The Robustness of Affect Manipulations in Vigilance Paradigms

Abstract

Previous research has shown that vigilance tasks result in decreased affect ratings. However, studies have not examined the effectiveness of valence manipulations presented in discrete manipulation sessions over the course of a vigilance task, nor how repeated exposure to an affect manipulation would impact the perceptions or effectiveness of the manipulations. To that end, 109 participants from a large southeastern university completed three affect manipulations (of either positive, negative, or neutral valence) over the course of a 700 image visual search task and rated the manipulation stimuli and their own experiences in terms of valence and arousal. Results revealed no changes in the perceptions or effectiveness of the negative manipulations over time. However, those in the positive condition perceived their stimuli as less positive over time and were resistant to affect restoration at the end of the experiment. Results are discussed in relation to implications for experimental design when attempting to examine the effects of affect over a vigilance task.