Flavor evaluative conditioning and contingency awareness

The relationship between flavor evaluative conditioning and contingency awareness was examined in two experiments using flavored drinks. In Experiment 1, one flavor was always paired with sugar and the other with bitter tween (polysorbate20) during conditioning. In a subsequent test phase, participants tasted the two flavors, and their evaluative ratings indicated an overall preference for the sugar-paired flavor. Moreover, participants were generally able to report which flavor had been paired with sugar and which with tween. This finding was replicated and confirmed in Experiment 2A. Furthermore, in both experiments, evaluative conditioning was seen only in those participants who were aware of the contingencies. Experiment 2B demonstrated that evaluative conditioning does not occur to colors, although participants are contingency aware. The differences between the present findings and prior studies, in which apparently unaware flavor conditioning has been found, are discussed.