Oral approach–avoidance: Affective consequences of muscular articulation dynamics.

Abstract. The affective consequences of sequential approach-avoidance movements in the mouth were investigated. Participants (total N = 872) received words for which consonantal stricture spots either wandered first-inward-then-outward (e.g., FOLOKOLOF; approach-avoidance) or first-outward-then-inward (e.g., KOLOFOLOK; avoidance-approach) in the mouth. In a pilot study, it was established that first-inward-then-outward (first-outward-then-inward) is associated with negative disgust (positive ingestion) reactions (Experiment 1). Approach-avoidance sequences were preferred less than avoidance-approach sequences (Experiments 2a–3b); and this effect disappeared under oral motor-interference (Experiment 4). Experiment 5 provides evidence that a mere recency effect is an unlikely explanation for these effects. Thus, sequentially executed oral approach and avoidance movements do not cancel each other out but jointly influence resulting affective responses.

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Oral Approach Avoidance

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000458 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 66 (5) ◽

pp. 355-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sandra Godinho ◽

Margarida V. Garrido ◽

Oleksandr V. Horchak

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Writing System ◽

Oral Movements ◽

Motivational States ◽

Oral Approach ◽

Approach Avoidance ◽

Abstract Words ◽

European Family

Abstract. Words whose articulation resembles ingestion movements are preferred to words mimicking expectoration movements. This so-called in-out effect, suggesting that the oral movements caused by consonantal articulation automatically activate concordant motivational states, was already replicated in languages belonging to Germanic (e.g., German and English) and Italic (e.g., Portuguese) branches of the Indo-European family. However, it remains unknown whether such preference extends to the Indo-European branches whose writing system is based on the Cyrillic rather than Latin alphabet (e.g., Ukrainian), or whether it occurs in languages not belonging to the Indo-European family (e.g., Turkish). We replicated the in-out effect in two high-powered experiments ( N = 274), with Ukrainian and Turkish native speakers, further supporting an embodied explanation for this intriguing preference.

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Oral approach-avoidance: A replication and extension for European-Portuguese phonation

European Journal of Social Psychology ◽

10.1002/ejsp.2172 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 260-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Sandra Godinho ◽

Margarida Vaz Garrido

Keyword(s):

European Portuguese ◽

Oral Approach ◽

Approach Avoidance

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Consequence-Based Approach-Avoidance Training: A New and Improved Method for Changing Behavior

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797618796478 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (12) ◽

pp. 1899-1910 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Pieter Van Dessel ◽

Sean Hughes ◽

Jan De Houwer

Keyword(s):

Avoidance Training ◽

Total N ◽

Unhealthy Eating ◽

Alcoholic Drinks ◽

Approach Avoidance ◽

Affective Consequences ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Training And Support ◽

Bias Modification ◽

Promising Type

The repeated performance of approach or avoidance actions in response to specific stimuli (e.g., alcoholic drinks) is often considered a most promising type of cognitive-bias modification that can reduce unwanted behavior (e.g., alcohol consumption). Unfortunately, approach-avoidance training sometimes fails to produce desired outcomes (e.g., in the context of unhealthy eating). We introduce a novel training task in which approach-avoidance actions are followed by affective consequences. Four experiments (total N = 1,547) found stronger changes in voluntary approach-avoidance behavior, implicit and explicit evaluations, and consumer choices for consequence-based approach-avoidance training in the food domain. Moreover, this novel type of training reduced self-reported unhealthy eating behavior after a 24-hr delay and unhealthy snacking in a taste test. Our results contrast with dominant (association-formation) accounts of the effects of approach-avoidance training and support an inferential explanation. They further suggest that consequence-based approach-avoidance training, and inference training more generally, holds promise for the treatment of clinical behavior.

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Instruction-Based Approach-Avoidance Effects

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000282 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

pp. 161-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Pieter Van Dessel ◽

Jan De Houwer ◽

Anne Gast ◽

Colin Tucker Smith

Keyword(s):

Implicit Association Test ◽

Avoidance Training ◽

Social Groups ◽

Implicit Association ◽

Approach And Avoidance ◽

Evaluative Priming ◽

Blacks And Whites ◽

Approach Avoidance ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Explicit Measures

Prior research suggests that repeatedly approaching or avoiding a certain stimulus changes the liking of this stimulus. We investigated whether these effects of approach and avoidance training occur also when participants do not perform these actions but are merely instructed about the stimulus-action contingencies. Stimulus evaluations were registered using both implicit (Implicit Association Test and evaluative priming) and explicit measures (valence ratings). Instruction-based approach-avoidance effects were observed for relatively neutral fictitious social groups (i.e., Niffites and Luupites), but not for clearly valenced well-known social groups (i.e., Blacks and Whites). We conclude that instructions to approach or avoid stimuli can provide sufficient bases for establishing both implicit and explicit evaluations of novel stimuli and discuss several possible reasons for why similar instruction-based approach-avoidance effects were not found for valenced well-known stimuli.

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