The present research program provides the first demonstration that people can learn about the positive and negative value of other people (e.g., neutral faces) under minimal learning conditions, with individual differences in this learning. In seven studies, participants viewed neutral faces paired with sentences describing positive, negative or neutral behaviors on either 2 (Study 1) or 4 (Studies 2-7) occasions. When participants subsequently judged the valence of the faces alone (Studies 1-4, 7), participants judged each face according to the valence of the sentence with which it was paired during learning, suggesting that affective learning occurred under minimal conditions. In three additional studies (Studies 5-7), an implicit measure of affective value (i.e., evaluative priming) further demonstrated that face stimuli acquired affective value under minimal learning conditions. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that the degree of positive affective learning was moderated by sensitivity to positive affective value (indexed by Extraversion). Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that initial learning persisted over a period of two days. Taken together, these studies suggest that affective value acquired under minimal conditions can be indexed by either implicit or explicit means, is influenced by individual differences in sensitivity to affective value, and persists over time.
