In each of the languages, the least frequent letters were over-represented in the set of least preferred letters, whereas the most preferred letters were rarely the highest frequency letters. The exposure counts in the lab studies done by Zajonc (20 to 25 times) were minuscule compared to real-life observation counts of any letter, which also caused Nuttin to cast doubt on whether Zajonc's theory could hold true in the real world. Subjective frequency is how frequently subjects a stimulus appears. Name letters may be noticed more and, consequently, assumed to occur more frequently than other letters. Early research into the impact of exposure showed that differences in subjective frequency yielded different results even when the frequency was identical. Hoorens and Nuttin tested whether subjective frequency could be an explanation for the name-letter effect by asking subjects to rank-order the entire alphabet twice, once according to their letter preference and once according to estimated letter frequency. Subjects indeed significantly overestimated the frequency of letters in their names, although there was no significant positive correlation between the overestimation of frequency and the name-letter effect. The researchers also asked subjects to rate how much they liked their own name. Subjects who liked their name had a stronger name-letter effect than those who did not like their name, but they did not overestimate the frequency of own-name letters more than subjects who did not like their names. Hoorens and Nuttin concluded that there is no support for the subjective frequency hypothesis. Evaluative conditioning suggests that if the name is liked then the name letters will be liked too. This would occur through repeated visual association of the name letters with the name. Martin and Levey defined evaluative conditioning as a variation of classical conditioning in which we come to like or dislike something through an association. Given the observation that our own name stands out among others as quite an attractive stimulus, as Cherry found in the cocktail party effect, it could be that the name-letter effect results from evaluative conditioning. Feys set up a controlled study with Flemish subjects, pairing unfamiliar symbols (Japanese kanji) with subjects' own names, and with other names. He found that there was no difference in how much subjects liked the kanji symbol representing their own name or other names. He concluded that evaluative conditioning is not the primary cause of the name-letter effect. Subjective ownership would occur if subjects knowingly chose the letters from their own name. Nuttin ruled out a conscious response strategy in tests.