Subliminal affective priming effect: Dissociated processes for intense versus normal facial expressions

It has been found that an emotional stimulus such as a facial expression presented subliminally can affect subsequent information processing and behavior, usually by shifting evaluation of a subsequent stimulus to a valence congruent with the previous stimulus. This phenomenon is called subliminal affective priming. The present study was conducted to replicate and expand previous findings by investigating interaction of primes and targets in the affective priming effect. Two conditions were used, Prime (subliminal presentation 35 msec.) of an angry face of a woman and a No Prime control condition. Just after presentation of the prime, an ambiguous angry face or an emotionally neutral face was presented above the threshold of awareness (500 msec.). 12 female undergraduate women judged categories of facial expressions (Anger, Neutral, or Happiness) for the target faces. Analysis indicated that the Anger primes significantly facilitated judgment of anger for the ambiguous angry faces; however, the priming effect of the Anger primes was not observed for neutral faces. Consequently, the present finding suggested that a subliminal affective priming effect should be more prominent when affective valence of primes and targets is congruent.

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Subliminal Affective Priming Effect by Faces With Different Valence: An ERP Study

Acta Psychologica Sinica ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1041.2010.00929 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 42 (9) ◽

pp. 929-938 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yong LU ◽

Wei-Na ZHANG ◽

De-Li SHEN

Keyword(s):

Priming Effect ◽

Affective Priming

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Exploring Affective Priming Effect of Emotion-Label Words and Emotion-Laden Words: An Event-Related Potential Study

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11050553 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 553

Author(s):

Chenggang Wu ◽

Juan Zhang ◽

Zhen Yuan

Keyword(s):

Word Processing ◽

Priming Effect ◽

Word Type ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Affective Priming ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Emotion Word ◽

Priming Paradigm ◽

Emotion Label ◽

Target Words

In order to explore the affective priming effect of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words, the current study used unmasked (Experiment 1) and masked (Experiment 2) priming paradigm by including emotion-label words (e.g., sadness, anger) and emotion-laden words (e.g., death, gift) as primes and examined how the two kinds of words acted upon the processing of the target words (all emotion-laden words). Participants were instructed to decide the valence of target words, and their electroencephalogram was recorded at the same time. The behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) results showed that positive words produced a priming effect whereas negative words inhibited target word processing (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the inhibition effect of negative emotion-label words on emotion word recognition was found in both behavioral and ERP results, suggesting that modulation of emotion word type on emotion word processing could be observed even in the masked priming paradigm. The two experiments further supported the necessity of defining emotion words under an emotion word type perspective. The implications of the findings are proffered. Specifically, a clear understanding of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words can improve the effectiveness of emotional communications in clinical settings. Theoretically, the emotion word type perspective awaits further explorations and is still at its infancy.

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The cross-modal affective priming effect: Effects of the valence and arousal of primes

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.10202 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (12) ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Cheng Kang ◽

Nan Ye ◽

Fangwen Zhang ◽

Yanwen Wu ◽

Guichun Jin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Priming Effect ◽

Affective Priming ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Priming Task ◽

The Cross ◽

Visual Targets ◽

Positive And Negative Valence ◽

Valence And Arousal ◽

Affective Information

Although studies have investigated the influence of the emotionality of primes on the cross-modal affective priming effect, it is unclear whether this effect is due to the contribution of the arousal or the valence of primes. We explored how the valence and arousal of primes influenced the cross-modal affective priming effect. In Experiment 1 we manipulated the valence of primes (positive and negative) that were matched by arousal. In Experiments 2 and 3 we manipulated the arousal of primes under the conditions of positive and negative valence, respectively. Affective words were used as auditory primes and affective faces were used as visual targets in a priming task. The results suggest that the valence of primes modulated the cross-modal affective priming effect but that the arousal of primes did not influence the priming effect. Only when the priming stimuli were positive did the cross-modal affective priming effect occur, but negative primes did not produce a priming effect. In addition, for positive but not negative primes, the arousal of primes facilitated the processing of subsequent targets. Our findings have great significance for understanding the interaction of different modal affective information.

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Classification of Subliminal Affective Priming Effect Based on AE and SVM

Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing - Communications in Computer and Information Science ◽

10.1007/978-981-15-1377-0_60 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 778-788

Author(s):

Yongqiang Yin ◽

Bin Hu ◽

Tiantian Li ◽

Xiangwei Zheng

Keyword(s):

Priming Effect ◽

Affective Priming

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Evidence for Attenuated Affective Processing in Obesity

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.103.1.35-47 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 35-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ingo Wegener ◽

Astrid Wawrzyniak ◽

Katrin Imbierowicz ◽

Rupert Conrad ◽

Jochen Musch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Weight Gain ◽

Priming Effect ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Weight Loss Program ◽

Affective Priming ◽

Affective Processing ◽

Verbal Stimuli ◽

Priming Task ◽

Affective Priming Task

Attenuated affective processing is hypothesized to play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity. Using an affective priming task measuring automatic affective processing of verbal stimuli, a group of 30 obese participants in a weight-loss program at the Psychosomatic University Clinic Bonn ( M age = 48.3, SD = 10.7) was compared with a group of 25 participants of normal weight ( M age = 43.6, SD= 12.5). A smaller affective priming effect was observed for participants with obesity, indicating less pronounced reactions to valenced adjectives. The generally reduced affective processing in obese participants was discussed as a possible factor in the etiology of obesity. Individuals who generally show less pronounced affective reactions to a given stimulus may also react with less negative affect when confronted with weight gain or less positive affect when weight is lost. Consequently, they could be expected to be less motivated to stop overeating or to engage in dieting and will have a higher risk of becoming or staying obese.

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