MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.
Department of Psychology.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2021 Aug;150(8):1598-1611. doi: 10.1037/xge0001006. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Disgust is an adaptation forged under the selective pressure of pathogens. Yet disgust may cause problems in contemporary societies because of its propensity for "false positives" and resistance to corrective information. Here, we investigate whether disgust, as revealed by oculomotor avoidance, might be reduced through the noncognitive process of habituation. In each of three experiments, we repeatedly exposed participants to the same pair of images, one disgusting and one neutral, and recorded gaze. Experiment 1 ( = 104) found no decline in oculomotor avoidance of the disgusting image after 24 prolonged exposures. Experiment 2 ( = 99) replicated this effect and demonstrated its uniqueness to disgust. In Experiment 3 ( = 93), we provided a gaze-contingent reward to ensure perceptual contact with the disgusting image. Participants looked almost exclusively at the disgusting image for 5 min but resumed baseline levels of oculomotor avoidance once the reward ceased. These findings underscore the challenge of reducing disgust. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
厌恶是在病原体的选择性压力下形成的适应。然而，由于厌恶具有“假阳性”的倾向和对纠正信息的抵制，它可能会在当代社会中产生问题。在这里，我们研究了通过非认知过程习惯化是否可以减少通过眼动回避揭示的厌恶。在三个实验中的每一个实验中，我们都反复暴露参与者相同的一对图像，一个令人厌恶，一个中性，并记录注视。实验 1（n = 104）发现，在 24 次长时间暴露后，对令人厌恶的图像的眼动回避并没有下降。实验 2（n = 99）复制了这一效果，并证明了其对厌恶的独特性。在实验 3（n = 93）中，我们提供了一个基于注视的奖励，以确保与令人厌恶的图像进行感知接触。参与者在 5 分钟内几乎只看令人厌恶的图像，但一旦奖励停止，就会恢复到基线水平的眼动回避。这些发现强调了减少厌恶的挑战。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
