Cue competition in evaluative conditioning as a function of the learning process.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Learning and Memory
• Affective Science

Background:

• Evaluative conditioning (EC) alters stimulus valence via pairings with affective stimuli.
• Previous research suggests EC is resistant to cue competition effects like blocking and overshadowing.
• The role of contingency learning in EC's susceptibility to cue competition remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if contingency learning type influences cue competition in EC.
• To compare EC effects under inferential learning versus rapid response conditions.
• To examine the impact of learning tasks on blocking and overshadowing in EC.

Main Methods:

• Participants underwent evaluative conditioning using different learning tasks.
• One task promoted inferential learning (US prediction), the other rapid response to US.
• Evaluative judgments, contingency awareness, and implicit evaluations were measured.

Main Results:

• Standard EC effects were observed across all conditions.
• Overshadowing was evident in EC effects under inferential learning conditions.
• Explicit evaluations showed no blocking, but contingency judgments and implicit evaluations did.

Conclusions:

• The extent of cue competition in EC is contingent upon the type of learning involved.
• Inferential learning facilitates overshadowing in EC, while explicit evaluations may be insulated from blocking.
• Absence of blocking in explicit evaluations might stem from post-conditioning inferential processes during testing.