15:00 - 16:30
Wed—Casino_1.801—Poster3—86
Wed-Poster3
Room:
Room: Casino_1.801
No action based Evaluative Conditioning with foot responses
Wed—Casino_1.801—Poster3—8608
Presented by: Tarini Singh
Tarini Singh *Eva WaltherChristian Frings
Trier University
Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in the liking of an object due to the repeated pairing of that object with affective stimuli. Most EC research has largely focused on stimulus-stimulus pairings, while neglecting actions. However, humans are not simply passive perceivers of information, rather they actively interact with objects in their environment. Therefore, it is likely that affective actions also lead to EC. Action control theories, postulating the integration of stimulus and response features, provide a framework for such action based EC. However, till date studies mainly relied on hands as effectors. Since action control theories would assume integration of stimulus and response features irrespective of the specific effector, it is likely that foot responses, like hand responses, might lead to EC. On the other hand, since humans mainly interact with objects with the hands rather than the feet, it is possible that foot responses do not transfer affective information to neutral stimuli as readily as hands. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to test whether responding to neutral stimuli with affectively conditioned foot responses also leads to EC. Participants underwent an EC procedure after which EC effects were measured using explicit ratings. Additionally, affective conditioning of the foot responses was measured using a compatibility task. Although no EC effects were observed in the explicit ratings, the compatibility task indicated successful affective conditioning of the foot responses. The present findings indicate that although foot responses can be affectively conditioned, they might not lead to EC.
Keywords: evaluative conditioning, action control