Cardiovascular Change During Encoding Predicts the Nonconscious Mere Exposure Effect

Abstract

These studies examined memory encoding to determine whether the mere exposure effect could be categorized as a form of conceptual or perceptual implicit priming and, if it was not conceptual or perceptual, whether cardiovascular psychophysiology could reveal its nature. Experiment 1 examined the effects of study phase level of processing on recognition, the mere exposure effect, and word identification implicit priming. Deep relative to shallow processing improved recognition but did not influence the mere exposure effect for nonwords or word identification implicit priming for words. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the effect of study-test changes in font and orientation, respectively, on the mere exposure effect and word identification implicit priming. Different study-test font and orientation reduced word identification implicit priming but had no influence on the mere exposure effect. Experiments 4 and 5 developed and used, respectively, a cardiovascular psychophysiological implicit priming paradigm to examine whether stimulus-specific cardiovascular reactivity at study predicted the mere exposure effect at test. Blood volume pulse change at study was significantly greater for nonwords that were later preferred than for nonwords that were not preferred at test. There was no difference in blood volume pulse change for words at study that were later either identified or not identified at test. Fluency effects, at encoding or retrieval, are an unlikely explanation for these behavioral and cardiovascular findings. The relation of blood volume pulse to affect suggests that an affective process that is not conceptual or perceptual contributes to the mere exposure effect.

Trait and state anxiety reduce the mere exposure effect

“…The observation that the mere exposure effect was diminished, at approximately equivalent levels, by both trait and state anxiety is consistent with the observation that increased vasodilatation, as measured by blood volume pulse during encoding, predicts affective preference during retrieval ( Ladd et al, 2014 ). Vasodilatation is the relative reciprocal of heart rate ( Cowings et al, 2001 ).…”

“…Despite over four decades of extensive scientific inquiry spearheaded by his research, the psychological mechanism underlying the mere exposure effect remains uncertain (reviewed in Butler and Berry, 2004 ; Moreland and Topolinski, 2010 ). Two major explanatory frameworks for the mere exposure effect are (a) emotional or affective processing ( Zajonc, 1968 ; Kunst-Wilson and Zajonc, 1980 ; Zebrowitz and Zhang, 2012 ; Ladd et al, 2014 ), and (b) processing fluency or ease of processing ( Bornstein and D’Agostino, 1994 ; Seamon et al, 1995 ; Topolinski and Strack, 2009 ). Here we examined whether trait and state anxiety ( Spielberger et al, 1983 ), which have been associated with the experience of emotion ( Watson et al, 1988 ; Clark and Watson, 1991 ), independent from processing fluency, influence the mere exposure effect.…”

“…Cardiovascular and behavioral evidence suggests that the relaxation response is associated with the mere exposure effect. Specifically, peripheral vasodilatation during encoding predicted preference for studied nonwords during retrieval ( Ladd et al, 2014 ). Vasodilatation, the reciprocal of decreased heart rate ( Cowings and Toscano, 2000 ; Cowings et al, 2001 , 2007 ), is a core component of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)-dominant pattern called the relaxation response ( Benson, 1975 , 1983 ; Benson et al, 1975 ).…”

Neurophysiological evidence that perceptions of fluency produce mere exposure effects

“…The ERP contrasts (old vs. new; clear vs. blurry) uncover novel evidence that can provide important insight into the mechanisms responsible for mere-exposure effects. For example, a similar pattern of ERP results for repetition (i.e., old vs. new) and clarity (i.e., clear vs. blurry) across the two different testing contexts of random and blocked clarity sequences would support accounts of bottom-up influences on affective judgments (e.g., Zajonc, 2001;Ladd et al, 2014). Such results would indicate that the perceptual qualities of the stimuli or implicit memory are driving the affective judgments.…”

“…Manipulating perceptual fluency independently of stimulus repetitionand recording ERPshas the ability to adjudicate between the two conflicting theoretical accounts of mere exposure noted earlier. One explanation of mere-exposure effects contends that fluency is a bottom-up (e.g., data driven) process (e.g., Ladd et al, 2014;Zajonc, 2001) that leads subjects to endorse stimuli with more positive affective responses. Alternative accounts argue that mere exposure effects instead result from an interpretation of fluency that operates in a top-down fashion that considers stimulus features in context (e.g., Dechêne, Stahl, Hansen, & Wänke, 2009;Whittlesea & Price, 2001).…”