Zajonc's Research
Mere Exposure Affect and Cognition
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Affective judgments are those relating to a person's feelings or emotions, without much thought. For example, when a person sees a baby, he or she may not know anything about the baby, but seeing the baby may make the person feel warm and at ease.
Cognitive judgments are those requiring more thought and information processing in the brain. For example, when a person sees a stray dog that he or she knows has been biting people, the person may think the dog is dangerous and that he or she should get away from it. These thoughts stem from information the person has processed, such stories about the dangers of the stray dog. The person has to think about and process all the information he or she has about the dog to make cognitive judgments.
In Zajonc's 1980 article "Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences," he claimed that affective judgments are fairly independent of, and are prior to, the cognitive operations that were believed to be the basis for these affective judgments. He also claimed that affective reactions can occur without extensive perceptual and cognitive encoding, are made with greater confidence than cognitive judgments, and can be made sooner than cognitive judgments (Zajonc,1980).
In fact, there are perhaps very few cognitions and perceptions in everyday life that do not have a significant affective component to it. It is possible that the very first stage of an organism's reaction to stimuli and the very first parts of retrieval are affective (Zajonc, 1980).
Evidence that affective judgments are made prior to cognitive judgments lies in the decision-making process. It is generally accepted that all decisions require a sort of conscious or even unconscious processing of pros and cons (Zajonc, 1980).
However, how likely is it that all people go through all the steps involved in cognitive processing? It would be extremely difficult to prove that there has actually been any prior cognitive process whatsoever. It does not seem likely that people actually weigh all the pros and cons before making a purchasing decision. It appears more likely that people make purchasing decisions based upon what they see as attractive. In essence, "I decided in favor of X" is more likely "I liked X." Some decisions appear to be more affective processes than cognitive processes.
Since mere exposure is an affective function, its power can be explained by the fact that affective judgments can be made without any cognitive processing. Mere exposure also helps explain how affect and cognition are independent from one another.
The Independence of Affect and Cognition
Affective judgments not only occur prior to cognitive judgments, but also occur independently from cognitive judgments. Experiments conducted by Zola-Morgan helped prove affect's independence from cognition (Zajonc, 2001).
These experiments involved monkeys and lesions to their brains. It was shown that lesions to the amygdala (a brain structure that is responsive to affective qualities of simulation) harm emotional responsiveness but do not effect cognitive functions. Conversely, lesions to the hippocampus (a brain structure playing an important role in memory) damage cognitive functions but leave emotional responsiveness intact (Zajonc, 2001).
Other studies have shown that different brain regions are activated during subjects' affective reactions (preferences) and cognitive memory judgments. This finding that preferences and recognition are associated with different regions of the brain further proves the independence of affect and cognition (Zajonc, 2001).
Although affect and cognition work together in behavior, they are separate neural and psychological processes that can be influenced independently of one another. Furthermore, the independence of affect helps explain why repeated mere exposure effects are clearer and stronger when the exposures are subliminal compared to when the subjects are aware of them (Zajonc, 2001).
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