Evaluative learning and the allocation of attention to emotional stimuli

Three experiments are reported that bridge previous research on evaluative learning and attentional bias for emotional material. Research in the latte r area has shown that negatively valenced stimuli selectively capture atten tion in those prone to anxiety or depression. It remains unclear whether th is is dire to differences in acquired emotional evaluations or different at tentional responses to similarly evaluated stimuli. We first replicated ear lier findings that pictures paired with unpleasant images are disliked more than those associated with pleasant images. However, these effects on liki ng did not vary with differences in negative emotionality (neuroticism). In two further experiments, despite the consistent absence of individual diff erence effects on subjective liking, pictures associated with negative imag es selected by participants caused more attentional interference in high-ne uroticism participants. For low-neuroticism participants, pictures previous ly paired with pleasant images tended to cause greater interference. Thus, with prior evaluative learning controlled, individuals varying in neurotici sm still differ in their attention to newly emotionalized stimuli.