PSYC13H3 Chapter 8.3: PSYC13H3 Chapter 8.: Week 8 Reading 3
Rydell, McConnell, Mackie, & Strain, 2006
Because different processes underlie implicit and explicit attitudes, we hypothesized that they
are differentially sensitive to different kinds of information. We measured implicit and explicit
attitudes over time, as different types of attitude-relevant information about a single attitude
object were presented. As expected, explicit attitudes formed and changed in response to the
valence of consciously accessible, verbally presented behavioral information about the target.
In contrast, implicit attitudes formed and changed in response to the valence of subliminally
presented primes, reflecting the progressive accretion of attitude object–evaluation pairings. As
a consequence, when subliminal primes and behavioral information were of opposite valence,
people formed implicit and explicit attitudes of conflicting valence.
LG RMMS 1. Rydell et al. argue that different systems can be the source of different attitudes.
They discuss properties of these two systems. You should be able to describe what they think
these properties are.
- The first system of reasoning, the slow-learning system, operates using interconnected
associations in memory that are based on similarity and contiguity.
o In this case, learning consists of associations in memory, which are formed and
strengthened by the slow accrual of information over time.
- The second system of reasoning, the fast-learning system, relies on logic and symbolic
representations at a relatively higher-order level of cognitive processing.
- The slow-learning system of reasoning is relevant to understanding of how implicit
attitudes form and function because implicit attitudes are posited to follow the basic
principles of similarity, association, and information accrual
- The fast-learning system, in contrast, fits with a conceptualization of explicit attitudes as
evaluations based on resource-intensive conscious thought; this conceptualization
would indicate that people can, at times, have control over their expression of explicit
attitudes
LG RMMS 2. Rydell et al. hypothesize that these two systems should be sensitive to different
kinds of information. What are those different kinds of information?
- Implicit attitudes would be affected more by subliminally presented primes and that
explicit attitudes would be affected more by consciously accessible information.
- Thus, we expected that if both subliminal and consciously accessible information about
an attitude object were available, implicit attitudes would form and change in ways
consistent with the valence of the subliminal information, and explicit attitudes would
independently form and change to reflect the valence of the consciously accessible
information.
LG RMMS 3. You should be able to describe the basic design of the study. What did the
authors do to instill attitudes at the explicit and implicit level? How did they measure those
attitudes?
Document Summary
Because different processes underlie implicit and explicit attitudes, we hypothesized that they are differentially sensitive to different kinds of information. We measured implicit and explicit attitudes over time, as different types of attitude-relevant information about a single attitude object were presented. As expected, explicit attitudes formed and changed in response to the valence of consciously accessible, verbally presented behavioral information about the target. In contrast, implicit attitudes formed and changed in response to the valence of subliminally presented primes, reflecting the progressive accretion of attitude object evaluation pairings. As a consequence, when subliminal primes and behavioral information were of opposite valence, people formed implicit and explicit attitudes of conflicting valence. Rydell et al. argue that different systems can be the source of different attitudes. You should be able to describe what they think these properties are. The first system of reasoning, the slow-learning system, operates using interconnected associations in memory that are based on similarity and contiguity.
