On theory integration: Toward developing affective components within cognitive architectures.

In The Cognitive-Emotional Brain, Pessoa (2013) suggests that cognition and emotion should not be considered separately. We agree with this and argue that cognitive architectures can provide steady ground for this kind of theory integration and for investigating interactions among underlying cognitive processes. We briefly explore how affective components can be implemented and how neuroimaging measures can help validate models and influence theory development.

The effect of processing fluency on impressions of familiarity and liking.

Processing fluency has been shown to have wide-ranging effects on disparate evaluative judgments, including judgments of liking and familiarity. One account of such effects is the hedonic marking hypothesis (Winkielman, Schwarz, Fazendeiro, & Reber, 2003), which posits that fluency is directly linked to affective preferences via a positive emotional reaction that is triggered by fluent processing. The evidence supporting this account suggests that fluency may exert a stronger influence on affective judgments than other judgments.

Fluency effects in recognition memory: are perceptual fluency and conceptual fluency interchangeable?

On a recognition memory test, both perceptual and conceptual fluency can engender a sense of familiarity and elicit recognition memory illusions. To date, perceptual and conceptual fluency have been studied separately but are they interchangeable in terms of their influence on recognition judgments? Five experiments compared the effect of perceptual and conceptual fluency on recognition. The results suggest that under standard intentional encoding instructions participants were influenced by conceptual and perceptual fluency manipulations to a similar degree (Experiments 1a and 1b).

The role of perceived threat in the survival processing memory advantage.

Information that is processed in relation to survival tends to promote superior recall relative to other elaborate encoding manipulations (e.g., Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007).

Can fluency be interpreted as novelty? Retraining the interpretation of fluency in recognition memory.

Stimuli that are processed fluently tend to be regarded as more familiar and are more likely to be classified as old on a recognition test compared with less fluent stimuli. Recently it was shown that the standard relationship between fluency and positive recognition judgments can be reversed if participants are trained that previously studied stimuli are associated with lower levels of fluency. Under such conditions, fluent stimuli are more likely to be classified as new on a recognition test (C.