Go/No-Go training alters food evaluations independently of cognitive load

However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying these effects remain under debate, with both associative and inferential explanations proposed. The present preregistered study investigated whether cognitive load moderates the impact of GNG training on food evaluations, thereby testing the relative contribution of efficient versus effortful processes.

Ninety-one female participants completed a GNG training task under either high or low cognitive load, with food stimuli from three categories assigned to go, no-go, or untrained conditions. Evaluations of no-go, go and untrained food stimuli were collected pre- and post-training, and awareness of the stimulus-response contingencies was assessed after training. Results revealed that cognitive load significantly reduced contingency awareness but did not affect GNG task accuracy or training-induced changes in food evaluation.