Prepared learning accounts suggest that specialized learning mechanisms increase the retention of associations linked to ancestrally-prevalent threats. Few studies have investigated specialized aversion learning for pathogen threats. In four pre-registered studies (s = 515, 495, 164, 175), we employed an evaluative conditioning procedure to test whether foods (versus non-foods) are more readily associated with negative content associated with pathogens than negative content not associated with pathogens. Participants saw negatively valenced (either pathogen-relevant or -irrelevant), neutral or positively-valenced stimuli paired with meats and plants (in Studies 1 and 2) and with meats and abstract shapes (in Studies 3 and 4). They then evaluated each stimulus explicitly via self-reports (Studies 1–4) and implicitly via an Affect Misattribution Procedure (Studies 3 and 4). Linear mixed models revealed general evaluative conditioning effects, but inconsistent evidence for specialized (implicit or explicit) learning for a food-pathogen association. However, results from a mega-analysis across studies revealed stronger conditioning effects for meats paired with pathogen-relevant negative stimuli than pathogen-irrelevant negative stimuli.

中文翻译：

---

四项研究为通过评价性条件反射进行准备（厌恶）学习提供了有限的证据

准备好的学习记录表明，专门的学习机制可以增加与祖先普遍存在的威胁相关的关联的保留。很少有研究调查针对病原体威胁的专门厌恶学习。在四项预先注册的研究 (s = 515、495、164、175) 中，我们采用了评估调节程序来测试食品（相对于非食品）是否比与病原体无关的负面内容更容易与与病原体相关的负面内容相关。病原体。参与者看到负价（与病原体相关或无关）、中性或正价刺激与肉类和植物（在研究 1 和 2 中）以及肉类和抽象形状（在研究 3 和 4 中）配对。然后，他们通过自我报告明确评估每个刺激（研究 1-4），并通过影响误归因程序隐含评估每个刺激（研究 3 和 4）。线性混合模型揭示了一般的评价性调节效应，但对于食物-病原体关联的专门（隐性或显性）学习的证据不一致。然而，多项研究的大型分析结果显示，与病原体相关的负面刺激搭配的肉类比与病原体无关的负面刺激搭配的肉类具有更强的调节作用。