Research
The earliest known research on the effect was conducted by Gustav Fechner in 1876. Edward B. Titchener also documented the effect and described the "glow of warmth" felt in the presence of something that is familiar. However, Titchener's hypothesis was thrown out once tested and results showed that the enhancement of preferences for objects did not depend on the individual's subjective impressions of how familiar the objects were. The rejection of Titchener's hypothesis spurred further research and the development of current theory.
The scholar who is best known for developing the mere-exposure effect is Robert Zajonc. Before conducting his research, he observed that exposure to a novel stimulus initially elicits a fear/avoidance response by all organisms. Each repeated exposure to the novel stimulus causes less fear and more of an approach tactic by the observing organism. After repeated exposure, the observing organism will begin to react fondly to the once novel stimulus. This observation led to the research and development of the mere-exposure effect.
Read more about this topic: Mere-exposure Effect
Famous quotes containing the word research:
“It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.”
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“The research on gender and morality shows that women and men looked at the world through very different moral frameworks. Men tend to think in terms of “justice” or absolute “right and wrong,” while women define morality through the filter of how relationships will be affected. Given these basic differences, why would men and women suddenly agree about disciplining children?”
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“To be sure, nothing is more important to the integrity of the universities ... than a rigorously enforced divorce from war- oriented research and all connected enterprises.”
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