Browsing by Subject "Affective valence"

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    Does social content influence the subjective evaluation of affective pictures?
    (Cambridge University Press, 2020-05-28) Kosonogov, Vladimir; Torrente, Ginesa; Carrillo Verdejo, María Eduvigis; Martínez Selva, José María; Sánchez Navarro, Juan Pedro; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología
    This study explored the effect of the perceived social content of affective pictures on the subjective evaluation of affective valence and arousal. For this purpose, we established three categories of social content (pictures without people, with one person and with two or more people). A sample of 161 subjects rated 200 pictures varying in affective valence (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant), arousal and social content. Results of two-factor analysis of variance (F(4, 157) = 71.7, p < .001, ηp 2 = .31) showed that perceived social content influenced the ratings of affective valence, specially for unpleasant pictures, with the greatest social content (two or more people) leading subjects to rate unpleasant pictures with the lowest ratings (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .001). Regarding arousal (F(4, 157) = 64.0, p < .001, ηp 2 = .29), the higher the social content, the higher the arousal ratings, but only for pleasant (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .007) and unpleasant (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .001) pictures. Overall, this study demonstrated an effect of the perceived social content on the subjective evaluation of affective valence and arousal of emotional stimuli.
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    Head motion elicited by affective pictures as measured by a new LED-based technique
    (Brill Academic Publishers, 2019-04-26) Kosonogov, Vladimir; Torrente Hernández, Ginesa; Arenas Dalla Vecchia, Aurelio; Carrillo Verdejo, María Eduvigis; Martínez Selva, José María; Sánchez Navarro, Juan Pedro; Electromagnetismo y Electrónica
    The complex sensory input and motor reflexes that keep body posture and head position aligned are influenced by emotional reactions evoked by visual or auditory stimulation. Several theoretical approaches have emphasized the relevance of motor reactions in emotional response. Emotions are considered as a tendency or predisposition to act that depends on two motivational systems in the brain — the appetitive system, related to approach behaviours, and the defensive system, related to withdrawal or fight-or-flight behaviours. Few studies on emotion have been conducted employing kinematic methods, however. Motion analysis of the head may be a promising method for studying the impact of viewing affective pictures on emotional response. For this purpose, we presented unpleasant, neutral and pleasant affective pictures. Participants were instructed to view the pictures and to remain still. Two light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were attached to the foreheads of participants, and a Wii Remote controller, positioned 25 cm away, detected the position of the LEDs in the medial–lateral and anterior–posterior axes. We found more sway in response to unpleasant pictures. In addition, unpleasant pictures also provoked faster movements than both neutral and pleasant pictures. This response to unpleasant pictures, in contrast to pleasant ones, might reflect the readiness or predisposition to act. Our data also revealed that men moved faster than women, which is in accordance with previous findings related to gender differences.