It is “conventional signaling”: There is nothing in the signal itself to verify what you are saying beyond the fact that you are saying it.

“nine-point hedonic scale”

“counter-adaptive”:

“I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.”

Third, they are often constructed.

As we eat something, we begin to like it less.

ecological valence theory—that might explain both the adult and the infant preferences. The theory is that we like the colors of the things we most like.

“mere exposure” effect: “Mere repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus is sufficient condition for the enhancement of his attitude toward it.”

“dramaturgical” act: “We find that upward mobility involves the presentation of proper performances and that efforts to move upward and efforts to keep from moving downward are expressed in terms of sacrifices made for the maintenance of front.”