Rapid picture processing: Affective primes and targets

In rapid serial visual presentation of pictures, an early ERP component shows enlarged negativity over occipital regions for emotional, compared to neutral, pictures. The present study examined the processing of emotional target pictures as a function of the hedonic valence of a preceding prime pict...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychophysiology 2008-01, Vol.45 (1), p.1-10
Main Authors: Flaisch, Tobias, Junghöfer, Markus, Bradley, Margaret M., Schupp, Harald T., Lang, Peter J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Affect - physiology
Attention
Brain
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Electroencephalography
Emotion
Emotions
ERP
Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology
Experimental psychology
Eyes & eyesight
Female
Humans
Interference
Male
Motivation
Neurology
Photic Stimulation
Pictures
Posterior negative potential
Sensory perception
Visual Perception - physiology
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Summary:In rapid serial visual presentation of pictures, an early ERP component shows enlarged negativity over occipital regions for emotional, compared to neutral, pictures. The present study examined the processing of emotional target pictures as a function of the hedonic valence of a preceding prime picture. Dense sensor ERPs were measured while subjects viewed a continuous stream of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures, presented for 335 ms each. Two main findings were observed: First, replicating previous results, emotional target pictures were associated with a larger posterior negativity, compared to neutral pictures. Second, the emotional content of the preceding prime picture affected target processing, with pleasant or unpleasant primes resulting in reduced negativity of the following picture, irrespective of its emotional valence. These findings are discussed within a framework of competition among successive pictures.
ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00600.x