@misc{13576,
  abstract     = {{Background
Many young women are dissatisfied with their bodies. This study investigated the effect on current body dissatisfaction levels of a newly developed evaluative conditioning procedure that paired self-similar and self-dissimilar images of bodies with positive and neutral affective images, respectively. We hypothesized that learning the contingency that self-similar bodies predict positive affectivity is one process that could aid in explaining how these procedures function.
Methods
Adult women without disordered eating pathology participated in an online experiment with random assignment to an intervention or a control condition. All participants initially rated body images in self-similarity and were subsequently asked to categorize positive and neutral images by valence as quickly and accurately as possible. In the intervention condition, self-similar bodies systematically preceded positive images, and self-dissimilar images preceded neutral images, creating a similar body → positive contingency. Pairings in the control condition were unsystematic such that no contingency was present. We measured categorization latencies and accuracies to infer contingency learning as well as current body dissatisfaction immediately before and after exposure to the pairings. All participants further completed measures of trait body image concerns and disordered eating psychopathology at baseline, which we examined as moderators of an expected relation between condition assignment, contingency learning, and body dissatisfaction improvements.
Results
We analyzed data from N = 173 women fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Moderated mediation analyses showed that assignment to the intervention (vs. control) condition predicted increased similar body → positive contingency learning, which in turn predicted improved body dissatisfaction post-intervention, but only among women with higher pre-existing trait body image concerns or disordered eating levels.
Conclusions
The findings point toward the relevancy of further exploring the utility of pairing procedures. Similar body → positive contingency learning predicted improved body dissatisfaction in individuals with normatively high body image concerns, which suggests pairing procedures could help inform future research on reducing body dissatisfaction.}},
  author       = {{Dumstorf, Katharina and Halbeisen, Georg and Paslakis, Georgios}},
  booktitle    = {{Journal of Eating Disorders}},
  issn         = {{2050-2974}},
  keywords     = {{Evaluative conditioning, Body image, Eating disorders, Contingency learning, Psychotherapy, Pairing procedures}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central}},
  title        = {{{How evaluative pairings improve body dissatisfaction in adult women: evidence from a randomized-controlled online study}}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s40337-024-00975-4}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

@misc{13616,
  abstract     = {{Objective
Body dissatisfaction is an important risk factor for developing eating disorders. This study investigated whether pairing images of normatively “healthy” weight bodies of women with positive stimuli, and images of bodies outside the healthy range (e.g., underweight) with neutral stimuli, could improve body dissatisfaction.
Methods
We compared behavioral and rating data from 121 adult women who participated in an online study and were randomly assigned to an intervention condition (in which healthy body mass predicted positive stimuli) or a control condition (with no contingency between body mass and stimulus valence).
Results
Behavioral data showed that women in the intervention condition, compared to the control condition, learned to associate healthy bodies with positive valence. Having learned to associate healthy bodies with positive valence, in turn, predicted reductions in body dissatisfaction. The intervention and control conditions were not directly associated with changes in body dissatisfaction.
Conclusion
Learning to associate healthy bodies with any positive stimuli could be a relevant mechanism for understanding and predicting improvements in women's body dissatisfaction. Further research is required regarding the impact of contingency learning on the evaluation of other bodies, and the selection of other bodies for body-related social comparison processes.}},
  author       = {{Tullius, Elena M. and Halbeisen, Georg and Paslakis, Georgios}},
  booktitle    = {{Journal of Psychiatric Research}},
  issn         = {{1879-1379 }},
  keywords     = {{Evaluative conditioning, Body image, Eating disorders, Contingency learning, Psychotherapy}},
  pages        = {{340--348}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{Can evaluative pairings of others’ bodies improve body dissatisfaction indirectly? A randomized-controlled online study with adult women}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.11.012}},
  volume       = {{180}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

@misc{13641,
  abstract     = {{The neuro-physiological response to stress has far-reaching implications for learning and memory processes. Here, we examined whether and how the stress-induced release of cortisol, following the socially-evaluated cold pressor test, influenced the acquisition of preferences in an evaluative conditioning (EC) procedure. We found that when the stressor preceded the evaluation phase, cortisol responders showed decreased evaluative conditioning effects. By contrast, impairing effects of a stressor-induced cortisol release before encoding were not found. Moreover, explicit memory was not found to be affected by the stressor or its timing. Implications of the timing-dependent effects of stress-induced cortisol release on EC and the relation between stress and associative memory are discussed.}},
  author       = {{Halbeisen, Georg and Buttlar, Benjamin and Kamp, Siri-Maria and Walther, Eva}},
  booktitle    = {{International Journal of Psychophysiology}},
  issn         = {{1872-7697}},
  keywords     = {{Affective learning, Socially-evaluated cold pressor test, Free salivary cortisol, Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, Evaluative conditioning}},
  pages        = {{44--52}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{The timing-dependent effects of stress-induced cortisol release on evaluative conditioning}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.04.007}},
  volume       = {{152}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

@misc{13648,
  abstract     = {{Attitudes are a core construct of social psychology, and research showed that attitudes can be acquired by merely pairing neutral stimuli with other liked or disliked stimuli (i.e., evaluative conditioning, EC). In this research we address the role of different memory processes contributing to EC. Although it is commonly found that memory for the pairings increases EC, we argue that memory performance data obtained in the standard paradigm remain ambiguous. We hypothesize that memory for stimulus pairings may moderate EC by means of an intentional use of conscious recollection as well as through unintended effects of memory. In two experiments we used modified memory tests that distinguish between these different memory processes on an item-level by identifying recollection as the participant's ability to control memory performance. The analyses of the experiments showed that both intended and unintended influences independently moderate EC. Based on these results we discuss the role of different memory processes in EC, and how memory and learning processes may be related.}},
  author       = {{Halbeisen, Georg and Blask, Katarina and Weil, Rebecca and Walther, Eva}},
  booktitle    = {{Journal of Experimental Social Psychology}},
  issn         = {{1096-0465}},
  keywords     = {{Evaluative conditioning, Attitude, Source awareness, Contingency awareness}},
  pages        = {{162--168}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{The role of recollection in evaluative conditioning}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jesp.2014.07.005}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}

@misc{13609,
  abstract     = {{Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in the evaluation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (US). One of the most debated topics in EC research is whether or not EC is dependent on contingency awareness. In this study, we go beyond this debate by examining whether contingency awareness mediates the impact of attentional resources and goal-directed attention on EC. Attentional resources were manipulated by presenting CSs and USs either within the same modality or in different modalities. Goal-directed attention was manipulated by asking participants to respond to the CSs or to the USs. Results indicate that the effect of goal-directed attention on EC is mediated by contingency awareness, whereas the effect of attentional resources on EC is not.}},
  author       = {{Blask, Katharina and Walther, Eva and Halbeisen, Georg and Weil, Rebecca}},
  booktitle    = {{Learning and Motivation}},
  issn         = {{1095-9122}},
  keywords     = {{Evaluative conditioning, Contingency awareness, Attentional resources, Goal-directed attention, Mediation}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{99--106}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Press}},
  title        = {{{At the crossroads: Attention, contingency awareness, and evaluative conditioning}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.lmot.2012.03.004}},
  volume       = {{43}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}