In a recent post on the topic of food likes and dislikes, we explored the way food preferences can be affected by the proximity of something else that is liked or disliked. This phenomenon is called “evaluative conditioning.”

The relationship between flavor evaluative conditioning and contingency awareness was investigated in two experiments (Wardle et al., 2007).  In both experiments evaluative conditioning was seen only in those participants who were aware of the contingencies.  According to the researchers, the results of these experiments contradicted earlier findings, where evaluative conditioning occurred in participants who showed no awareness of the contingencies. 

How did they research these issues and what did they find?

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