Related Experiment Videos
Evaluative learning with "subliminally" presented stimuli
J de Houwer1, H Hendrickx, F Baeyens
1University of Leuven, Belgium. Jan.DeHouwer@psy.kuleuven.ac.be
Consciousness and Cognition
|March 1, 1997
Summary
Implicit evaluative learning occurs even when affective stimuli are presented subliminally. This research demonstrates that affective associations can be learned without conscious awareness.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Evaluative learning involves associating a neutral stimulus (NS) with an affective stimulus (AS), altering the NS's evaluation.
- Previous research suggests evaluative learning may occur implicitly, without conscious awareness of the AS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether evaluative learning can occur when affective stimuli (AS) are presented subliminally.
- To examine the role of conscious awareness and discrimination of AS in evaluative learning.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments were conducted, varying the presentation duration and detectability of the affective stimulus (AS).
- Participants' evaluative responses to a neutral stimulus (NS) were measured after its association with an AS.
- A meta-analysis combined data from the current experiments and prior studies.
Main Results:
- Significant evaluative learning was observed when AS were presented too briefly to be noticed or discriminated.
- No significant learning effects were found in experiments where AS were more detectable.
- Meta-analysis confirmed a small but reliable evaluative learning effect for subliminally presented AS.
Conclusions:
- Evaluative associations can be learned implicitly, even when affective stimuli are not consciously perceived.
- Subliminal affective stimuli can influence evaluations, supporting theories of implicit associative learning.