Evaluative conditioning using virtual reality events

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21504792
AutoresOmran K Safi (0000-0002-6364-5127, University of British Columbia, autor de correspondencia), Yiran Shi (University of British Columbia), Tyler Lin (University of British Columbia), Tao Yu (0000-0002-0496-7417, University of British Columbia), Theodore Yu (University of British Columbia), Isabel S Wilson (0000-0002-1142-8622, University of British Columbia), Christopher R Madan (0000-0003-3228-6501, University of Nottingham), Daniela J Palombo (0000-0001-8082-3522, University of British Columbia, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen40
Número4
Páginas947-958
Fecha de publicación2026-05-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCognition & Emotion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0269-9931 • E-ISSN: 1464-0600
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02699931.2025.2528928
PMID40719362
OpenAlexW4412676793
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas50

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is observed when a neutral stimulus is paired with an emotionally charged unconditioned stimulus (US), resulting in a change in the pleasantness or liking of the CS. Few studies have focused on this effect within an episodic memory context (unique single-trial learning of US-CS pairings). Moreover, most studies involve US-CS pairings presented on a computer screen, but few studies have examined EC under more naturalistic conditions. We sought to fill these gaps, using a novel virtual reality (VR) paradigm. A sample of 74 participants experienced a series of negative and neutral environments in VR wherein they encountered US-CS pairs only once. They then provided ratings of pleasantness and completed a cued recall task, to assess EC and episodic memory, respectively. We successfully replicated the EC effect and did not find an association between EC and episodic memory. This latter pattern diverges from a prior study in our laboratory [Palombo, D. J., Elizur, L., Tuen, Y. J., Te, A. A., & Madan, C. R. (2021). Transfer of negative valence in an episodic memory task. Cognition, 217, 104874] and may provide insights into contextual factors not captured in the previous work. Together, our results point to the importance and effectiveness of using more naturalistic and diverse paradigms to investigate and replicate cognitive phenomena. Moreover, they may shed further light on the factors shaping the formation of affective attitudes from experiences

Cognitive psychology · Conditioning · Human–computer interaction · Virtual reality · Computer Science · Human Resource Development and Performance Evaluation · Mathematics · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social Psychology