Human evaluative conditioning: acquisition trials, presentation schedule, evaluative style and contingency awareness

Two roads leading to the same evaluative conditioning effect? Stimulus-response binding versus operant conditioning

Evaluative Conditioning (EC) refers to changes in our liking or disliking of a stimulus due to its pairing with other positive or negative stimuli. In addition to stimulus-based mechanisms, recent research has shown that action-based mechanisms can also lead to EC effects. Research, based on action control theories, has shown that pairing a positive or negative action with a neutral stimulus results in EC effects (Stimulus-Response binding). Similarly, research studies using Operant Conditioning (OC) approaches have also observed EC effects. The aim of the present study is to directly compare EC effects elicited by two different response-based approaches - S-R bindings and OC. To this end, participants were randomly assigned to an S-R binding procedure and an OC procedure. EC effects were measured in conditions and compared. Implications for EC theory are discussed.

Feeling more neutral? Evaluative conditioning can increase neutral affective reactions

ABSTRACTWhile it is important to learn what is good and bad, can people learn what is neither? The answer to this question is not readily apparent, but it has important implications for how people learn affective responses. Six experiments examined whether evaluative conditioning (EC) can instill neutral affect. They tested four hypotheses: EC, in which novel conditioned stimuli (CSs) are paired with neutral unconditioned stimuli (USs) (1) creates neutral affect, (2) forms stronger experiences of neutrality when the number of contingent CS-US pairings is high rather than low, (3) creates positive affect, due to mere exposure, and (4) forms responses that are distinct from no US pairings. Respondents rated how positive, negative, and neutral they felt about a CS before and after an EC task in which CSs were paired with USs (positive, negative, neutral, or no stimuli). The positive/negative US conditions increased/decreased positivity, decreased/increased negativity, and decreased neutrality ratings, respectively. Supporting hypotheses 1, 2, and 4, the neutral US, but not the no US, condition increased neutral evaluations when respondents experienced a high (vs. low) number of CS-US pairings. Hypothesis 3 was not supported. The results reveal that people learn not only valenced, but also neutral, preferences.

Tackling Costly Fearful Avoidance Using Pavlovian Counterconditioning

Avoidance behavior constitutes a major transdiagnostic symptom that exacerbates anxiety. It hampers fear extinction and predicts poor therapy-outcome. Pavlovian counterconditioning with a reward could alleviate avoidance better than traditional extinction by reducing negative valence of the feared situation. However, previous studies are scarce and did not consider that pathological avoidance is often costly and typically evolves from an approach-avoidance conflict. Therefore, we used an approach-avoidance conflict paradigm to model effects of counterconditioning on costly avoidance (i.e., avoidance that leads to missing out on rewards). Results from our preregistered Bayesian Mixed Model analyses in 51 healthy participants (43 females) indicated that counterconditioning was more effective in reducing negative valuation and decreasing costly avoidance than traditional extinction. This study supports application of a simple counterconditioning technique, shows that its efficacy transfers to more complex avoidance situations, and suggests treatment may benefit from increasing reward drive in combination with extinction to overcome avoidance. Application in a clinical sample is a necessary next step to assess clinical utility of counterconditioning.

Extinction of negative conditioned stimulus valence in human fear conditioning

Fear conditioning is a common experimental paradigm for modelling the development, and exposure-based treatment, of anxiety disorders. Measures of fear such as threat-expectancy, physiological arousal, and fear ratings typically extinguish, however feared stimuli may still be evaluated negatively (i.e. retain negative valence). This systematic review provides the first investigation of the relationship between fear conditioning methodology and extinction of negative stimulus valence. Principal findings were that type of CS (conditioned stimulus) and the CS-US pairing (i.e. specific combination of CS and unconditioned stimulus) predicted extinction outcome. Extinction of absolute negative CS valence was always achieved with shape CSs; often achieved with low fear-relevant animals as CSs, and less frequently achieved with faces as CSs - particularly neutral faces paired with a shock US. Modified extinction procedures typically achieved the same outcome as standard extinction procedures, except for partially-reinforced extinction, which was less effective than standard extinction, and positive imagery training, which was more effective than standard extinction. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the influence of fear conditioning methodology on extinction of absolute negative CS valence.

Disgust and fear reactions uniquely affect intrusions and posttraumatic stress symptoms

Disgust reactions commonly occur during/following trauma and predict posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Yet, disgust is not mentioned in DSM-5 PTSD criteria. To investigate disgust's clinical significance in PTSD, we measured the relationship between disgust (and fear) reactions to a personal trauma, and problematic intrusion characteristics (e.g., distress) and intrusion symptom severity. We focused on intrusions because they are a transdiagnostic PTSD symptom, though we also measured overall PTS symptoms to replicate prior work. Participants (N = 471) recalled their most traumatic/stressful event from the past six months. They then rated disgust and fear reactions to this event and completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5. Participants who had experienced intrusions about their event in the past month (n = 261) rated these intrusions on several characteristics (e.g., distress, vividness). We found stronger traumatic event-related disgust reactions were associated with more problematic intrusion characteristics, higher intrusion symptom severity, and higher overall PTS symptom severity. Notably, disgust reactions uniquely predicted these variables after statistically controlling for fear reactions. We conclude disgust reactions to trauma may be similarly pathological to fear reactions for intrusion and broader PTS symptoms. Therefore, PTSD diagnostic manuals and treatments should recognize disgust as a trauma-relevant emotion.

Attribution Impacts Implicit (And Explicit) Evaluations

Two studies examined whether the attributional framing of negative events affected explicit evaluations, as measured by differences in liking, and implicit evaluations, as measured by the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., 1998). In Study 1, participants read negative information about a novel target ordered to elicit internal or external attributions. Participants in the internal attribution condition evaluated the target more negatively than did those in the external attribution condition on both implicit and explicit measures. Study 2 replicated these results and tested the effects of attribution on recently formed negative evaluations. Participants who evaluated targets before and after receiving additional negative information about them demonstrated implicit and explicit evaluative change consistent with the attributional framing of that information. This research provides clear evidence that attribution influences the formation and change of implicit evaluations; however, these effects were weaker than those on explicit measures of evaluation.

Evaluative Conditioning: Past, Present, and Future

Evaluative conditioning (EC) research investigates changes in the evaluation of a stimulus after co-occurrence with an affective stimulus. To explain the motivation behind this research, this review begins with an overview of the history of EC research, followed by a summary of the state of the art with respect to three key questions. First, how should EC procedures be used to influence evaluation? We provide a guide based on evidence concerning the functional properties of EC effects. Second, how does the EC effect occur? We discuss the possible mediating cognitive processes and their automaticity. Third, are EC effects ubiquitous outside the lab? We discuss the evidence for the external validity of EC research. We conclude that the most important open questions pertain to the relevance of EC to everyday life and to the level of control that characterizes the processes that mediate the EC effect after people notice the stimulus co-occurrence.

Learning of affective meaning: revealing effects of stimulus pairing and stimulus exposure

Charles E. Osgood's theory of affective meaning defines affect as interplay of three meaning dimensions - evaluation, potency, and activity - that represent the central constituents of our affective ecology. Based on a rigorous Brunswikian sampling procedure, we selected a representative set of stimuli that mirror this ecology. A germane informative analysis explicates and corroborates the sampling approach. We then report two experiments testing whether these dimensions of affective meaning can be learnt by means of stimulus pairing and stimulus exposure. Our findings yield evidence for (1) stimulus pairing effects on evaluation and activity, and (2) stimulus exposure effects on potency and activity. Overall, the findings reveal that stimulus pairing and stimulus exposure differentially influence the learning of dimensions of affective meaning. We discuss implications of this research for current emotion theories as well as its contribution to research in the cognition-emotion interface. Finally, we argue that the implementation of representative design by virtue of Brunswikian sampling promotes theory development and opens new research avenues for an original and creative science of cognition and emotion.

All I Need Is Two: The Clinical Potential of Adding Evaluative Pairing Procedures to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Changing Self-, Body- and Food-Related Evaluations

Pairing procedures are among the most frequently used paradigms for modifying evaluations of target stimuli related to oneself, an object, or a specific situation due to their repeated pairing with evaluative sources, such as positive or negative images or words. Because altered patterns of evaluations can be linked to the emergence and maintenance of disordered cognitions and behaviors, it has been suggested that pairing procedures may provide a simple yet effective means of complementing more complex intervention approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Here, we summarize recent studies that explored the clinical potential of pairing procedures for improving self-esteem, body satisfaction, and food and consumption preferences. While no study has yet combined pairing procedures with CBT, there are several successful examples of pairing procedures in clinically relevant domains and clinical populations. We discuss potential sources of heterogeneity among findings, provide methodological recommendations, and conclude that pairing procedures may bear clinical potential as an add-on to classical psychotherapy.

Attitudinal Effects of Stimulus Co-occurrence and Stimulus Relations: Paradoxical Effects of Cognitive Load

Research suggests that evaluations of an object can be jointly influenced by (a) the mere co-occurrence of the object with a pleasant or unpleasant stimulus (e.g., mere co-occurrence of object A and negative event B) and (b) the object's specific relation to the co-occurring stimulus (e.g., object A starts vs. stops negative event B). Three experiments investigated the impact of cognitive load during learning on the effects of stimulus co-occurrence and stimulus relations. Counter to the shared prediction of competing theories suggesting that effects of stimulus relations should be reduced by cognitive load during learning, effects of stimulus relations were greater (rather than smaller) under high-load compared with low-load conditions. Effects of stimulus co-occurrence were not significantly affected by cognitive load. The results are discussed in terms of theories suggesting that cognitive load can influence behavioral outcomes via strategic shifts in resource allocation in response to task-specific affordances.

Transfer of negative valence in an episodic memory task

Emotion can color what we perceive and subsequently remember in myriad ways. Indeed, it is well established that emotion enhances some aspects of memory, while impairing others. For example, a number of recent episodic memory studies show that emotion-particularly negative emotion-weakens associative memory, including item-item associations. Other literature shows that emotion biases our later attitudes and preferences. That is, the coincident pairing of a negative stimulus with a neutral one can reduce one's preference for that neutral stimulus upon subsequent encounter-a 'transfer of valence' effect. In an effort to connect these two phenomena, here we ask if and under what circumstances they co-occur. Across multiple experiments, we show that negative emotion impairs associative memory for item-item pairings, in accordance with prior work. We also show a transfer of valence effect in this paradigm, such that items paired with negative versus neutral stimuli are subsequently rated as less pleasant. Our data further show that transfer of valence is contingent on episodic memory. These findings highlight the complexity and multifaceted nature of emotional effects on memory.

Automatic processes in evaluative learning

This special issue of Cognition and Emotion assembles recent advances in theorising and empirical research on the automaticity of evaluative learning. Based on a taxonomy of automatic processes in evaluative learning, we distinguish between processes that are involved in translating evaluative experiences into evaluative mental representations (acquisition), and processes that translate these representations into evaluative biases in perception, thought, and action (activation and application). We emphasise that automaticity concerns the operating conditions of these processes (unawareness, unintentionality, uncontrollability, efficiency), not their operating principles, and thus can vary within specific processes (e.g. inferences can occur in either an automatic or non-automatic fashion). We review and discuss contemporary theories and methodological approaches to automatic processes in evaluative learning against the backdrop of our framework, and we highlight the contributions of the papers of this special issue to the question whether and when evaluative changes can occur in an automatic manner.

Affective evaluation of images influences personality judgments through gaze perception

Faces that consistently shifted the gaze to subsequent target locations in a gaze cueing task were chosen as being more trustworthy than faces that always looked away from the target, suggesting that the validity of a gaze cue influenced the viewers' judgments regarding the trustworthiness of human faces. We investigated whether the gaze cueing effect and judgments regarding the personality conveyed by a face would be affected by the valence of a target. A face image moved its eyes to the left or the right, and an emotional target image (positive, negative, or neutral) appeared to left or right of the face. Participants had to indicate the location of this target by pressing a key. The target image was preceded by a face that shifted its gaze to the target image (valid cue), a face that directed its gaze to the opposite side (invalid cue), or a face that did not move its eyes (no cue). The perceived trustworthiness of the face was evaluated after the gaze-cueing task. Results showed that faces that looked at positive targets were evaluated as more trustworthy than faces that looked at negative targets. However, the valence of the targets did not affect trustworthiness ratings in invalid and no-cue conditions. We suggest that integrated information about the predictability of the gaze cue and the valence of the gaze target modulates impressions about the personality of the face.

The influence of extinction and counterconditioning procedures on operant evaluative conditioning and intersecting regularity effects

One of the most effective methods of influencing what people like and dislike is to expose them to systematic patterns (or 'regularities') in the environment, such as the repeated presentation of a single stimulus (mere exposure), two or more stimuli (evaluative conditioning (EC)) or to relationships between stimuli and behaviour (approach/avoidance). Hughes et al. (2016) J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 145, 731-754. (doi:10.1037/xge0000100) found that evaluations also emerge when regularities in the environment intersect with one another. In this paper, we examined if evaluations established via operant EC and intersecting regularities can be undermined via extinction or revised via counterconditioning. Across seven pre-registered studies (n = 1071), participants first completed a learning phase designed to establish novel evaluations followed by one of multiple forms of extinction or counterconditioning procedures designed to undo them. Results indicate that evaluations were-in general-resistant to extinction and counterconditioning. Theoretical and practical implications along with future directions are discussed.

Distinguishing the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge in evaluative conditioning

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to a change in liking of a conditioned stimulus (CS) subsequent to its repeated pairing with a valent stimulus (US). Two studies that bring new light on the highly debated question of the role of awareness in EC were conducted. We developed an innovative method motivated by higher order and integration theories of consciousness to distinguish between the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge about the pairings. On each trial of the awareness test, participants had to indicate the valence of the US associated with a given CS and to make a 'structural knowledge attribution' by reporting the basis of their response. Valence identification accuracy was used to evaluate knowledge while the knowledge attribution was used to measure the conscious status of knowledge. Memory attribution indicated conscious knowledge about the pairings while feeling-based and random attributions indicated unconscious knowledge. A meta-analysis of the two studies revealed that valence identification accuracy was above chance level for memory and feeling-based attributions but not for the random attribution. EC was found in the three attributions. While EC effect size was medium for the memory attribution it was small for feeling-based and random attributions. Moreover, Experiment 2 included a delayed test. EC was still present 24 h after the conditioning took place. The results obtained for memory and feeling-based attributions suggest that both conscious and unconscious knowledge may underlie EC. The results obtained for random attribution suggest that EC may also occur without any knowledge of US valence.

Behavioral and neural processes in counterconditioning: Past and future directions

Counterconditioning refers both to the technique and putative process by which behavior is modified through a new association with a stimulus of an opposite valence. Similar to extinction, counterconditioning is considered a form of inhibition that interferes with the expression of the originally learned response without erasing it. But whereas interest in extinction continues to rise, counterconditioning has received far less attention. Here, we provide an in-depth review of counterconditioning research and detail whether counterconditioning is any more effective than extinction at preventing relapse of the originally learned behavior. We consider the clinical implications of counterconditioning, describe recent neurobiological and neuroimaging research in this area, and consider future avenues in need of further investigation.

Conditioning is More Than Association Formation: On the Different Ways in Which Conditioning Research is Valuable for Clinical Psychology

Cognitively-oriented clinical psychologists sometimes think of conditioning as the formation of associations in memory. From this perspective, conditioning research is important because it reveals the conditions under which potentially pathogenic associations are formed and can be changed. In this paper, I point out that it is also possible and useful to think of conditioning in ways that do not refer to associations. First, based on the idea that conditioning effects are due to the formation of propositional beliefs, it is possible to appreciate that conditioning research informs us about one way of forming or revising beliefs: via the experience of events. Second, conditioning research reveals the environmental causes of behavior and behavior change and thus has merit regardless of ideas about the cognitive processes and representations that mediate conditioning. By discussing these different perspectives on conditioning as well as the way in which they are related, I hope to provide the reader with a wider appreciation of the merits of conditioning research for clinical psychology.

Exploring Positive Classical Conditioning Procedure Effects on Evaluations of Children, Thoughts About Children, and Behaviors Toward Children: Two Experiments

Exposing parents to a positive classical conditioning (+CC) procedure can (a) prompt positive evaluations of children, (b) alter judgments made about children from their behavior, and (c) reduce harsh behaviors enacted toward children. Two studies explored possible limits of these effects. Results from Study 1 showed that only some +CC effects evinced in prior research emerged when the positive trait words used as the unconditioned stimuli in prior research were replaced with positive emojis. Results from Study 2 showed with positive trait word stimuli that a backward +CC procedure produced many of the same effects produced by the forward +CC procedure. These results collectively support the idea that +CC procedures may simultaneously prompt several different kinds of learning. From a practical perspective, consideration of these various kinds of learning is important to an understanding of when the use of the +CC procedure might reduce child abuse risk.

Trust development as an expectancy-learning process: Testing contingency effects

Trust in parental support and subsequent support seeking behavior, a hallmark of secure attachment, result from experiences with sensitive parents during distress. However, the underlying developmental mechanism remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that trust is the result of an expectancy-learning process condtional upon contingency (the probability that caregiver support has a positive outcome). We developed a new paradigm in which a novel caregiver provides help to solve a problem. Contingency of the caregiver's support was manipulated and participants' trust in the caregiver and their help seeking behavior was measured in three independent samples. The hypothesis was supported suggesting that trust and support seeking result from an expectancy-learning process. These findings' potential contribution to attachment theory is discussed.

Are Attitudes Contagious? Exposure to Biased Nonverbal Signals Can Create Novel Social Attitudes

Prior work has established that nonverbal signals that capitalize on existing cultural biases can shift attitudes toward members of familiar social groups (e.g., racial minority group members). This research is the first to examine whether nonverbal signals can influence adults’ attitudes toward unfamiliar individuals outside the context of existing cultural biases. In a series of studies, we examined whether seeing one individual receive more cold, unfriendly nonverbal signals than another individual would lead to biases in favor of the target of more positive nonverbal signals. Consistent with our preregistered hypotheses, exposure to nonverbal bias in favor of one individual over another led participants to develop nonverbal signal-consistent explicit biases. Moreover, a combined analysis of the data from all four samples indicated that participants also formed nonverbal signal-consistent implicit biases. Taken together, these findings suggest that nonverbal signals have the potential to create and spread attitudes toward others.

The influence of misinformation manipulations on evaluative conditioning

We tested the influence of misinformation on evaluative conditioning (EC) by giving false information about the contingencies between CS and US stimuli after a conditioning procedure. This was done by asking participants questions about the USs while inaccurately suggesting that some CSs had been paired with a US that had the opposite valence than the US it had actually been paired with. For CS-US pairs from other conditions, accurate suggestions or no suggestions at all were given to participants. This manipulation significantly moderated EC effects. For pairs that were combined with inaccurate information we found a reversed EC effect, while we found a standard EC effect for both pairs combined with no suggestions and pairs combined with accurate suggestions. Additional analyses showed that the misinformation manipulation also moderated memory for the pairs. These results show that misinformation manipulations cannot only influence explicit memory but also attitudes. Furthermore, and in line with some theories of EC, they support the relevance of explicit memory for EC effects.

A Model of Attribute Conditioning

We present a model of attribute conditioning, the phenomenon that people’s assessment of stimuli’s specific attributes (e.g., a person’s characteristics) changes due to pairings with other stimuli possessing these specific attributes (e.g., another "athletic" person). These changes in attribute assessments go beyond evaluation changes due to these pairings (i.e., evaluative conditioning effects). We provide a short historical overview of the phenomenon and the available data. Then we present a potential mental model of the effect: We assume attribute conditioning to be a form of stimulus-stimulus learning. CS-US pairings establish an enduring referential link between CS and US. We present an associative as well as a distributed memory variant of this referential link. Based on this model, we provide the answers to the specific questions that guide the present special issue. Finally, we discuss the relation of evaluative and attribute conditioning.

Why Does Co-Occurrence Change Evaluation? Introduction to a Special Issue on Evaluative Conditioning

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Simple First: A Skeleton for an Evaluative Learning Model

Simple firstis our name for a set of hypotheses that we have found useful in our research on evaluative learning. The hypotheses are: (1) It is easier to encode and retrieve information that two concepts are linked than information about how they are linked; (2) It is easier to store and retrieve information than to make an inference based on that information; (3) When people encounter an object and memory activates valence that is mentally linked to that object, they consider the activation valid evidence that the activated valence characterizes the object. We demonstrate how these hypotheses generate useful assumptions about Evaluative Conditioning, and open paths for further research on evaluative learning and evaluation.

What You Feel Is What You See: A Binding Perspective on Evaluative Conditioning

In this paper, we outline the predominant theoretical perspectives on evaluative conditioning (EC)—the changes in liking that are due to the pairing of stimuli—identify their weaknesses, and propose a new framework, the binding perspective on EC, which might help to overcome at least some of these issues. Based on feature integration theory (Treisman & Gelade, 1980, https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(80)90005-5) and the theory of event coding (TEC; Hommel, Müsseler, Aschersleben, & Prinz, 2001, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X01000103), we assume that EC depends on a selective integration mechanism that binds relevant CS, US, and action features into an event-file, while simultaneously inhibiting features irrelevant for current goals. This perspective examines hitherto unspecified processes relevant to the encoding of CS-US pairs and their consequences for behavior, which we hope will stimulate further theoretical development. We also present some preliminary evidence for binding in EC and discuss the scope and limitations of this perspective.

Successful differential evaluative conditioning using simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures in the picture–picture paradigm

This paper describes a study designed to investigate the efficacy of two traditional classical conditioning procedures in generating evaluative conditioning (EC) in the picture–picture paradigm in human participants. Differential EC was found using both simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures. In addition, the use of a block–subblock (BSB) nonpaired control condition and full counterbalancing of conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus (CS–UCS) pairings across participants indicated that the observed EC effects were the result of associative learning. Examination of whether successful conditioning could take place with or without conscious awareness of CS–UCS contingencies was inconclusive. The results provide evidence for EC as an associative process and also provide some insight into the possible conditioning parameters that might successfully generate EC.

Generalization Effects in Evaluative Conditioning: Evidence for Attitude Transfer Effects from Single Exemplars to Social Categories

The present research investigated whether evaluatively conditioned attitudes toward members of a social category (CSs) generalize to other stimuli belonging to the same category as the CSs (generalization at the stimulus level) and to the category itself (generalization at the category level). In four experiments, USs were paired with schematic or naturalistic CSs belonging to certain fictitious groups. Afterward, attitudes toward the CSs, toward non-presented exemplars of the CS category, and toward the CS category were assessed. Results revealed evidence for generalization effects in EC on both the stimulus and the category level. Transfer effects were greater when participants’ awareness of the CS–US contingency (CA) was high. Moreover, we found differences in generalization between the stimulus and category level, indicating that different processes might contribute to the effects. Theoretical and practical implications such as using EC as a tool for changing attitudes toward social groups will be discussed.

The Moderating Impact of Distal Regularities on the Effect of Stimulus Pairings

Throughout much of the past century psychologists have focused their attention on a seemingly simple question: How do people come to like or dislike stimuli in the environment? Evaluative Conditioning (EC) - a change in liking due to the pairing of stimuli - has been offered as one avenue through which novel preferences may be formed and existing ones altered. In the current article, we offer a new look at EC from the perspective of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS) and, more specifically, Relational Frame Theory (RFT). We briefly review the EC literature, introduce Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), Relational Frame Theory (RFT), and then describe a behavioral phenomenon known as arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). Afterwards, we examine the relationship between EC and AARR. This novel perspective offers ways to organize existing as well as predict new EC effects, contributes to debates on "genuine" EC, human versus nonhuman EC, and further facilitates the development and refinement of cognitive theories of EC.

Evaluative conditioning increases with temporal contiguity. The influence of stimulus order and stimulus interval on evaluative conditioning

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a change in valence that is due to pairing a conditioned stimulus (CS) with another, typically valent, unconditioned stimulus (US). This paper investigates how basic presentation parameters moderate EC effects. In two studies we tested the effectiveness of different temporal relations of the CS and the US, that is, the order in which the stimuli were presented and the temporal distance between them. Both studies showed that the size of EC effects was independent of the presentation order of CS and US within a stimulus pair. Contrary to classical conditioning effects, EC effects are thus not most pronounced after CS-first presentations. Furthermore, as shown in Experiment 2, EC effects increased in magnitude as the temporal interval between CS and US presentations decreased. Experiment 1 showed largest EC effects in the condition with simultaneous presentations - which can be seen as the condition with the temporally closest presentation. In this Experiment stimuli were presented in two different modalities, which might have facilitated simultaneous processing. In Experiment 2, in which all stimuli were presented visually, this advantage of simultaneous presentation was not found. We discuss practical and theoretical implications of our findings.

Affective learning in adults with intellectual disability: an experiment using evaluative conditioning

BACKGROUND

Evaluative conditioning is a form of affective learning in which initially neutral stimuli acquire an affective value through association with negative or positive stimuli. Recent research shows an important role for cognitive resources in this type of learning. This form of affective learning has rarely been studied in intellectual disability (ID).

METHOD

We examined evaluative conditioning in 16 adults with mild to moderate ID compared to age- and gender-matched control participants. Neutral shapes and symbols were repeatedly paired with positive, neutral or negative unconditioned stimuli (faces or International Affective Picture System images). There was also an extinction phase.

RESULTS

There was significant acquisition of conditioning in both groups. Stimuli paired with positive images were evaluated more positively, and stimuli paired with negative images were evaluated more negatively. Post-extinction ratings however show that these novel affective associations were not maintained by individuals with ID as much as by individuals in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that ID modulates some aspects of affective learning but not necessarily initial preference acquisition.

Improving Exercise Adherence and Physical Measures in English-Speaking Latina Women

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological data have established that lack of physical activity increases risk factors for chronic diseases. Data also suggests that physical activity participation is lowest in minority women, particularly Latinas, and that the nature of the exercise and attitudes toward exercise may influence exercise adherence. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hypertrophy training (HT) or power training (PT) used concomitantly with evaluative conditioning (EC) or neutral conditioning (NC) on exercise adherence as well as in physical and psychosocial variables in Latina women. EC is a behavioral method using paired stimuli to develop and strengthen new associations in memory.

METHODS

Two hundred thirty-one English-speaking Latina women (mean ± SD, age 36.8 ± 15.9 years) were randomly assigned to standard HT or high-speed circuit PT and then further stratified to receive EC or NC.

RESULTS

One hundred forty-two Latina women completed pre- and posttesting. For HT, EC produced significantly greater exercise time across the training period than NC. HT and PT both significantly improved all physical, functional, and psychosocial variables, with exception of leg extension and usual gait speed (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

EC can positively impact exercise adherence during HT in Latina women; while body composition, neuromuscular, and functional performances can be increased using HT and PT independent of psychological conditioning.