RUI: An Attributional Model of the Mere Exposure Effect

摘要研究表明，反复、未经强化地接触刺激(例如，图像、物体、人)会导致对该刺激的喜好增加。这种现象被称为“纯粹的暴露效应”。PI实验室最近的实验表明，对刺激内容的认识抑制了纯粹的暴露效应，因此，潜意识刺激产生的纯粹暴露效应明显强于明显识别的刺激。现有的曝光效果模型都不能适应这种结果模式。因此，这些实验旨在检验一种新的单纯曝光效应的理论模型。该模型认为，暴露效应是由反复暴露刺激引起的“知觉流畅性”(即刺激被感知和处理的容易程度的增加)造成的。当刺激暴露是潜意识的时候，受试者根据实验者提供的线索，将知觉流畅效应归因于仅仅暴露的刺激的性质。相比之下，当使用清晰可识别的刺激时，受试者可以将流畅的效果归因于刺激熟悉过程，降低了对仅仅暴露的刺激的喜欢程度。五组实验将对归因模型进行检验。第一个实验比较了有人注意的刺激和无人注意的刺激的暴露效应的大小，复制和扩展了这一领域的先前工作。在第二组实验中，PI直接检查了感知流畅性对仅仅暴露的刺激的影响。第三组实验旨在评估单纯暴露范式中刺激知觉和知觉流畅效应之间的关系。在第四组实验中，PI检查了各种实验操作，这些操作在单纯的暴露效应研究中影响了对先前刺激暴露的喜好归因。在第五组实验中，我们将探讨与归因模型相关的其他理论问题。这些实验的结果将在几个领域有重要的应用。首先，这些结果可以以重要的方式让我们了解态度形成和态度改变所涉及的情感和认知过程。此外，这些发现可能有助于提高基于反复接触一个信息、概念或论点的各种说服技巧的效率。最后，这些结果可以用来提高生理治疗程序的有效性，在生理治疗程序中，个人对不喜欢或害怕的刺激的态度通过反复、无强化地暴露于厌恶的刺激(例如，系统脱敏)而得到增强。

ABSTRACT Research suggests that repeated, unreinforced exposure to a stimulus (e.g.,image, object, person) results in increased liking for that stimulus. This phenomenon has been termed the "mere exposure effect". Recent experiments in the PI's laboratory indicate that awareness of stimulus content inhibits the mere exposure effect, so that subliminal stimuli produce significantly stronger mere exposure effects than do stimuli that are clearly recognized. No extant model of the exposure effect can accommodate this pattern of results. Thus these experiments are designed to test a new theoretical model of the mere exposure effect. This model contends that exposure effects result from "perceptual fluency" (i.e., an increase in the ease with which a stimulus is perceived and processed) that is induced by repeated stimulus exposures. When stimulus exposures are subliminal, subjects attribute perceptual fluency effects to properties of the merely-exposed stimulus based on cues provided by the experimenter. In contrast, when clearly- recognized stimuli are used, subjects can attribute fluency effects to the stimulus familiarization procedure, diminishing liking ratings of the merely- exposed stimuli. Five sets of experiments will test the attributional model. The first experiment compares the magnitude of the mere exposure effect for attended vs unattended stimuli, replicating and extending previous work in this area. In the second set of experiments, the PIs examine directly the processes that underly perceptual fluency effects for merely-exposed stimuli. The third set of experiments is designed to assess the relationship between stimulus awareness and perceptual fluency effects in the mere exposure paradigm. In the fourth set of experiments, the PI's examine various experimental manipulations that affect the attribution of liking to previous stimulus exposures in mere exposure effect studies. In the fifth set of experiments, other theoretical issues related to the attributional model will be investigated. The results of these experiments will have important applications in several areas. First, these results can inform us in important ways about the affective and cognitive processes involved in attitude formation and attitude change. In addition, these findings may help to enhance the efficiency of various persuasion techniques that are based on repeated exposure to a message, concept or argument. Finally, these results can be used to increase the efficacy of physiological treatment procedures wherein individuals' attitudes toward stimuli that are disliked or feared are enhanced via repeated, unreinforced exposure to the aversive stimulus (e.g., systematic desensitization).