Predispositions to approach and avoid are contextually sensitive and goal dependent

Emotion
Susan Bamford, Robert Ward

Abstract

The authors show that predispositions to approach and avoid do not consist simply of specific motor patterns but are more abstract functions that produce a desired environmental effect. It has been claimed that evaluating a visual stimulus as positive or negative evokes a specific motor response, extending the arm to negative stimuli, and contracting to positive stimuli. The authors showed that a large congruency effect (participants were faster to approach pleasant and avoid unpleasant stimuli, than to approach unpleasant and avoid pleasant stimuli) could be produced on a novel touchscreen paradigm (Experiment 1), and that the congruency effect could be reversed by spatial (Experiment 2) and nonspatial (Experiment 3) response effects. Thus, involuntary approach and avoid response activations are not fixed, but sensitive to context, and are specifically based on the desired goal.

Citations

Mar 29, 2011·Psychological Research·Andreas B EderBernhard Hommel
Sep 29, 2011·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Cade McCallScott T Grafton
Sep 13, 2014·Acta Psychologica·Ruth FilikHartmut Leuthold
Jan 7, 2014·British Journal of Psychology·Etienne MulletVincent Dru
Apr 18, 2015·Frontiers in Psychology·Mark RotteveelEric-Jan Wagenmakers
Aug 27, 2014·The Journal of Social Psychology·Michael RobinsonScott Ode
May 9, 2021·Cognitive Psychology·Alex L Jones, Robin S S Kramer

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