Computerized assessment of food preferences in adolescents in the stimulus equivalence paradigm

Author(s)

Gisele Straatmann ; Sebastião Sousa Almeida ; Julio C. de Rose

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Temas em Psicologia; v. 22, n. 3, p. 613-624, Dez. 2014.

Abstract

In Experiment 1, 71 participants were trained to match three pictures of facial expressions (one that expressed happiness and two that expressed emotional neutrality) to three abstract line drawings and match three healthy food names to the abstract line drawings. The participants were then tested to verify equivalence between facial expressions, abstract pictures, and foods. They were required to rate the foods for pleasantness at the beginning and end of the experiment. The experiment had three different experimental groups that differed only in the amount of training. The foods that were equivalent to the happy and neutral female faces received more positive evaluations than the foods that were equivalent to the neutral male face; however, the data presented high variability. In Experiment 2, schematic faces and fictitious food names were used in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. The food that was equivalent to the happy face was evaluated as more pleasant, and the food that was equivalent to the sad face was evaluated as less pleasant. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 03/09928-4 - Emergent relationships between stimuli and symbolic function: implications for behavior, knowledge and teaching
• Grantee: Júlio César Coelho de Rose
• Support Opportunities: PRONEX Research - Thematic Grants