What we are conscious of when «stepping on the same rake»: the affective evaluation of “to-be-repeated” answers

People tend to repeat their answers, regardless of their accuracy - the effect described in the theory of V. Allakhverdov (2009) as a consequence of “choice aftereffect”. Despite the fact that this effect was demonstrated in a wide range of tasks, it still lacks specific explanation. In this paper we propose that affective evaluation of competing hypotheses could serve as a mediating link in the “choice aftereffect”. Basing on the analysis of recent discoveries about the origins and outcomes of affective evaluation we put forward a hypothesis that after a first answer the affective evaluation of “to-be-repeated” answers is already higher than the one of “to-be-changed” answers. To test this prediction, we conducted an experiment using the confidence rating as the measurement of answer evaluation. The results of the experiment are in favor of our hypothesis: both wrong and correct “to-be-repeated” answers were evaluated as more positive, compared to the “to-be-changed” answers. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the power of “choice aftereffects” increased with the increase of choice evaluation. In the end of the paper we discuss the alternative explanations of the obtained results and their effects on the studies of consciousness.

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