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FB Kolloq WS25/26: Carina Giesen

„I just learnt what I was told to expect: Pitting effects of instructed against experi-enced contingencies in valence contingency learning”

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Prof. Dr. Carina Giesen, Health and Medical University Erfurt
„I just learnt what I was told to expect: Pitting effects of instructed against experienced contingencies in valence contingency learning”

In the valence contingency learning (VCL) task, participants evaluate target words which are preceded by nonwords. Nonwords are predictive for positive/negative evaluations. This produces robust contingency learning (CL) effects, reflected in faster and more accurate performance for highly contingent nonword-valence pairings. Previous findings indicate controlling for episodic retrieval of transient stimulus-response episodes reduces CL effects, but does not eliminate them. These residual CL effects are best explained by propositional knowledge. In the present talk, I will present findings from different manipulations that aim to influence participants beliefs/expectations about upcoming contingencies (propositional knowledge) in the VCL task. In Study 1, participants were truly instructed (or not) about actual contingencies in a task. In Study 2, participants are falsely instructed, meaning that the actual contingencies contradicted the instructed contingencies. Both studies assessed effects of valence contingency learning, and contingency awareness of instructed and experienced contingencies for nonwords. As expected, contingency instructions modulated contingency learning, as true instructions boosted residual CL effects; false instructions reduced residual CL effects, relative to a control condition without instructions. Implications for theories on processes underlying contingency learning are discussed.