1
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Clausen AE, Kattner F. The role of evaluatively conditioned stimuli in iconic memory. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2024:10.1007/s00426-024-02024-w. [PMID: 39322864 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-024-02024-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/27/2024]
Abstract
In the present study, an attempt was made to replicate results found about the influence of valence on prioritisation and decay in iconic memory. Hereby, the evaluative conditioning effect was used to induce valence for formerly neutral stimuli. The effect is gained by pairing neutral stimuli with either positive, negative, or neutral images in a conditioning phase. Afterwards, the conditioned stimuli acted as targets in an iconic memory test. In the iconic memory test, targets were presented together with seven other stimuli on a circular placement on the screen for a short time. A cue delayed by either 17, 68, 221, 493, or 1003 ms pointed at the target to be reported. Participants rated the targets before and after the conditioning phase. In addition, the affective and neutral images used in the pairing procedure were rated at the end of the experiment. While no significant change in rating could be observed for the conditioned targets, a significant effect of conditioned valence was still present in the response times and the accuracy of the iconic memory test. Participants reacted the quickest in response to a cue for positively conditioned targets compared to neutral or negatively conditioned targets. Accuracy was highest for positively conditioned targets and was lowest for negatively conditioned targets. Unlike in prior studies, slower decay of information in iconic memory for negative targets was not revealed. Further research should be conducted to identify reasons for this inconsistency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra E Clausen
- Institute of Psychology, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alexanderstr. 10, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany.
| | - Florian Kattner
- Institute for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Health and Medical University, Potsdam, Germany
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2
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Becker M, Troje NF, Schmidt F, Haberkamp A. Moving spiders do not boost visual search in spider fear. Sci Rep 2024; 14:19006. [PMID: 39152224 PMCID: PMC11329515 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69468-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous research on attention to fear-relevant stimuli has largely focused on static pictures or drawings, and thus did not consider the potential effect of natural motion. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of motion on attentional capture in spider-fearful and non-fearful participants by using point-light stimuli and naturalistic videos. Point-light stimuli consist of moving dots representing joints and thereby visualizing biological motion (e.g. of a walking human or cat) without needing a visible body. Spider-fearful (n = 30) and non-spider-fearful (n = 31) participants completed a visual search task with moving targets (point-light/naturalistic videos) and static distractors (images), static targets and moving distractors, or static targets and static distractors. Participants searched for a specified animal type (snakes, spiders, cats, or doves) as quickly as possible. We replicated previous findings with static stimuli: snakes were detected faster and increased distraction, while spiders just increased distraction. However, contrary to our hypotheses, spider targets did not speed up responses, neither in the group of control nor in the group of spider-fearful participants. Interestingly, stimuli-specific effects were toned down, abolished, or even changed direction when motion was introduced. Also, we demonstrated that point-light stimuli were of similar efficiency as naturalistic videos, indicating that for testing effects of motion in visual search, "pure" motion stimuli might be sufficient. As we do show a substantial modulation of visual search phenomena by biological motion, we advocate for future studies to use moving stimuli, equivalent to our dynamic environment, to increase ecological validity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Becker
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany.
| | | | - Filipp Schmidt
- Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Anke Haberkamp
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany
- Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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3
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Fysh MC, Baker E, Rockett J, Allen J, McCall C, Burton AM, Bindemann M. Queues, crowds, and angry mobs: Face identification under distraction in a virtual airport. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:1169-1178. [PMID: 37715668 PMCID: PMC11103907 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231203939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/18/2023]
Abstract
In visual environments, selective attention must be employed to focus on task-relevant stimuli. A key question here concerns the extent to which other stimuli within the visual field influence target processing. In this study, we ask whether face identity matching is subject to similar effects from irrelevant stimuli in the visual field, specifically task-irrelevant people. Although most previous studies rely on highly controlled face and body stimuli presented in isolation, here we use a more realistic environment. Participants take the role of passport officers and must match a person's face to their photo-ID, while other people appear in the background, waiting to be processed. Presenting an interactive virtual environment on screen (Experiments 1 and 2) or in immersive VR (Experiment 3), we generally found no evidence for distraction from background people on face-matching accuracy. However, when immersed in VR, an angry crowd in the background delayed matching speed while not affecting accuracy. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results and their potential importance in practical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C Fysh
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Edward Baker
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Jodie Rockett
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - John Allen
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Cade McCall
- Department of Psychology, York University, York, UK
| | - A Mike Burton
- Department of Psychology, York University, York, UK
- Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University, Robina, QLD, Australia
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4
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Zsido AN, Hout MC, Hernandez M, White B, Polák J, Kiss BL, Godwin HJ. No evidence of attentional prioritization for threatening targets in visual search. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5651. [PMID: 38454142 PMCID: PMC10920919 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56265-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Throughout human evolutionary history, snakes have been associated with danger and threat. Research has shown that snakes are prioritized by our attentional system, despite many of us rarely encountering them in our daily lives. We conducted two high-powered, pre-registered experiments (total N = 224) manipulating target prevalence to understand this heightened prioritization of threatening targets. Target prevalence refers to the proportion of trials wherein a target is presented; reductions in prevalence consistently reduce the likelihood that targets will be found. We reasoned that snake targets in visual search should experience weaker effects of low target prevalence compared to non-threatening targets (rabbits) because they should be prioritized by searchers despite appearing rarely. In both experiments, we found evidence of classic prevalence effects but (contrasting prior work) we also found that search for threatening targets was slower and less accurate than for nonthreatening targets. This surprising result is possibly due to methodological issues common in prior studies, including comparatively smaller sample sizes, fewer trials, and a tendency to exclusively examine conditions of relatively high prevalence. Our findings call into question accounts of threat prioritization and suggest that prior attention findings may be constrained to a narrow range of circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andras N Zsido
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, 6 Ifjusag Street, Pécs, 7624, Baranya, Hungary.
- Szentágothai Research Centre, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
| | - Michael C Hout
- Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA
| | - Marko Hernandez
- Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA
| | - Bryan White
- Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA
| | - Jakub Polák
- Department of Economy and Management, Ambis University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Botond L Kiss
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, 6 Ifjusag Street, Pécs, 7624, Baranya, Hungary
| | - Hayward J Godwin
- School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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5
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Zsidó AN. The effect of emotional arousal on visual attentional performance: a systematic review. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2024; 88:1-24. [PMID: 37417982 PMCID: PMC10805986 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-023-01852-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
Although the arousal elicited by emotional stimuli, similarly to valence, is an integrative part of emotion theories, previous studies and reviews mostly focused on the valence of a stimulus and rarely investigated the role of arousal. Here, I systematically searched for articles that used visual attentional paradigms, manipulated emotional arousal by auditory or visual, task-relevant or task-irrelevant stimuli, measured behavioral responses, ocular behavior, or neural correlates. I found that task-relevant arousing stimuli draw and hold attention regardless of the modality. In contrast, task-irrelevant arousing stimuli impaired task performance. However, when the emotional content precedes the task or it is presented for a longer duration, arousal increased performance. Future directions on how research could address the remaining questions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andras N Zsidó
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, 6 Ifjusag Str., Pécs, 7624, Hungary.
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6
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Railo H, Kraufvelin N, Santalahti J, Laine T. Rapid withdrawal from a threatening animal is movement-specific and mediated by reflex-like neural processing. Neuroimage 2023; 283:120441. [PMID: 37923282 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Responses to potentially dangerous stimuli are among the most basic animal behaviors. While research has shown that threats automatically capture the attention of human participants, research has failed to demonstrate automatic behavioral responses to threats in humans. Using a novel naturalistic paradigm, we show that two species of animals humans often report fearing trigger rapid withdrawal responses: participants withdrew their arm from photos of snakes and spiders faster, and with higher acceleration when compared to bird and butterfly stimuli. The behavior was specific to withdrawal as approach movements or button-press/release tasks failed to detect a similar difference. Moreover, between-participant differences in how aversive they found the stimuli predicted the participant's withdrawal speed, indicating that the paradigm was also sensitive to trait-level differences between individuals. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we show that the fast withdrawal was mediated by two attentional processes. First, fast withdrawal responses were associated with early amplification of sensory signals (40-110 ms after stimulus). Second, a later correlate of feature-based attention (early posterior negativity, EPN, 200-240 ms after stimulus) revealed the opposite pattern: Stronger EPN was associated with slower behavioral responses, suggesting that the deployment of attention towards the threatening stimulus features, or failure to "disengage" attention from the stimulus, was detrimental for withdrawal speed. Altogether, the results suggest that rapid behavioral withdrawal from a threatening animal is mediated by reflex-like attentional processing, and later, conscious attention to stimulus features may hinder escaping the treat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Railo
- Department of Psychology and Speech Language Pathology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Centre, University of Turku, Finland.
| | - Nelli Kraufvelin
- Department of Psychology and Speech Language Pathology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Centre, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Jussi Santalahti
- Department of Psychology and Speech Language Pathology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Finland
| | - Teemu Laine
- Department of Psychology and Speech Language Pathology, University of Turku, Assistentinkatu 7, 20014 Finland
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7
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Coelho CM, Araújo AS, Suttiwan P, Zsido AN. An ethologically based view into human fear. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:105017. [PMID: 36566802 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The quality of the defensive response to a threat depends on the elements that trigger the fear response. The current classification system of phobias does not account for this. Here, we analyze the fear-eliciting elements and discern the different types of fears that originate from them. We propose Pain, Disgust, Vasovagal response, Visual-vestibular and postural interactions, Movement and Speed, Distance and Size, Low and mid-level visual features, Smell, and Territory and social status. We subdivide phobias according to the fear-eliciting elements most frequently triggered by them and their impact on behavior. We discuss the implications of a clinical conceptualization of phobias in humans by reconsidering the current nosology. This conceptualization will facilitate finding etiological factors in defensive behavior expression, fine-tuning exposure techniques, and challenging preconceived notions of preparedness. This approach to phobias leads to surprising discoveries and shows how specific responses bear little relation to the interpretation we might later give to them. Dividing fears into their potentially fear-eliciting elements can also help in applying the research principles formulated by the Research Domain Criteria initiative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos M Coelho
- University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal; Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; Center for Psychology at University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana S Araújo
- Center for Psychology at University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; University of Maia, Maia, Portugal
| | - Panrapee Suttiwan
- Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; Life Di Center, Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
| | - Andras N Zsido
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs 7624, Hungary; Szentágothai Research Centre, University of Pécs, Pécs 7622, Hungary
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8
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Stuit SM, Paffen CLE, Van der Stigchel S. Prioritization of emotional faces is not driven by emotional content. Sci Rep 2023; 13:549. [PMID: 36631453 PMCID: PMC9834315 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25575-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotional faces have prioritized access to visual awareness. However, studies concerned with what expressions are prioritized most are inconsistent and the source of prioritization remains elusive. Here we tested the predictive value of spatial frequency-based image-features and emotional content, the sub-part of the image content that signals the emotional expression of the actor in the image as opposed to the image content irrelevant for the emotional expression, for prioritization for awareness. Participants reported which of two faces (displaying a combination of angry, happy, and neutral expressions), that were temporarily suppressed from awareness, was perceived first. Even though the results show that happy expressions were prioritized for awareness, this prioritization was driven by the contrast energy of the images. In fact, emotional content could not predict prioritization at all. Our findings show that the source of prioritization for awareness is not the information carrying the emotional content. We argue that the methods used here, or similar approaches, should become standard practice to break the chain of inconsistent findings regarding emotional superiority effects that have been part of the field for decades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sjoerd M. Stuit
- grid.5477.10000000120346234Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Chris L. E. Paffen
- grid.5477.10000000120346234Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Stefan Van der Stigchel
- grid.5477.10000000120346234Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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9
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Using video games to understand sex differences in attentional biases for weapons. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0279360. [PMID: 36548291 PMCID: PMC9778952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Attentional biases for threatening stimuli of various kinds have been repeatedly demonstrated. More recently, sex differences in the strength of visual biases for weapons have been observed, with men exhibiting stronger biases than do women. In the current study we further explored this sex difference, by examining how immediate vicarious experience with weapons (via playing a violent video game compared to playing a non-violent video game) affected the visual attention for weapons. We found that the basic visual bias for weapons compared to non-weapons was replicated, as was the sex difference in the strength of this bias. We also observed that the context produced by playing a violent video game prior to the visual search task, produced some sex differences in responding that were not present after playing the nonviolent video game, providing modest evidence that men may be more prone to cognitive behavioural effects of violent video game play. Interestingly, there was some evidence that both sexes de-prioritised non-weapons during search after playing the violent, relative to the non-violent, video game. We recommend that future studies investigate the task dynamics that may have led to this effect.
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10
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Na F, Hui Z, Nan W, Congcong Y, Qianru J. How preschoolers perceive danger – A study of inattentional bias. VISUAL COGNITION 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2022.2086332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Feng Na
- Hangzhou College of Preschool Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhang Hui
- Hangzhou College of Preschool Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Wang Nan
- Hangzhou College of Preschool Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yan Congcong
- Hangzhou College of Preschool Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ji Qianru
- Hangzhou College of Preschool Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
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11
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Sulikowski D. Are natural threats superior threats? EVOL HUM BEHAV 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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12
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The image features of emotional faces that predict the initial eye movement to a face. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8287. [PMID: 33859332 PMCID: PMC8050215 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87881-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional facial expressions are important visual communication signals that indicate a sender's intent and emotional state to an observer. As such, it is not surprising that reactions to different expressions are thought to be automatic and independent of awareness. What is surprising, is that studies show inconsistent results concerning such automatic reactions, particularly when using different face stimuli. We argue that automatic reactions to facial expressions can be better explained, and better understood, in terms of quantitative descriptions of their low-level image features rather than in terms of the emotional content (e.g. angry) of the expressions. Here, we focused on overall spatial frequency (SF) and localized Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) features. We used machine learning classification to reveal the SF and HOG features that are sufficient for classification of the initial eye movement towards one out of two simultaneously presented faces. Interestingly, the identified features serve as better predictors than the emotional content of the expressions. We therefore propose that our modelling approach can further specify which visual features drive these and other behavioural effects related to emotional expressions, which can help solve the inconsistencies found in this line of research.
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13
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Miller RK, Martin FH. Dynamic versus static indicators of threat: N2 and LPC modulation index attack intent and biological relevance during an affective Flanker task. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 158:158-171. [PMID: 33075433 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Biological relevance may influence the neural response towards images which depict attack intent. In the present study, images featuring reptiles and firearms were employed as target and flanking stimuli in a modified version of the affective Flanker task. Forty-two participants (21 male) completed the modified Flanker task as EEG was recorded. Congruency effects in reaction times were more consistently observed for arrays with firearm targets than for arrays with reptile targets. Arrays with neutral targets (i.e., water pistols, turtles) evoked more negative mean N2 (250-400 ms) amplitudes than those with attack targets (i.e., attacking snakes, aimed handguns), while arrays with aimed handgun targets elicited more positive mean activity for the late positive component (LPC; 450-650 ms) compared to arrays with water pistol or reptile targets. Congruency effects were also found in N2 activity for arrays with firearm targets and reptile Flankers. In addition, LPC amplitude for incongruent arrays with attack targets and neutral Flankers was reduced compared to congruent attack arrays. These findings suggest that biological relevance influences interference processing (the N2) and intersects with attack intent during the later stages of picture processing (the LPC).
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14
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Bourgin J, Silvert L, Borg C, Morand A, Sauvée M, Moreaud O, Hot P. Impact of emotionally negative information on attentional processes in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. Brain Cogn 2020; 145:105624. [PMID: 32932107 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Impairments of emotional processing have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD), consistently with the existence of early amygdala atrophy in the pathology. In this study, we hypothesized that patients with AD might show a deficit of orientation toward emotional information under conditions of visual search. Eighteen patients with AD, 24 age-matched controls, and 35 young controls were eye-tracked while they performed a visual search task on a computer screen. The target was a vehicle with implicit (negative or neutral) emotional content, presented concurrently with one, three, or five non-vehicle neutral distractors. The task was to find the target and to report whether a break in the target frame was on the left or on the right side. Both control groups detected negative targets more efficiently than they detected neutral targets, showing facilitated engagement toward negative information. In contrast, patients with AD showed no influence of emotional information on engagement delays. However, all groups reported the frame break location more slowly for negative than for neutral targets (after accounting for the last fixation delay), showing a more difficult disengagement from negative information. These findings are the first to highlight a selective lack of emotional influence on engagement processes in patients with AD. The involvement of amygdala alterations in this behavioral impairment remains to be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Bourgin
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS UMR 5105, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Laetitia Silvert
- Université Clermont Auvergne, UCA-CNRS UMR 6024, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (LAPSCO), 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Céline Borg
- Département de Neurologie, CHU Saint-Etienne, 42270 Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France
| | - Alexandrine Morand
- Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Université Paris, EPHE, Inserm, U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, GIP Cyceron, 14000 Caen, France
| | - Mathilde Sauvée
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS UMR 5105, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France; Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche, Pôle de Psychiatrie et Neurologie, CHU Grenoble, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Olivier Moreaud
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS UMR 5105, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France; Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche, Pôle de Psychiatrie et Neurologie, CHU Grenoble, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Pascal Hot
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS UMR 5105, Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition (LPNC), 38000 Grenoble, France; Institut Universitaire de France, France.
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15
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Mattavelli G, Barvas E, Longo C, Zappini F, Ottaviani D, Malaguti MC, Pellegrini M, Papagno C. Facial expressions recognition and discrimination in Parkinson's disease. J Neuropsychol 2020; 15:46-68. [PMID: 32319735 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Revised: 10/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Emotion processing impairment is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Previous literature reported conflicting results concerning, in particular, the performance for different emotions, the relation with cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms and the affected stage of processing. This study aims at assessing emotion recognition and discrimination in PD. Recognition of six facial expressions was studied in order to clarify its relationship with motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Sensitivity in discriminating happy and fearful faces was investigated to address controversial findings on impairment in early stages of emotion processing. To do so, seventy PD patients were tested with the Ekman 60 Faces test and compared with 46 neurologically unimpaired participants. Patients' performances were correlated with clinical scales and neuropsychological tests. A subsample of 25 PD patients and 25 control participants were also tested with a backward masking paradigm for sensitivity in happiness and fear discrimination. Results showed that PD patients were impaired in facial emotion recognition, especially for fearful expressions. The performance correlated with perceptual, executive and general cognitive abilities, but facial expression recognition deficits were present even in cognitively unimpaired patients. In contrast, patients' sensitivity in backward masking tasks was not reduced as compared to controls. Taken together our data demonstrate that facial emotion recognition, and fear expression in particular, is critically affected by neurodegeneration in PD and related to cognitive abilities; however, it appears before other cognitive impairments. Preserved performances in discriminating shortly presented facial expressions, suggest unimpaired early stages of emotion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Edoardo Barvas
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Chiara Longo
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Francesca Zappini
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Donatella Ottaviani
- Unità Operativa di Neurologia, Ospedale Santa Maria del Carmine, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Rovereto, Italy
| | | | - Maria Pellegrini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Ospedale Santa Chiara, Trento, Italy
| | - Costanza Papagno
- CeRiN, Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva, CIMeC, Università di Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
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Zsido AN, Csatho A, Matuz A, Stecina D, Arato A, Inhof O, Darnai G. Does Threat Have an Advantage After All? - Proposing a Novel Experimental Design to Investigate the Advantages of Threat-Relevant Cues in Visual Processing. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2217. [PMID: 31611835 PMCID: PMC6776589 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The automatic visual attentional procession of threatening stimuli over non-threatening cues has long been a question. The so-called classical visual search task (VST) has quickly become the go-to paradigm to investigate this. However, the latest results showed that the confounding results could originate from the shortcomings of the VST. Thus, here we propose a novel approach to the behavioral testing of the threat superiority effect. We conducted two experiments using evolutionary relevant and modern real-life scenes (e.g., forest or street, respectively) as a background to improve ecological validity. Participants had to find different targets in different spatial positions (close to fovea or periphery) using a touch-screen monitor. In Experiment 1 participants had to find the two most often used exemplar of the evolutionary and modern threatening categories (snake and gun, respectively), or neutral objects of the same category. In Experiment 2 we used more exemplars of each category. All images used were controlled for possible confounding low-level visual features such as contrast, frequency, brightness, and image complexity. In Experiment 1, threatening targets were found faster compared to neutral cues irrespective of the evolutionary relevance. However, in Experiment 2, we did not find an advantage for threatening targets over neutral ones. In contrast, the type of background, and spatial position of the target only affected the detection of neutral targets. Our results might indicate that some stimuli indeed have an advantage in visual processing, however, they are not highlighted based on evolutionary relevance of negative valence alone, but rather through different associational mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arpad Csatho
- Department of Behavioural Sciences, University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Andras Matuz
- Department of Behavioural Sciences, University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Diana Stecina
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Akos Arato
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Orsolya Inhof
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Gergely Darnai
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
- Department of Neurology, University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary
- MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary
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Coelho CM, Suttiwan P, Faiz AM, Ferreira-Santos F, Zsido AN. Are Humans Prepared to Detect, Fear, and Avoid Snakes? The Mismatch Between Laboratory and Ecological Evidence. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2094. [PMID: 31572273 PMCID: PMC6749087 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Seligman (1971) statement that the vast majority of phobias are about objects essential to the survival of a species, a multitude of laboratory studies followed, supporting the finding that humans learn to fear and detect snakes (and other animals) faster than other stimuli. Most of these studies used schematic drawings, images, or pictures of snakes, and only a small amount of fieldwork in naturalistic environments was done. We address fear preparedness theories and automatic fast detection data from mainstream laboratory data and compare it with ethobehavioral information relative to snakes, predator-prey interaction, and snakes' defensive kinematics strikes in order to analyze their potential matching. From this analysis, four main findings arose, namely that (1) snakebites occur when people are very close to the snake and are unaware or unable to escape the bite; (2) human visual detection and escape response is slow compared to the speed of snake strikes; (3) in natural environments, snake experts are often unable to see snakes existing nearby; (4) animate objects in general capture more attention over other stimuli and dangerous, but recent objects in evolutionary terms are also able to be detected fast. The issues mentioned above pose several challenges to evolutionary psychology-based theories expecting to find special-purpose neural modules. The older selective habituation hypothesis (Schleidt, 1961) that prey animals start with a rather general predator image from which specific harmless cues are removed by habituation might deserve reconsideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos M. Coelho
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Panrapee Suttiwan
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Abul M. Faiz
- Department of Psychology, Dev Care Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Fernando Ferreira-Santos
- Department of Psychology, Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Andras N. Zsido
- Department of General and Evolutionary Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
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18
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Love HJ, Sulikowski D. Of Meat and Men: Sex Differences in Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Meat. Front Psychol 2018; 9:559. [PMID: 29731733 PMCID: PMC5920154 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern attitudes to meat in both men and women reflect a strong meat-masculinity association. Sex differences in the relationship between meat and masculinity have not been previously explored. In the current study we used two IATs (implicit association tasks), a visual search task, and a questionnaire to measure implicit and explicit attitudes toward meat in men and women. Men exhibited stronger implicit associations between meat and healthiness than did women, but both sexes associated meat more strongly with 'healthy' than 'unhealthy' concepts. As 'healthy' was operationalized in the current study using terms such as "virile" and "powerful," this suggests that a meat-strength/power association may mediate the meat-masculinity link readily observed across western cultures. The sex difference was not related to explicit attitudes to meat, nor was it attributable to a variety of other factors, such as a generally more positive disposition toward meat in men than women. Men also exhibited an attention bias toward meats, compared to non-meat foods, while females exhibited more caution when searching for non-meat foods, compared to meat. These biases were not related to implicit attitudes, but did tend to increase with increasing hunger levels. Potential ultimate explanations for these differences, including sex differences in bio-physiological needs and receptivity to social signals are discussed.
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Argaud S, Vérin M, Sauleau P, Grandjean D. Facial emotion recognition in Parkinson's disease: A review and new hypotheses. Mov Disord 2018; 33:554-567. [PMID: 29473661 PMCID: PMC5900878 DOI: 10.1002/mds.27305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder classically characterized by motor symptoms. Among them, hypomimia affects facial expressiveness and social communication and has a highly negative impact on patients' and relatives' quality of life. Patients also frequently experience nonmotor symptoms, including emotional-processing impairments, leading to difficulty in recognizing emotions from faces. Aside from its theoretical importance, understanding the disruption of facial emotion recognition in PD is crucial for improving quality of life for both patients and caregivers, as this impairment is associated with heightened interpersonal difficulties. However, studies assessing abilities in recognizing facial emotions in PD still report contradictory outcomes. The origins of this inconsistency are unclear, and several questions (regarding the role of dopamine replacement therapy or the possible consequences of hypomimia) remain unanswered. We therefore undertook a fresh review of relevant articles focusing on facial emotion recognition in PD to deepen current understanding of this nonmotor feature, exploring multiple significant potential confounding factors, both clinical and methodological, and discussing probable pathophysiological mechanisms. This led us to examine recent proposals about the role of basal ganglia-based circuits in emotion and to consider the involvement of facial mimicry in this deficit from the perspective of embodied simulation theory. We believe our findings will inform clinical practice and increase fundamental knowledge, particularly in relation to potential embodied emotion impairment in PD. © 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soizic Argaud
- Behavior and Basal Ganglia Research Unit (EA4712)University of Rennes 1RennesFrance
- Neuroscience of Emotion and Affective Dynamics laboratory, Department of Psychology and Educational SciencesUniversity of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
| | - Marc Vérin
- Behavior and Basal Ganglia Research Unit (EA4712)University of Rennes 1RennesFrance
- Department of NeurologyRennes University HospitalRennesFrance
| | - Paul Sauleau
- Behavior and Basal Ganglia Research Unit (EA4712)University of Rennes 1RennesFrance
- Department of NeurophysiologyRennes University HospitalRennesFrance
| | - Didier Grandjean
- Neuroscience of Emotion and Affective Dynamics laboratory, Department of Psychology and Educational SciencesUniversity of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective SciencesCampus BiotechGenevaSwitzerland
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20
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Investigating evolutionary constraints on the detection of threatening stimuli in preschool children. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 185:166-171. [PMID: 29482090 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Revised: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous objects and animals could be threatening, and thus, children learn to avoid them early. Spiders and syringes are among the most common targets of fears and phobias of the modern word. However, they are of different origins: while the former is evolutionary relevant, the latter is not. We sought to investigate the underlying mechanisms that make the quick detection of such stimuli possible and enable the impulse to avoid them in the future. The respective categories of threatening and non-threatening targets were similar in shape, while low-level visual features were controlled. Our results showed that children found threatening cues faster, irrespective of the evolutionary age of the cues. However, they detected non-threatening evolutionary targets faster than non-evolutionary ones. We suggest that the underlying mechanism may be different: general feature detection can account for finding evolutionary threatening cues quickly, while specific features detection is more appropriate for modern threatening stimuli.
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21
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Quinlan PT, Yue Y, Cohen DJ. The processing of images of biological threats in visual short-term memory. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1283. [PMID: 28835560 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The idea that there is enhanced memory for negatively, emotionally charged pictures was examined. Performance was measured under rapid, serial visual presentation (RSVP) conditions in which, on every trial, a sequence of six photo-images was presented. Briefly after the offset of the sequence, two alternative images (a target and a foil) were presented and participants attempted to choose which image had occurred in the sequence. Images were of threatening and non-threatening cats and dogs. The target depicted either an animal expressing an emotion distinct from the other images, or the sequences contained only images depicting the same emotional valence. Enhanced memory was found for targets that differed in emotional valence from the other sequence images, compared to targets that expressed the same emotional valence. Further controls in stimulus selection were then introduced and the same emotional distinctiveness effect obtained. In ruling out possible visual and attentional accounts of the data, an informal dual route topic model is discussed. This places emphasis on how visual short-term memory reveals a sensitivity to the emotional content of the input as it unfolds over time. Items that present with a distinctive emotional content stand out in memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip T Quinlan
- Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington York, North Yorkshire YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Yue Yue
- Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Dale J Cohen
- Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
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22
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Count on arousal: introducing a new method for investigating the effects of emotional valence and arousal on visual search performance. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 84:1-14. [PMID: 29318376 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-0974-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
There is a large body of research, indicating that threatening stimuli with evolutionary history are prioritised in visual processing. It has been proposed that all threatening stimuli are prioritised, irrespective of evolutionary age, but it was argued that the method used to produce the results was not suitable for investigating the phenomenon. We present a new visual search task and provide evidence that it is an appropriate tool for future research. In Experiment 1, we investigated how the influence of emotional stimuli on visual search performance varies with valence (negative, positive, and neutral) and arousal (medium and high). Negative valence found to have a greater impact. Furthermore, our results underscore the importance of controlling for arousal. Experiment 2 confirmed these findings and also revealed that negative valence decreases performance by diverting attention away from the task, but arousal can compensate for this by increasing attentional capacity. This mechanism does not seem to be affected by the evolutionary history of the stimulus. In Experiment 3, we reproduced these results using a touchscreen monitor and controlling for variance in low-level visual features. We claim that these results support the notion of preferential processing of threatening cues, regardless of evolutionary origin. However, the level of threat, i.e., how arousing the cue is, has to be taken into account to explain the findings.
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Subra B, Muller D, Fourgassie L, Chauvin A, Alexopoulos T. Of guns and snakes: testing a modern threat superiority effect. Cogn Emot 2017; 32:81-91. [PMID: 28152646 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1284044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that ancient (i.e. evolutionary-based) threats capture attention because human beings possess an inborn module shaped by evolution and dedicated to their detection. An alternative account proposes that a key feature predicting whether a stimulus will capture attention is its relevance rather than its ontology (i.e. phylogenetic or ontogenetic threat). Within this framework, the present research deals with the attentional capture by threats commonly encountered in our urban environment. In two experiments, we investigate the attentional capture by modern threats (i.e. weapons). In Experiment 1, participants responded to a target preceded by a cue, which was a weapon or a non-threatening stimulus. We found a larger cuing effect (faster reaction times to valid vs. invalid trials) with weapons as compared with non-threatening cues. In Experiment 2, modern (e.g. weapons) and ancient threats (e.g. snakes) were pitted against one another as cues to determine which ones preferentially capture attention. Crucially, participants were faster to detect a target preceded by a modern as opposed to an ancient threat, providing initial evidence for a superiority of modern threat. Overall, the present findings appear more consistent with a relevance-based explanation rather than an evolutionary-based explanation of threat detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Subra
- a Laboratoire de Psychologie (EA 4139) , Université de Bordeaux , Bordeaux , France
| | - Dominique Muller
- b LIP/PC2S (EA 4145) , Université Grenoble Alpes , Grenoble , France
| | - Lisa Fourgassie
- a Laboratoire de Psychologie (EA 4139) , Université de Bordeaux , Bordeaux , France
| | - Alan Chauvin
- c Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition (UMR5105) , Université Grenoble Alpes , Grenoble , France
| | - Theodore Alexopoulos
- d Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale: Menaces et Société (EA 4471) , Université Paris Descartes , Paris , France
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25
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26
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Yue Y, Quinlan PT. Appraising the role of visual threat in speeded detection and classification tasks. Front Psychol 2015; 6:755. [PMID: 26136696 PMCID: PMC4468840 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This research examines the speeded detection and, separately, classification of photographic images of animals. In the initial experiments each display contained various images of animals and, in the detection task, participants responded whether a display contained only images of birds or also included an oddball target image of a cat or dog. In the classification search task, a target was always present and participants classified this as an image of a cat or a dog. Half of the target images depicted the animal in a non-threatening state and the remaining half images depicted the animal in a threatening state. A complex pattern of effects emerged showing some evidence of more efficient detection of a threatening than non-threatening target. No corresponding pattern emerged in the data for the classification task. Next the tasks were repeated when the stimuli were more carefully matched in terms of general pose and salience of facial features. Now the effects in the detection task were reduced but more consistent than before. Threatening targets were more readily detected than non-threatening targets. In addition, non-threatening targets were more readily classified than threatening targets. The nature of these effects appears to reflect decisional/response mechanisms and not search processes. The performance benefit for the non-threatening images was replicated in a final classification task in which, on each trial, only a single peripheral image was presented. The results demonstrate that a number of different affective and perceptual factors can influence performance in speeded search tasks and these may well be confounded with the variation in threat content of the experimental stimuli. The evidence for the automatic detection of visual threat remains illusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Yue
- Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University Liverpool, UK ; Department of Psychology, University of York York, UK
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27
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Takahashi K, Fukuda H, Samejima K, Watanabe K, Ueda K. Impact of stimulus uncanniness on speeded response. Front Psychol 2015; 6:662. [PMID: 26052297 PMCID: PMC4440356 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 05/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In the uncanny valley phenomenon, the causes of the feeling of uncanniness as well as the impact of the uncanniness on behavioral performances still remain open. The present study investigated the behavioral effects of stimulus uncanniness, particularly with respect to speeded response. Pictures of fish were used as visual stimuli. Participants engaged in direction discrimination, spatial cueing, and dot-probe tasks. The results showed that pictures rated as strongly uncanny delayed speeded response in the discrimination of the direction of the fish. In the cueing experiment, where a fish served as a task-irrelevant and unpredictable cue for a peripheral target, we again observed that the detection of a target was slowed when the cue was an uncanny fish. Conversely, the dot-probe task suggested that uncanny fish, unlike threatening stimulus, did not capture visual spatial attention. These results suggested that stimulus uncanniness resulted in the delayed response, and importantly this modulation was not mediated by the feelings of threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohske Takahashi
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
| | - Haruaki Fukuda
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency Tokyo, Japan ; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Katsumi Watanabe
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan ; Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency Tokyo, Japan ; Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Ueda
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency Tokyo, Japan ; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
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Sulikowski D, Burke D. Threat is in the Sex of the Beholder: Men Find Weapons Faster than do Women. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1177/147470491401200505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In visual displays, people locate potentially threatening stimuli, such as snakes, spiders, and weapons, more quickly than similar benign stimuli, such as beetles and gadgets. Such biases are likely adaptive, facilitating fast responses to potential threats. Currently, and historically, men have engaged in more weapons-related activities (fighting and hunting) than women. If biases of visual attention for weapons result from selection pressures related to these activities, then we would predict such biases to be stronger in men than in women. The current study reports the results of two visual search experiments, in which men showed a stronger bias of attention toward guns and knives than did women, whether the weapons were depicted wielded or not. When the weapons were depicted wielded, both sexes searched for them with more caution than when they were not. Neither of these effects extended reliably to syringes, a non-weapon—yet potentially threatening—object. The findings are discussed with respect to the “weapons effect” and social coercion theory.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Darren Burke
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, Australia
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Simpson EA, Husband HL, Yee K, Fullerton A, Jakobsen KV. Visual search efficiency is greater for human faces compared to animal faces. Exp Psychol 2014; 61:439-56. [PMID: 24962122 PMCID: PMC4452950 DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The Animate Monitoring Hypothesis proposes that humans and animals were the most important categories of visual stimuli for ancestral humans to monitor, as they presented important challenges and opportunities for survival and reproduction; however, it remains unknown whether animal faces are located as efficiently as human faces. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether human, primate, and mammal faces elicit similar searches, or whether human faces are privileged. In the first three experiments, participants located a target (human, primate, or mammal face) among distractors (non-face objects). We found fixations on human faces were faster and more accurate than fixations on primate faces, even when controlling for search category specificity. A final experiment revealed that, even when task-irrelevant, human faces slowed searches for non-faces, suggesting some bottom-up processing may be responsible for the human face search efficiency advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Simpson
- University of Parma, Italy and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Poolesville, MD, USA
| | | | - Krysten Yee
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA
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