Assessing Automatic Activation of Valence

TLDR

The Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST) is an indirect measure of automatic valence activation that provides nonrelative valence assessments but can be biased by response tendencies. The study proposes a multinomial process dissociation model to analyze EAST performance. The authors validated the multinomial process dissociation model of EAST performance in four experiments. The model yields unbiased measures of automatic valence activation and reveals substantial parameter heterogeneity driven by individual differences in accuracy motivation. Abstract.

Abstract

Abstract. The Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; De Houwer, 2003 ) has been introduced as an indirect measure of automatic activation of valence. EAST effects provide nonrelative valence measures of single stimuli compared to relative measures (e.g., Implicit Association Test) that imply a comparison between two stimuli or concepts. However, EAST effects can be biased by response tendencies. A multinomial process dissociation model of EAST performance is proposed and successfully validated in four experiments. Its parameters provide pure and unbiased measures of automatic valence activation, controlled processing of task-relevant features, and response tendency. A first application of latent-class hierarchical multinomial models reveals a significant amount of parameter heterogeneity resulting from interindividual differences in accuracy motivation.