Abstract
The activity of basic motivational systems is reflected in emotional responses to arousing stimuli, such as natural pictures. The manipulation of picture properties such as size or detail allows for investigation into the extent to which separate emotional reactions are similarly modulated by perceptual changes, or, rather, may subserve different functions. Pursuing this line of research, the present study examined the effects of two types of perceptual degradation, namely picture size reduction and blurring, on emotional responses. Both manipulations reduced picture relevance and dampened affective modulation of skin conductance, possibly because of a reduced action preparation in response to degraded or remote pictures. However, the affective modulation of the startle reflex did not vary with picture degradation, suggesting that the identification of these degraded affective cues activated the neural circuits mediating appetitive or defensive motivation.
Highlights
From an evolutionary point of view, detection of threats and life-sustaining opportunities allowed survival and promoted the development of specialized systems to spot and respond to significant stimuli
The present study aimed to extend previous results regarding the effects of picture size on the affective response to another type of manipulation, namely picture blurring, which shares some perceptual effects with size reduction, but does not vary the visual angle subtended by the pictures
Affective modulation of skin conductance was reduced by stimulus degradation, as revealed by the quadratic x quadratic interaction of picture category and degradation, F(1, 37) = 10.71, p,.01, g2p =
Summary
From an evolutionary point of view, detection of threats and life-sustaining opportunities allowed survival and promoted the development of specialized systems to spot and respond to significant stimuli. To this purpose, motivational systems modulate perceptual processes and emotional reactions to significant pleasant and unpleasant stimuli, building the basis of emotional behavior. Skin conductance (SC) activity is more pronounced when viewing emotionally arousing (pleasant or unpleasant) pictures, compared to neutral pictures, covarying with the arousal dimension [1,2,3]. One interpretation is that skin conductance reflects action preparation, which is consistent with the role of the sympathetic system in arousing and engaging behavior in response to significant events
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