scholarly journals Neural Indices of Emotional Distraction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kelly Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Stimulus Display ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Detection Sensitivity ◽  
Attentional Resource ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Emotional Distraction

<p>Emotional stimuli capture our attention. The preferential processing of emotional information is an adaptive mechanism that when relevant to our goal highlights potentially important aspects in the environment. However, when emotional information is task-irrelevant, their presence in the environment can trigger involuntary shifts in attention that cause detriments to performance. One challenge to investigating emotional distraction in the lab is how to objectively investigate the allocation of attention between different elements on the same stimulus display (e.g. between the task and the distractors). One neural measure that overcomes this issue is the Steady-State-Visual-Evoked-Potential (SSVEP). An SSVEP is the neural response of the visual cortex to a flickering stimulus and can be used as a measure of attentional resource allocation (Norcia, Appelbaum, Ales, Cottereau, & Rossion, 2015). In the past, emotional distraction has been studied using spatially separated tasks and distractors. The current thesis presents two experiments using SSVEPs to investigate emotional distraction in a superimposed design. Experiment 1 aimed to conceptually replicate Hindi Attar and colleagues (2010) who developed an SSVEP emotional distraction paradigm to examine attentional resource allocation between background task-irrelevant emotional distractors and a foreground dot-motion task. Participants viewed a stimulus display of moving, flickering dots, while positive or neutrally valanced distractors (or unidentifiable scrambles) were presented in the background of the task. SSVEPs were reduced in the presence of positive intact compared to neutral intact distractors suggesting that the presentation of task-irrelevant emotional stimuli in the same spatial location as a foreground task initiates an involuntary shift of attention away from the task. Unexpectedly, in both Experiments 1 and 2 valence differences were found in SSVEPs between positive and neutral scrambled images; this suggests that there are some perceptual differences between the stimulus sets (e.g. colour) contributing to the drop in SSVEP found for positive intact images. Importantly, in the SSVEP analysis significant valence x image type interactions were found, demonstrating that the drop for positive images was stronger for intact than scrambled image conditions, suggesting that a significant amount of the drop in SSVEP was driven by a difference in valence between the intact distractors. Behavioural results also suggest evidence for emotional distraction through reduced hit rate in the presence of positive intact images compared to neutral intact images in Experiment 1, and reduced detection sensitivity and response criterion for positive intact images in Experiment 2. Overall, the current thesis demonstrates support for the hypothesis that emotional information is more distracting than neutral information and provides a valuable starting point for the examination of emotion attention interactions when the task and distractors share the same location. Future studies could use SSVEPs to examine neural processing differences between emotional and neutral scrambled images.</p>

scholarly journals Neural Indices of Emotional Distraction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kelly Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Stimulus Display ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Detection Sensitivity ◽  
Attentional Resource ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Emotional Distraction

<p>Emotional stimuli capture our attention. The preferential processing of emotional information is an adaptive mechanism that when relevant to our goal highlights potentially important aspects in the environment. However, when emotional information is task-irrelevant, their presence in the environment can trigger involuntary shifts in attention that cause detriments to performance. One challenge to investigating emotional distraction in the lab is how to objectively investigate the allocation of attention between different elements on the same stimulus display (e.g. between the task and the distractors). One neural measure that overcomes this issue is the Steady-State-Visual-Evoked-Potential (SSVEP). An SSVEP is the neural response of the visual cortex to a flickering stimulus and can be used as a measure of attentional resource allocation (Norcia, Appelbaum, Ales, Cottereau, & Rossion, 2015). In the past, emotional distraction has been studied using spatially separated tasks and distractors. The current thesis presents two experiments using SSVEPs to investigate emotional distraction in a superimposed design. Experiment 1 aimed to conceptually replicate Hindi Attar and colleagues (2010) who developed an SSVEP emotional distraction paradigm to examine attentional resource allocation between background task-irrelevant emotional distractors and a foreground dot-motion task. Participants viewed a stimulus display of moving, flickering dots, while positive or neutrally valanced distractors (or unidentifiable scrambles) were presented in the background of the task. SSVEPs were reduced in the presence of positive intact compared to neutral intact distractors suggesting that the presentation of task-irrelevant emotional stimuli in the same spatial location as a foreground task initiates an involuntary shift of attention away from the task. Unexpectedly, in both Experiments 1 and 2 valence differences were found in SSVEPs between positive and neutral scrambled images; this suggests that there are some perceptual differences between the stimulus sets (e.g. colour) contributing to the drop in SSVEP found for positive intact images. Importantly, in the SSVEP analysis significant valence x image type interactions were found, demonstrating that the drop for positive images was stronger for intact than scrambled image conditions, suggesting that a significant amount of the drop in SSVEP was driven by a difference in valence between the intact distractors. Behavioural results also suggest evidence for emotional distraction through reduced hit rate in the presence of positive intact images compared to neutral intact images in Experiment 1, and reduced detection sensitivity and response criterion for positive intact images in Experiment 2. Overall, the current thesis demonstrates support for the hypothesis that emotional information is more distracting than neutral information and provides a valuable starting point for the examination of emotion attention interactions when the task and distractors share the same location. Future studies could use SSVEPs to examine neural processing differences between emotional and neutral scrambled images.</p>

scholarly journals ERP Evidence for a Sex-Specific Stroop Effect in Emotional Speech

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1135-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett Schirmer ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Behavioral Effect ◽  
Emotional Prosody ◽  
Emotional Speech ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Task Irrelevant

The present study investigated the interaction of emotional prosody and word valence during emotional comprehension in men and women. In a prosody-word interference task, participants listened to positive, neutral, and negative words that were spoken with a happy, neutral, and angry prosody. Participants were asked to rate word valence while ignoring emotional prosody, or vice versa. Congruent stimuli were responded faster and more accurately as compared to incongruent emotional stimuli. This behavioral effect was more salient for the word valence task than for the prosodic task and was comparable between men and women. The event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a smaller N400 amplitude for congruent as compared to emotionally incongruent stimuli. This ERP effect, however, was significant only for the word valence judgment and only for female listeners. The present data suggest that the word valence judgment was more difficult and more easily influenced by task-irrelevant emotional information than the prosodic task in both men and women. Furthermore, although emotional prosody and word valence may have a similar influence on an emotional judgment in both sexes, ERPs indicate sex differences in the underlying processing. Women, but not men, show an interaction between prosody and word valence during a semantic processing stage.

scholarly journals Task-irrelevant odours affect both response inhibition and response readiness in fast-paced Go/No-Go task: the case of valence

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Albayay ◽  
Umberto Castiello ◽  
Valentina Parma
Keyword(s):  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Intertrial Interval ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Task Relevance ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Response Readiness ◽  
Attentional Interference ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractWhether emotional stimuli influence both response readiness and inhibition is highly controversial. Visual emotional stimuli appear to interfere with both under certain conditions (e.g., task relevance). Whether the effect is generalisable to salient yet task-irrelevant stimuli, such as odours, remains elusive. We tested the effect of orthonasally-presented pleasant (orange) and unpleasant odours (trimethyloxazole and hexenol) and clean air as a control on response inhibition. In emotional Go/No-Go paradigms, we manipulated the intertrial interval and ratios of Go/No-Go trials to account for motor (Experiment 1, N = 31) and cognitive (Experiment 2, N = 29) response inhibition processes. In Experiment 1, participants had greater difficulty in withholding and produced more accurate and faster Go responses under the pleasant vs. the control condition. Faster Go responses were also evident in the unpleasant vs. the control condition. In Experiment 2, neither pleasant nor unpleasant odours modulated action withholding, but both elicited more accurate and faster Go responses as compared to the control condition. Pleasant odours significantly impair action withholding (as compared to the control condition), indicating that more inhibitory resources are required to elicit successful inhibition in the presence of positive emotional information. This modulation was revealed for the motor aspect of response inhibition (fast-paced design with lower Go/No-Go trial ratio) rather than for attentional interference processes. Response readiness is critically impacted by the emotional nature of the odour (but not by its valence). Our findings highlight that the valence of task-irrelevant odour stimuli is a factor significantly influencing response inhibition.

Task-Irrelevant Sound Corrects Leftward Spatial Bias in Blindfolded Haptic Placement Task

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 521-548
Author(s):  
Laura Cacciamani ◽  
Larisa Sheparovich ◽  
Molly Gibbons ◽  
Brooke Crowley ◽  
Kalynn E. Carpenter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Memory Task ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Spatial Bias ◽  
Leftward Bias ◽  
Object Location Memory ◽  
Irrelevant Sound ◽  
Haptic Object ◽  
The Right ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract We often rely on our sense of vision for understanding the spatial location of objects around us. If vision cannot be used, one must rely on other senses, such as hearing and touch, in order to build spatial representations. Previous work has found evidence of a leftward spatial bias in visual and tactile tasks. In this study, we sought evidence of this leftward bias in a non-visual haptic object location memory task and assessed the influence of a task-irrelevant sound. In Experiment 1, blindfolded right-handed sighted participants used their non-dominant hand to haptically locate an object on the table, then used their dominant hand to place the object back in its original location. During placement, participants either heard nothing (no-sound condition) or a task-irrelevant repeating tone to the left, right, or front of the room. The results showed that participants exhibited a leftward placement bias on no-sound trials. On sound trials, this leftward bias was corrected; placements were faster and more accurate (regardless of the direction of the sound). One explanation for the leftward bias could be that participants were overcompensating their reach with the right hand during placement. Experiment 2 tested this explanation by switching the hands used for exploration and placement, but found similar results as Experiment 1. A third Experiment found evidence supporting the explanation that sound corrects the leftward bias by heightening attention. Together, these findings show that sound, even if task-irrelevant and semantically unrelated, can correct one’s tendency to place objects too far to the left.

scholarly journals Large discreet resource allocation: a hybrid approach based on dea efficiency measurement

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane Gonçalves Gomes ◽  
João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares de Mello ◽  
Lidia Angulo Meza
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Computational Work ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Dea Models ◽  
Dea Efficiency ◽  
Zero Sum

Resource allocation is one of the traditional Operations Research problems. In this paper we propose a hybrid model for resource allocation that uses Data Envelopment Analysis efficiency measures. We use Zero Sum Gains DEA models as the starting point to decrease the computational work for the step-bystep algorithm to allocate integer resources in a DEA context. Our approach is illustrated by a numerical example.

Comparison of attentional resource allocation to threat and selfrelevant information: An event-related potentials study

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Guan Wang ◽  
Yuting Liu ◽  
Yuan Fang
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
The Body ◽  
Attentional Resource ◽  
P300 Amplitude ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Information Type

Although previous researchers have shown that attention is preferentially allocated during situations involving both threat and selfrelevant information, it is unclear which information type requires more cognitive resources. We compared the automatic processing of threat and self-relevant stimuli using the no-report oddball paradigm. Participants looked at images on a computer screen that displayed fighting with opponents or interacting with friends or customers. The body action of the person depicted was performed either toward the viewing participant or toward other people. Participants watched without making an explicit response, and event-related potentials were measured with electroencephalography. We found that threat (vs. selfrelevant) information elicited a larger P300 amplitude, and for nonthreatening events the P300 amplitude was larger for self-relevant than other-relevant stimuli. These results indicate that threat (vs. selfrelevant) information demands more cognitive resources, possibly because people prioritize survival.

scholarly journals A bimodal extension of the Eriksen flanker task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Ulrich ◽  
Laura Prislan ◽  
Jeff Miller
Keyword(s):  
Visual Target ◽  
Target Item ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Response Competition ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract The Eriksen flanker task is a traditional conflict paradigm for studying the influence of task-irrelevant information on the processing of task-relevant information. In this task, participants are asked to respond to a visual target item (e.g., a letter) that is flanked by task-irrelevant items (e.g., also letters). Responses are typically faster and more accurate when the task-irrelevant information is response-congruent with the visual target than when it is incongruent. Several researchers have attributed the starting point of this flanker effect to poor selective filtering at a perceptual level (e.g., spotlight models), which subsequently produces response competition at post-perceptual stages. The present study examined whether a flanker-like effect could also be established within a bimodal analog of the flanker task with auditory irrelevant letters and visual target letters, which must be processed along different processing routes. The results of two experiments revealed that a flanker-like effect is also present with bimodal stimuli. In contrast to the unimodal flanker task, however, the effect only emerged when flankers and targets shared the same letter name, but not when they were different letters mapped onto the same response. We conclude that the auditory flankers can influence the time needed to recognize visual targets but do not directly activate their associated responses.

scholarly journals Advantage for Emotional Words in Immediate and Delayed Memory Tasks: Could it be Explained in Terms of Processing Capacity?

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Ferré
Keyword(s):  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Emotional Words ◽  
Neutral Information ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Long Term Retention ◽  
Retention Intervals ◽  
The One

Emotional stimuli are better remembered and recognized than neutral ones. This advantage for emotional stimuli has been repeatedly obtained when testing long-term retention. However, there are contradictory results concerning retention of emotional information when short retention intervals are used. The aim of the present study was, on the one hand, to test the effect of retention interval on memory for emotional stimuli (Experiment 1). The results showed that emotional information is better remembered than neutral information in both immediate and delayed memory tests, suggesting that the advantage for emotional information is not limited to long retention intervals. On the other hand, I tried to test the proposals made by Christianson and Nilsson (1984) and Bower (1992). These authors suggested that the advantage for emotional stimuli could be explained as emotional stimuli spending more processing capacity during acquisition, thus rendering less capacity available to encode simultaneously presented information (Experiments 2 and 3). Results showed that concurrent presentation of emotional stimuli did not inhibit the recall of neutral stimuli. These findings do not seem to support the proposals of Christianson and Nilsson (1984) and Bower (1992). According to these results, some mechanisms other than a greater spending of processing capacity have to be involved in the advantage for emotional information in memory.

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