Retrieval cues fail to influence contextualized evaluations.
Initial evaluations generalise to new contexts, whereas counter-attitudinal evaluations are context-specific. Counter-attitudinal information may not change evaluations in new contexts because perceivers fail to retrieve counter-attitudinal cue-evaluation associations from memory outside the counter-attitudinal learning context. The current work examines whether an additional, counter-attitudinal retrieval cue can enhance the generalizability of counter-attitudinal evaluations. In four experiments, participants learned positive information about a target person, Bob, in one context, and then learned negative information about Bob in a different context. While learning the negative information, participants wore a wristband as a retrieval cue for counter-attitudinal Bob-negative associations. Participants then made speeded as well as deliberate evaluations of Bob while wearing or not wearing the wristband. Internal meta-analysis failed to find a reliable effect of the counter-attitudinal retrieval cue on speeded or deliberate evaluations, whereas the context cues influenced speeded and deliberate evaluations. Counter to predictions, counter-attitudinal retrieval cues did not disrupt the generalisation of first-learned evaluations or the context-specificity of second-learned evaluations (Experiments 2-4), but the counter-attitudinal retrieval cue did influence evaluations in the absence of context cues (Experiment 1). The current work provides initial evidence that additional counter-attitudinal retrieval cues fail to disrupt the renewal and generalizability of first-learned evaluations.
['Hutchings|Ryan J|RJ|0000-0002-0850-1171', 'Calanchini|Jimmy|J|', 'Huang|Lisa M|LM|', 'Rees|Heather R|HR|', 'Rivers|Andrew M|AM|', 'Roth|Jenny|J|', 'Sherman|Jeffrey W|JW|']
D001245:Association Learning D001290:Attitude D003463:Cues D005260:Female D005793:Generalization, Psychological D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008568:Memory D011939:Mental Recall D055815:Young Adult
retrieval cues Contextualised attitude change evaluative conditioning