A time course analysis of the affective priming effect

The argument that automatic processes are responsible for affective/evaluative priming effects has been primarily based on studies that have manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA; i.e., the interval between the onset of the prime and the onset of the target). Moreover, these SOA studies provide an insight in the time course of the activation processes underlying automatic affect/attitude activation. Based on a fine-grained manipulation of the SOA employing either the evaluative decision task (Experiment 1) and the pronunciation task (Experiment 2) we concluded that affective priming, and hence automatic affect activation, is based on fast-acting automatic processes. The results of Experiment 3 provide a valid explanation for an apparent discrepancy between the results of Experiments 1 and 2 and previous findings. Finally, the results of Experiment 3 support the prediction of Jarvis and Petty (1996) that affective priming effects should be stronger for participants who are more chronically engaged in conscious evaluations.     

Pay attention! Attention to the primes increases attitude assessment accuracy

We demonstrate that an oft-used indirect attitude assessment technique—the attitude activation paradigm—accurately assesses attitudes only when participants attend to the prime stimuli during the attitude activation task. Attitude activation attitudes toward obviously valenced words (e.g., torture, liberty) were more sensitive to attitude valence and extremity when participants were required to attend to the prime words than when they attended to a competing stimulus. As a result, we observed a significantly stronger correlation between attitude activation attitudes and a direct, self-report attitude measure when participants attended to the primes than when they ignored them. We conclude that failing to require participants to attend to the primes during the attitude activation task results in a flawed measurement, which could lead researchers to underestimate relations between the attitude activation measure and direct, self-report attitude measures.     

On the automatic activation of attitudes

We hypothesized that attitudes characterized by a strong association between the attitude object and an evaluation of that object are capable of being activated from memory automatically upon mere presentation of the attitude object. We used a priming procedure to examine the extent to which the mere presentation of an attitude object would facilitate the latency with which subjects could indicate whether a subsequently presented target adjective had a positive or a negative connotation. Across three experiments, facilitation was observed on trials involving evaluatively congruent primes (attitude objects) and targets, provided that the attitude object possessed a strong evaluative association. In Experiments 1 and 2, preexperimentally strong and weak associations were identified via a measurement procedure. In Experiment 3, the strength of the object-evaluation association was manipulated. The results indicated that attitudes can be automatically activated and that the strength of the object-evaluation association determines the likelihood of such automatic activation. The implications of these findings for a variety of issues regarding attitudes--including their functional value, stability, effects on later behavior, and measurement--are discussed.     

I like you,I like you not: Understanding the formation of context-dependent automatic attitudes

Previous research has shown that automatic evaluations can be highly context dependent. Expanding on past research demonstrating context effects for existing attitudes toward familiar objects, the present research examined basic principles that guide the formation of context-dependent versus context-independent automatic attitudes. Results from four experiments showed that: (a) newly formed attitudes generalised to novel contexts when prior experiences with the attitude object were evaluatively homogeneous; (b) when prior experiences were evaluatively heterogeneous, automatic evaluations became context sensitive, such that they reflected the contingency between the valence of prior experiences and the context in which these experiences occurred; and (c) when prior experiences were evaluatively heterogeneous across different contexts, novel contexts elicited automatic evaluations that reflected the valence of first experiences with the attitude object. Implications for research on automatic evaluation and attitude change are discussed.     

Attitude accessibility,attitude-behavior consistency,and the strength of the object-evaluation association

Two experiments were conducted in order to examine the accessibility of attitudes from memory as a function of the manner of attitude formation. The findings of the first experiment indicated that subjects could respond more quickly in a response-time task to inquiries about their attitudes when the attitudes were based upon direct behavioral experience with the attitude objects than when they were based upon nonbehavioral experience. It was suggested that, relative to indirect experience, behavioral experience may facilitate the attitude formation process and increase attitude accessibility once the attitude is formed. A second experiment found support for both of these notions. Two additional experiments indicated that repeated association of the attitude object and the attitudinal evaluation enhanced both attitude accessibility and attitude-behavior consistency. It was suggested that the strength of the object-evaluation association is a critical determinant of accessibility, which, in turn, acts as a central factor in the process by which attitudes affect later behavior. It was further suggested that the manner of attitude formation affects attitude-behavior consistency because direct experience produces a stronger object-evaluation association and, hence, a more accessible attitude than does indirect experience.     

作为情境变量的移情对暴力态度的影响

本研究将移情作为影响个体暴力态度的情境变量,通过对移情的启动来考察状态移情对暴力态度的影响。实验1在启动被试的移情感后,采用暴力IAT的方法考察被试内隐暴力态度的变化;实验2则在移情启动之后,用FMMU变态人格危险性评估问卷中的冲动倾向（VIO）考察被试的外显暴力的变化。实验结果显示,在启动被试的移情感后,我们没有发现被试的内隐和外显暴力态度发生显著变化,但经移情和性别的交互作用检验后发现,移情的启动减弱了男性被试的外显暴力态度,而对女性被试没有影响。研究结果表明,移情与暴力态度之间不存在内隐联结关系。根据以往的研究结果,移情对暴力态度的影响一是取决于意识层面的认知加工过程,二是与个体的特质性移情水平的高低有关。     

When message tailoring backfires: The role of initial attitudes in affect–cognition matching

This research explores when and how tailoring messages to attitudinal bases backfires. Study 1 demonstrated that for attitudes (toward education subsidies) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, recipients whose initial attitudes were incongruent with the message position (i.e., message opponents) showed mismatching effects, such that the affective message was more persuasive than the cognitive message. Study 2 replicated these mismatching effects among message opponents for attitudes (toward a rival university) that were primarily affective. Study 3 controlled for effects of initial attitude certainty and replicated the mismatching effects of Study 2 for affective attitudes toward an increase in tuition. Finally, Study 4 suggested a potential mechanism for mismatching effects, revealing that for attitudes (toward an online course management system) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, message opponents counter‐argued with the cognitive appeal more intensely than the affective appeal. Contrary to the notion in the extant literature that mismatching effects are relatively rare compared with matching effects, the current research suggests that mismatching effects occur for both primarily affective and cognitive attitudes when the recipient is highly opposed to the message position. The present findings also demonstrate the utility of examining attitudinal bases at the object level in the context of message tailoring. Implications for message tailoring and for affective versus cognitive attitudes are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dissociating mere exposure and repetition priming as a function of word type

The mere exposure effect is defined as enhanced attitude toward a stimulus that has been repeatedly exposed. Repetition priming is defined as facilitated processing of a previously exposed stimulus. We conducted a direct comparison between the two phenomena to test the assumption that the mere exposure effect represents an example of repetition priming. In two experiments, having studied a set of words or nonwords, participants were given a repetition priming task (perceptual identification) or one of two mere exposure (affective liking or preference judgment) tasks. Repetition priming was obtained for both words and nonwords, but only nonwords produced a mere exposure effect. This demonstrates a key boundary for observing the mere exposure effect, one not readily accommodated by a perceptual representation systems (Tulving & Schacter, 1990) account, which assumes that both phenomena should show some sensitivity to nonwords and words.     

Priming addition facts with semantic relations

Results from 2 relational-priming experiments suggest the existence of an automatic analogical coordination between semantic and arithmetic relations. Word pairs denoting object sets served as primes in a task that elicits "obligatory" activation of addition facts (5 + 3 activates 8; J. LeFevre, J. Bisanz, & L. Mrkonjic, 1988). Semantic relations between the priming words were either aligned or misaligned with the structure of addition (M. Bassok, V. M. Chase, & S. A. Martin, 1998). Obligatory activation of addition facts occurred when the digits were primed by categorically related words (tulips-daisies), which are aligned with addition, but did not occur when the digits were primed by unrelated words (hens-radios, Experiment 1) or by functionally related words (records-songs, Experiment 2), which are misaligned with addition. These findings lend support to the viability of automatic analogical priming (B. A. Spellman, K. J. Holyoak, & R. G. Morrison, 2001) and highlight the relevance of arithmetic applications to theoretical accounts of mental arithmetic.     

Boundary conditions for the influence of unfamiliar non-target primes in unconscious evaluative priming: The moderating role of attentional task sets

Evaluative priming by masked emotional stimuli that are not consciously perceived has been taken as evidence that affective stimulus evaluation can also occur unconsciously. However, as masked priming effects were small and frequently observed only for familiar primes that there also presented as visible targets in an evaluative decision task, priming was thought to reflect primarily response activation based on acquired S–R associations and not evaluative semantic stimulus analysis. The present study therefore assessed across three experiments boundary conditions for the emergence of masked evaluative priming effects with unfamiliar primes in an evaluative decision task and investigated the role of the frequency of target repetition on priming with pictorial and verbal stimuli. While familiar primes elicited robust priming effects in all conditions, priming effects by unfamiliar primes were reliably obtained for low repetition (pictures) or unrepeated targets (words), but not for targets repeated at a high frequency. This suggests that unfamiliar masked stimuli only elicit evaluative priming effects when the task set associated with the visible target involves evaluative semantic analysis and is not based on S–R triggered responding as for high repetition targets. The present results therefore converge with the growing body of evidence demonstrating attentional control influences on unconscious processing.     

Attitudes as stable and transparent constructions

In three studies we examined the assumption that attitudes can be based on a stable structure of individually important attributes. In the first study we examined if people are able to adequately determine what the attributes are that underlie their attitude by relating meta-attitudinal measures to more operative measures of attribute importance. The results of the operative measures corroborate the subjective ratings of importance. In the second study we examined the associative strength between the individually important attributes and the attitude object. Results indicate that priming participants with individually important attributes leads to facilitation of the overall attitudinal response, as opposed to priming them with less important attributes. This suggests a bottom-up process underlying attitude judgment. The third study shows that attitude strength can play a moderating role in this respect. Implications for research on attitude structure are discussed.     

汉英语言内及语言间重复启动效应的ERP研究

16名母语为汉语的被试参加了一个混合语言的语义判断任务,关键词用汉语和英语呈现,然后重复这些词（语言内或者语言间）。比较词汇第一次呈现、语言内和语言间重复产生的N400波幅的差异发现：汉语和英语的语言内重复启动效应差异不显著,而两种方向的语言间重复启动效应存在不对称性,从英语到汉语的重复启动效应显著大于从汉语到英语的重复启动效应,这与双语表征的非对称模型不尽一致。     

Automatic and attentional processes in the comprehension of unfamiliar metaphors

The present study employed priming techniques to investigate whether unfamiliar metaphors are understood automatically, or whether controlled processes are required for comprehension. Priming sentences were presented to 76 participants in a naming task and vocal RT (reaction time) to target words was recorded. Target words were associates of the 120 metaphors used in the stimulus set. SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony) was manipulated in order to permit the measurement of both automatic and attentional priming (375ms, 750ms, and 1,500ms). Four priming conditions enabled a comparison between metaphoric, literal, and neutral contexts, and an unrelated (baseline) condition. The data revealed a strong priming effect for metaphors at an SOA of 1,500ms, but no effects at either of the shorter SOAs. These results indicate that, in the absence of supporting context, unfamiliar metaphors are not processed automatically. Comprehension of such linguistic phenomena apparently requires attentional processing. The findings have implications for direct processing theories of metaphor comprehension.     

Automatic and attentional processes in the comprehension of unfamiliar metaphors

The present study employed priming techniques to investigate whether unfamiliar metaphors are understood automatically, or whether controlled processes are required for comprehension. Priming sentences were presented to 76 participants in a naming task and vocal RT (reaction time) to target words was recorded. Target words were associates of the 120 metaphors used in the stimulus set. SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony) was manipulated in order to permit the measurement of both automatic and attentional priming (375ms, 750ms, and 1,500ms). Four priming conditions enabled a comparison between metaphoric, literal, and neutral contexts, and an unrelated (baseline) condition. The data revealed a strong priming effect for metaphors at an SOA of 1,500ms, but no effects at either of the shorter SOAs. These results indicate that, in the absence of supporting context, unfamiliar metaphors are not processed automatically. Comprehension of such linguistic phenomena apparently requires attentional processing. The findings have implications for direct processing theories of metaphor comprehension.     

Social attitudes modulate automatic imitation

In naturalistic interpersonal settings, mimicry or “automatic imitation” generates liking, affiliation, cooperation and other positive social attitudes. The purpose of this study was to find out whether the relationship between social attitudes and mimicry is bidirectional: Do social attitudes have a direct and specific effect on mimicry? Participants were primed with pro-social, neutral or anti-social words in a scrambled sentence task. They were then tested for mimicry using a stimulus-response compatibility procedure. In this procedure, participants were required to perform a pre-specified movement (e.g. opening their hand) on presentation of a compatible (open) or incompatible (close) hand movement. Reaction time data were collected using electromyography (EMG) and the magnitude of the mimicry/automatic imitation effect was calculated by subtracting reaction times on compatible trials from those on incompatible trials. Pro-social priming produced a larger automatic imitation effect than anti-social priming, indicating that the relationship between mimicry and social attitudes is bidirectional, and that social attitudes have a direct and specific effect on the tendency to imitate behavior without intention or conscious awareness.     

Perceptual and conceptual priming in a semantic reprocessing task

Two experiments are reported that addressed the relative involvement and nature of perceptual and conceptual priming in a semantically complex task. Both experiments investigated facilitation from repeated semantic comparison trials in which subjects decided whether two words had the same meaning (e.g.,moist damp). The first experiment compared the magnitude and persistence of perceptual and conceptual priming components. Perceptual priming effects were modest, and contrary to some previous evidence, they did not appear to be more persistent than nonperceptual priming effects. The second experiment investigated the memory processes involved when perceptual priming was eliminated through a modality change between prime and target trials. Evidence suggested that conceptual priming primarily involved memory for the meaning comparison processes rather than better access to existing memory for the stimulus words.     

Conceptual activation of distractors during selection is not sufficient to produce negative priming

Negative priming (NP) occurs when responses are slower because the targets were distractors on the preceding trial. Word-naming NP occurs only with words that have been presented repeatedly as targets; novel words do not show NP. The activation-inhibition explanation is that representations of repeated-word distractors are activated already and must be inhibited; the inhibition carries over to the next trial. If this explanation is correct, novel-word NP should occur if the word is semantically primed (thus activating its representation) before it occurs as a distractor. In two experiments, there was NP for words from a repeated set, and the magnitude of NP increased when the same word could occur as a target on consecutive trials. There was positive, rather than negative, priming for novel-word targets that had been semantically primed as distractors. Either the activation from semantic priming was not sufficiently strong to require inhibition, or the activation-inhibition hypothesis does not refer to activation of conceptual representations.     

Observational learning of attitudes: A behavioral analysis

Analyzes observational learning of attitudes within the classical conditioning paradigm after reviewing the relevant theoretical formulations and empirical evidence. In this analysis an attitude is conceived of as a habit between an attitudinal stimulus and an attitudinal response, the attitudinal response being an internal emotional response. Thus vicarious emotional arousal is the basis of observational learning of attitudes. A model's positive or negative emotional behavior should normally lead to an arousal of a similar emotion in an observer because of the latter's conditioning history. Given that the model's emotional behavior is in the context of a particular stimulus situation, this stimulus situation should be able to elicit the relevant emotion in the observer through higher-order conditioning. Thus the specific stimulus situation, or another similar stimulus situation, comes to be a positive or negative attitudinal object for the observer, depending on the nature of the model's emotional response.     

蒙语词汇识别中语音自动激活的ERP研究

采用快速掩蔽启动范式、Go/No-go范式和事件相关电位（ERP）技术,探讨蒙语词汇识别过程中语音自动激活的时程及对语义通达的作用。实验中要求被试执行一个额外的语义分类任务,对关键刺激不做明显的行为反应。结果发现,SOA为67ms时,语音启动在头皮的额区诱发了明显的P150和N400成分;SOA为167ms时,语音启动在头皮的额区和中央区诱发了明显的P200成分,在整个大脑皮层诱发了明显的N400成分。结果表明,语音在蒙语词汇识别的早期自动激活并促进语义的通达。     

Contextual influences on implicit evaluation: a test of additive versus contrastive effects of evaluative context stimuli in affective priming

Drawing on two alternative accounts of the affective priming effect (spreading activation vs. response interference), the present research investigated the underlying processes of how evaluative context stimuli influence implicit evaluations in the affective priming task. Employing two sequentially presented prime stimuli (rather than a single prime), two experiments showed that affective priming effects elicited by a given prime stimulus were more pronounced when this stimulus was preceded by a context prime of the opposite valence than when it was preceded by a context prime of the same valence. This effect consistently emerged for pictures (Experiment 1) and words (Experiment 2) as prime stimuli. These results suggest that the impact of evaluative context stimuli on implicit evaluations is mediated by contrast effects in the attention to evaluative information rather than by additive effects in the activation of evaluative information in associative memory.