Developmental Aspects of Propositional and Associative Learning Theories in the Evaluative Conditioning Paradigm: A Systematic Review

This scoping review maps the literature on developmental differences in evaluative conditioning (EC), focusing on associative and propositional mechanisms. We searched EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and Scopus for empirical studies published between 2011 and 2025. Five studies (N = 825) met inclusion criteria, and the evidence base proved heterogeneous. Two studies reported age-related differences in EC strength, with adults showing stronger effects than children under standard conditions; one found valence-specific differences in learning rates across the adult lifespan; and one longitudinal infant study found no group-level EC, though attention to faces predicted learning. Evidence for a uniform shift from associative to propositional processing is therefore mixed: one study supports a developmental increase in propositional control, whereas others indicate stable associative learning. A further study showed that preschool children generalize conditioned attitudes to perceptually similar but not rule-defined stimuli, supporting the primacy of associative processes in early childhood. The scarcity of directly comparative studies and the procedural variability indicate a need for standardized paradigms.