-unaware EC effects.
Main Methods:
- Manipulating the simultaneity of conditioned and unconditioned stimulus presentations.
- Employing a process dissociation procedure to measure awareness.
- Utilizing a multinomial model to analyze EC effects.
Main Results:
- Unaware EC effects were absent with sequential stimulus presentations.
- EC effects occurred without contingency awareness when stimuli were presented simultaneously.
- Findings support the hypothesis that stimulus simultaneity is crucial for unaware EC.
Conclusions:
- Unaware evaluative conditioning is dependent on the simultaneous presentation of stimuli.
- The findings support dual-process theories of learning and memory.
- Implicit misattribution is a key mechanism in unaware attitude formation.
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