Description:

The Northwestern University Psychology Colloquium Series Presents:

Jan De Houwer

Ghent University, Belgium

Evaluative learning: A novel functional perspective on how regularities in the environment shape our likes and dislikes

Abstract: "Evaluative learning can be defined as the impact of regularities in the environment on liking (De Houwer et al., 2013). Preferences are shaped by regularities in the presence of a single stimulus (i.e., mere exposure), regularities in the presence of two stimuli (i.e., evaluative conditioning), regularities in the presence of stimuli and behavior (i.e., operant evaluative conditioning), and intersections between different regularities (as recently demonstrated by Hughes et al., in press a). These functional definitions maximize freedom at the cognitive level of analysis and highlight a functional level at which these effects can also be analyzed. Within the functional level of analysis, regularities are typically conceived of as proximal causes of preferences, that is, as environmental events that change the evaluative responses that a stimulus evokes. I present an alternative functional perspective that is based on Relational Frame Theory (Hayes et al., 2001; Hughes et al., in press b). From this perspective, regularities are conceived of as relational cues that signal how stimuli are related to each other. For instance, the mere spatio-temporal co-occurrence of two stimuli (as present in evaluative conditioning procedures) might function as a cue for the equivalence of those two stimuli, thus allowing for a transfer of properties under certain conditions. This novel perspective highlights previously unrecognized moderators of evaluative learning effects, thereby constrains cognitive theories of evaluative learning, and informs us about the relation between evaluative learning effects and persuasion."

Thursday, May 26, 2016

4:00 pm, Swift Hall 107

Reception to follow