Motivation modulates the effect of approach on implicit preferences

We like it ‘cause you take it: vicarious effects of approach/avoidance behaviours on observers

We present five studies investigating the effects of approach and avoidance behaviours when individuals do not enact them but, instead, learn that others have performed them. In Experiment 1, when participants read that a fictitious character (model) had approached a previously unknown product, they ascribed to this model a liking for the object. In contrast, they ascribed to the model a disliking for the avoided product. In Experiment 2, this result emerged, with a smaller effect size, even when it was clear that the behaviours followed specific instructions from a third party. The model had been a mere executor instead of behaving autonomously. Finally, in Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we showed, with direct and indirect measures of attitudes, that reading that the model had approached vs avoided products was sufficient to create preferences in the participant for the approached one, regardless of whether it was explained that the model was a mere executor. This research highlights the largely unexplored effects of vicarious approach/avoidance behaviours. Theoretical and practical implications and possible developments of this line of research are discussed.

Effect of metabolic state on implicit and explicit responses to food in young healthy females

Recent neuroscience research has delineated key psychological components of reward: wanting, liking and learning. Each component is further divided into explicit and implicit processes. While explicit processes are consciously experienced, implicit processes are not always directly accessible to conscious inspection. In the present study, we investigated the effect of metabolic state on implicit and explicit responses and their relationship in food context, especially when foods and visually matched non-food items are contrasted, and when foods in a sole food context but differing in energy content (high-energy - low-energy) or taste (sweet - savoury) were contrasted. Sixty healthy non-obese females participated in the study in fasted and fed states. Three Implicit Association Tests were used to assess implicit associations. Explicit liking and wanting ratings were assessed by visual analogue scales. In the implicit food-non-food context, food was preferred over non-food items both in fasted and fed states, though the strength of implicit associations declined significantly from fasted to fed state. However, the direction or strength of implicit associations was not significantly different between the metabolic states when comparing concepts within food context only, differing in energy content or taste. Instead, explicit responses reflected the change in the metabolic state in a manner consistent with alliesthesia and sensory-specific satiety. The results of the present study suggest that implicit associations are relatively resistant to acute change in the metabolic condition compared to explicit ratings, which shift more readily according to the fasted-fed continuum. The shift in the prevailing metabolic state was, however, reflected in the strength of implicit responses towards food in relation to non-food items, yet in the sole food contexts implicit associations were comparable between the fasted and fed states.

The influence of pre-training evaluative responses on approach-avoidance training outcomes

Approach-avoidance training (AAT) has been shown to be effective in both clinical and laboratory research. However, some studies have failed to show the effects of AAT. Therefore, finding moderators of the AAT effect is a priority for further research. We investigate the moderating effect of pre-training evaluative responses towards familiar AAT targets. In particular, we test predictions: (a) that congruent responses (i.e. approach to positive targets and avoidance of negative targets) increase liking, whereas incongruent responses decrease liking; (b) that training is more effective when it can strengthen existing positivity or negativity; and (c) that ambivalence increases AAT effects. Two experiments (total N = 132) implemented an AAT with local soft-drink brands after measuring initial positive/negative explicit evaluative components and implicit liking towards the brands. Results show no reliable evidence for training effects on consumption or rating of drinks, but participants showed more implicit liking of approached drinks than avoided drinks. Furthermore, the magnitude of implicit liking measured pre-training was positively related to the size of the training effect. Ambivalence had no direct effect on the training outcomes. These results partially support the congruency prediction and underline the importance of implicit liking prior to AAT as a moderator for AAT effects.

How Do Actions Influence Attitudes? An Inferential Account of the Impact of Action Performance on Stimulus Evaluation

Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have shown that the performance of specific actions (e.g., approach and avoidance) in response to a stimulus can lead to changes in how that stimulus is evaluated. In contrast to the reigning idea that these effects are mediated by the automatic formation and activation of associations in memory, we describe an inferential account that specifies the inferences underlying the effects and how these inferences are formed. We draw on predictive processing theories to explain the basic processes underlying inferential reasoning and their main characteristics. Our inferential account accommodates past findings, is supported by new findings, and leads to novel predictions as well as concrete recommendations for how action performance can be used to influence real-world behavior.