Implicit memory: a prime example for brand consideration and choice

Three experiments investigated the influence of implicit memory for familiar brand names on consumer choice. Priming was measured using modified preference judgment tasks that comprised both brand consideration and choice components. Experiment 1 used a ‘complex choice task’ where consideration and choice stages were characterized as acting in sequence. Experiment 2 explored a different formulation whereby consideration and choice were assumed to act in parallel. Both experiments demonstrated that priming had an influence on brand consideration but not on final or preferred choice. Finally, Experiment 3 replicated and extended these findings under more realistic conditions where participants actually received some of the products that they selected. Overall, the experiments suggested that for many decisions involving the consideration of familiar brands prior to choice, previous exposure to brand names can increase the likelihood that they will enter the consumers' consideration set. However, the advantage does not appear to extend to choice itself. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding the relationship between repetition priming and mere exposure

Over the last two decades interest in implicit memory, most notably repetition priming, has grown considerably. During the same period, research has also focused on the mere exposure effect. Although the two areas have developed relatively independently, a number of studies has described the mere exposure effect as an example of implicit memory. Tacit in their comparisons is the assumption that the effect is more specifically a demonstration of repetition priming. Having noted that this assumption has attracted relatively little attention, this paper reviews current evidence and shows that it is by no means conclusive. Although some evidence is suggestive of a common underlying mechanism, even a modified repetition priming (perceptual fluency/attribution) framework cannot accommodate all of the differences between the two phenomena. Notwithstanding this, it seems likely that a version of this theoretical framework still offers the best hope of a comprehensive explanation for the mere exposure effect and its relationship to repetition priming. As such, the paper finishes by offering some initial guidance as to ways in which the perceptual fluency/attribution framework might be extended, as well as outlining important areas for future research.     

'NEVER TWICE WITHOUT THRICE' AN OUTLINE FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF TRAUMATIC NEUROSIS

Following the review of Freud's work on trauma (1916-17, 1920, 1926, 1933, 1939), this article proposes to view the traumatic scene as a screen which acts as an active process in the case of many victims who, like Mrs D, break down a few days after being assaulted. After a first attempt at denial, the ego is submerged with repressed content. Repetition is seen as a means of abreacting the trauma by seeking to bind the enormous quantity of excitations that cannot find discharge. Repetition, because of its compulsive quality, fails. The victim remains in a state of helplessness against which she resorts to denial, splitting and projection (Freud, 1920, 1926). This strategy is seen, however, as maintaining the victim in a state of helplessness. Thus, I suggest that, overwhelmed, the ego finally resorts to a multi-levelled system of defence. On a first level, fixation to the trauma, like in screen-memories, gives way to a first displacement. On a second level, the adoption of an identity built upon being a victim contributes to the strength of this displacement. On a third level, identification with the aggressor consolidates this defensive strategy by giving meaning to the hostility awakened by the sexual assault.     

A Comparative Analysis of Ethical and Professional Challenges Experienced by Australian and U.S. Genetic Counselors

Ethical issues are an inevitable part of genetic counseling practice. Prior research identified 16 domains of ethical and professional challenges encountered by practitioners in the United States. In order to further validate these domains, the present study surveyed Australian genetic counselors. Sixty-three respondents rated the frequency with which they encountered each domain, and 39 individuals also provided personal anecdotes detailing their most challenging ethical and professional dilemmas. Every domain reportedly was experienced by the Australian sample. However, there were some differences between Australian respondents and U.S. genetic counselors in frequencies of domain occurrence, and in strategies recommended for resolving them. Several anecdotes illustrate challenging situations due to Australia’s geography, universal healthcare system, and the genetic counseling profession’s evolution in that country. The results generally validate domains identified for U.S. genetic counselors. They further suggest that certain ethical issues may manifest in ways unique to a given country, and therefore they must be addressed in a culturally-appropriate manner.     

Anticipatory reconfiguration elicited by fully and partially informative cues that validly predict a switch in task

Task-switching studies show no behavioral benefit of partially informative cues. However, ERP evidence of an early cue-locked positivity elicited by both fully and partially informative cues suggests that both cues trigger an anticipatory component of task set reconfiguration (Nicholson, Karayanidis, Davies, & Michie, 2006). We examined this apparent discrepancy using a cued-trials task-switching paradigm with three tasks. The ERP finding of an early cue-locked positivity was replicated for both switch-to cues, which validly predicted an upcoming switch trial and specified the new task set, and switch-away cues, which validly predicted an upcoming switch trial but not the new task set. This component was not elicited by a noninformative cue that did not specify whether the task would switch or repeat. Switch-away cues resulted in more accurate but not faster responding than did noninformative cues. Modeling of decision processes confirmed a speed-accuracy trade-off between these conditions and a preparation benefit for both switch-to and switch-away cues. These results indicate that both fully and partially informative cues elicit an early anticipatory component of task set reconfiguration that is reflected in the early cue-locked positivity. We argue that the pattern of results is most consistent with a task set inhibition account of this early anticipatory component of task set reconfiguration.     

Voices of Outreach: The Construction of Identity and Maintenance of Social Ties Among Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries

Fundamentalists typically avoid influences from the outside world and form intense social bonds with members of their own group. Yet, active fundamentalists must create relationships with the objects of their missionary action, the Other. In this article I address the connections between the cultural practice of missionary work and the formation and maintenance of social ties among ultra-Orthodox Jewish missionaries belonging to the fundamentalist Hasidic sect Chabad-Lubavitch. These missionaries attempt to bring Jews to the beliefs and practices of Chabad by hosting Jews at Sabbath meals. This missionary act is an utterance that "speaks" with multiple voices, indexing the missionaries as both friendly members of their local Jewish community and ideal Lubavitchers. Through these meals, the missionaries engage not only the local Jews but also other Lubavitchers in dialogue, constructing a community that transcends face-to-face interaction.     

Implicit synthesis

In this reply to Neal and Hesketh and to the commentators, we argue that implicit knowledge is partly abstract and can be usefully defined by the criteria of both metaknowledge and intentional control. We suggest that the pattern of dissociations supports a claim of separate implicit and explicit learning modes. According to our characterization, implicit learning leads to knowledge that is not automatically represented as knowledge by the learning process; instead, the presence of knowledge has to be inferred by the subject (partial explicitation) if metaknowledge is gained at all. During explicit learning, knowledge is automatically labeled as knowledge by the learning process, so that metaknowledge comes immediately and to the fullest extent. Finally, we suggest that implicit knowledge may to some degree apply regardless of intention.