Automatic Processes in Evaluative Conditioning During Learning: The Synchronicity Hypothesis

Evaluative conditioning refers to the change in liking for a (typically) neutral stimulus that results from pairing it with a valenced one. A crucial question is whether it occurs automatically, that is, without awareness, efficiently, unintentionally, and uncontrollably. We hypothesize and show that this is true only if the stimuli are sensed simultaneously, that is, at the same time. Stimuli in five experiments were paired either simultaneously (overlapping in time) or sequentially (one after the other; not overlapping in time). When pairings were simultaneous, evaluative conditioning effects were unaffected by (a) presenting the neutral stimulus outside awareness, (b) putting participants under cognitive load, or (c) motivating them to avoid being influenced by the valenced stimulus in assessing their liking for the neutral one. When pairings were sequential, however, evaluative conditioning effects were reduced or eliminated in all of these conditions. Our results provide evidence for an associative learning system that operates automatically in all four senses of the term.