Feeling and knowing: their impacts on preference exerted by motor programs' manipulation

Abstract

Objectives: In the present study, participants’ postural expressions were manipulated to induce automatically elicited effect, and their underlying information-processing sequence was assessed. Based on the dual-process theories (Chaiken & Trope, 1999), it was hypothesized that the information provided would prompt deliberate processing and would lead to correction on judgments.

Methods: To obtain a comparison between output of the early affective and the late cognition plus affective processing, 30 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. In the uninformed condition (n=15), participants were instructed to perform arm contractions (flexion and extension) while they were exposed to nonsense word stimuli. In the informed condition (n=15), the same instructions were made except that participants were informed of the influence of contractions on their judgments. Participants’ underlying information processing sequence was assessed by recording their liking judgments on nonsense word stimuli.

Results: Consistent with the hypothesis and with the findings of Cacioppo, Priester, and Berntson (1993), arm contractions led to differential evaluative judgments (p<.001). Uniformed participants preferred some stimuli to others without conscious access to the source of affect. However, the pattern held even for informed participants who were made aware of the bias. Informed participants failed to correct the liking judgments (interaction, F<1).

Discussion: The affect hypothesis focuses on studying the early information-processing sequence, while appraisal theories focus on the later sequences. The two approaches should not be isolated but instead, integrating the two fields is one prospective line of research.