Abstract
Sadness has inconsistent effects on the scope of attention. These differing effects may be attributed to different levels of sadness induced in different experiments. Low levels of sadness can expand the scope of attention, but high levels can narrow it. In this study, we recruited 42 college students and induced different levels of sadness in them by having them view sad images continuously, and then we assigned them Navon’s letter task. The results showed that among participants with local-processing bias, those at lower levels of sadness were slower to identify small letters than were those at high levels of sadness and control condition (watching neutral images). Event-related potential (ERP) results showed that low-sadness participants put more attention resources toward processing large letters (global stimuli). They showed increased amplitude of the P1 component compared with high-sadness participants and participants at control condition. These results suggested that different levels of sadness had different effects on attention scope: low levels of sadness extended the scope but as sadness increased, this extension disappeared. This influence pattern mainly occurred in the early stages of visual processing.
Highlights
To date, a great deal of research has focused on the interaction between emotion and attention (Srinivasan and Gupta, 2010, 2011; Srinivasan and Hanif, 2010; Srinivasan, 2015; Gupta et al, 2016)
Considering that potential attention bias would influence the effects of emotion on attention scope, it was necessary to divide the participants into 2 groups, local-faster group (LFG) and global-faster group (GFG), and analyze the data separately
We submitted RTs obtained from correct-response trials to 2 × 2 repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) measures, and we found an interactive effect: F(1,38) = 64.296, P < 0.001, η2 = 0.629
Summary
A great deal of research has focused on the interaction between emotion and attention (Srinivasan and Gupta, 2010, 2011; Srinivasan and Hanif, 2010; Srinivasan, 2015; Gupta et al, 2016). A good deal of research aimed at the effects of emotion on attention scope has found that when people are in a positive emotional state, the scope of attention is expanded (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001); but when they are in a negative emotional state, the scope is narrowed (Finucane, 2011). The scope of attention is narrow when people feel sad, since they will focus their attention more on details rather than on global information. This has been proven by the results of some studies (Wyer et al, 1999; Clore and Gasper, 2000; Clore et al, 2001), in which cues from sad moods may have been experienced as promoting attention to local information (Gasper and Clore, 2002). Recent studies have indicated that participants who were sad or mildly to moderately depressed showed less flanker interference than participants who were neither sad nor depressed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
