Hedonic valuation is, in short, a fundamental biological mechanism. Moreover, it is crucial for survival.
Normative tradition
For millennia, philosophers and scientists have pursued a common goal: to identify laws that link the properties of objects and the pleasure of perceiving them.
The idea that preference emanates from the object goes back to classical philosophical thought. The Pythagorean school held that the hedonic value of any object lied in the harmony and proportion between its parts. Similarly, properties such as symmetry, balance and the golden ratio have been postulated as determinants of our tastes.
This philosophy assumes that hedonic value is inherent to the object. It is therefore expected to elicit predetermined responses in terms of beauty, taste or delight.
The modern epitome of this tradition is a recent study in Nature Human Behaviour. Its authors claim that preferences can be predicted from characteristics from stimulus.
But then why do we have such different and changing tastes? Why do we love what others hate, and vice versa? How is it possible to stop liking something we used to love, or vice versa? Are the properties of stimuli not enough to explain why we like what we like?
What is hedonic sensitivity
These theories and the assumption on which they are articulated have not withstood empirical scrutiny. Symmetry does not appeal to everyone; it depends on experience and personality. Preference for the golden ratio captures the average taste, not the individual one.
It is a mistake to assume that general trends imply uniformity or inform universal laws. In reality, they mask significant variability in hedonic sensitivity. That is, in the role that the properties of objects play in how much we like them.
Each person brings a unique set of experience and knowledge to valuation. Valuation is also related to the situation in which it takes place. Hence the saying “to each his own”.
Contextual factors
Individual differences explain the diversity in taste among people. And how valuation is articulated modulates taste according to circumstances. We like different things at different times.
So how do we develop preferences? Physical entities relevant to survival are associated with specific sensory properties. This allows us to learn to detect dangers and advantages – the basic principle by which we generate preferences. However, that doesn’t really explain why our tastes vary. One reason is that valuations are context-sensitive.
Most cognitive systems develop mechanisms that allow them to consider other relevant information concerning the state, needs, goals and expectations of the system, and the conditions of valuation. For example, females’ mate choice is affected by the preference of other females: female guppies like a previously rejected male if they later see other females chasing him.
We like what we like because we are who we are, here and now
Expectations, physiology and environment have a significant influence on valuation. They affect the way perceptual, cognitive and emotional systems act on it.
For example, when we are hungry, eating something sweet is often very pleasurable. As we get fuller, the pleasure of eating decreases, to the point where we loathe our favorite foods at certain times.
Valuation systems
In short, hedonic value is not inherent to the object. It cannot be predicted solely on the basis of its characteristics. It depends on individual neurobiology and the computational resources involved.
This does not imply that the assessments are arbitrary. If they were, they would have little biological utility. On the contrary,
brain mechanisms have evolved to provide flexible responses in a changing environment.
The same stimulus can take on radically different values depending on the situation. It may be beneficial to one individual and detrimental to another; beneficial under some circumstances and detrimental in others.
Thus, valuation systems are adaptive, not prescriptive. They serve survival much better by predicting the value of objects in specific situations.
Perception is not a passive recording of the properties of objects. It is the means by which an active cognitive system attempts to make sense of the world. And it does so
by continually evaluating the experience, goals and expectations associated with them.
Our view of the world is never naïve.
We perceive and evaluate through an individual and situated lens; the lens of our experience, knowledge, interests, needs, goals and expectations.
We like what we like because we are who we are, here and now.
Ana Clemente, Postdoctoral researcher in cognitive neuroscience, Universitat de Barcelona
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.