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Self-generated cognitive fluency: consequences on evaluative judgments
Ulrich von Hecker1, Paul H P Hanel2, Zixi Jin1
1School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Cognition & Emotion
|January 27, 2023
Summary
Forming mental models with spatial simulations influences liking. Easier-to-process elements within these models are preferred, demonstrating a link between cognitive fluency and positive affect.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Abstract reasoning often relies on mental models that simulate spatial relationships.
- These models represent elements along ordered dimensions, influencing how individuals process information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the process of forming and using spatial mental models affects the liking of their elements.
- To explore the role of processing fluency, specifically the Symbolic Distance Effect, in this phenomenon.
Main Methods:
- Participants processed unfamiliar ideographs and non-words arranged in linear-transitive arrays.
- The study manipulated the distance between elements within these arrays to vary processing fluency.
- Multiple experiments tested the effect, including ruling out alternative explanations and replicating findings.
Main Results:
- Elements that were easier to process due to larger distances in the mental model were liked more.
- This effect, termed the "Symbolic Distance Effect" (SDE), suggests processing fluency has a positive hedonic impact.
- The spatial effect emerged spontaneously after learning, even without explicit fluency tasks.
Conclusions:
- The ease of processing elements within spatial mental models directly influences their affective evaluation.
- Cognitive fluency derived from spatial simulations can lead to increased liking of abstract elements.
- Findings have implications for understanding how abstract reasoning and affect are intertwined.
Keywords:
Symbolic distance effect (SDE)cognitive fluencylinear ordersmagnitude processingspatial processingMore Related Videos
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