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The Effect of Content and Physical Properties of Affective Pictures on Emotional Responses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Juan Pedro Sánchez-Navarro ,
José María Martínez-Selva ,
Francisco Román  and
Ginesa Torrente
Juan Pedro Sánchez-Navarro*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
José María Martínez-Selva
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
Francisco Román
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
Ginesa Torrente
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to J.P. Sánchez-Navarro, Departamento de Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia (Spain). Phone: 968 367 707. E-mail: jpedro@um.es.
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Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the influence of both the emotional content and the physical characteristics of affective stimuli on the psychophysiological, behavioral and cognitive indexes of the emotional response. We selected 54 pictures from the IAPS, depicting unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant contents, and used two picture sizes as experimental conditions (120 × 90 cm and 52 × 42 cm). Sixty-one subjects were randomly assigned to each experimental condition. We recorded the startle blink reflex, skin conductance response, heart rate, free viewing time, and picture valence and arousal ratings. In line with previous research (e.g., Bradley, Codispoti, Cuthbert, & Lang, 2001), our data showed an effect of the affective content on all the measurements recorded. Importantly, effects of the size of the affective pictures on emotional responses were not found, indicating that the emotional content is more important than the formal properties of the stimuli in evoking the emotional response.

El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar la influencia del contenido emocional y de las características físicas de los estímulos afectivos sobre los índices psicofisiológicos, conductuales y cognitivos de la respuesta emocional. Seleccionamos 54 imágenes del IAPS, representando contenidos desagradables, neutros y agradables y usamos dos tamaños de imagen como condiciones experimentales (120 × 90 cm y 52 × 42 cm). Los 61 sujetos que conformaban la muestra experimental se asignaron de forma aleatoria a cada condición experimental. Registramos el parpadeo reflejo de sobresalto, la respuesta de conductancia de la piel, la frecuencia cardiaca, el tiempo de visión y las estimaciones de valencia afectiva y arousal de las imágenes. De acuerdo con la investigación previa (p. ej., Bradley, Codispoti, Cuthbert y Lang, 2001), nuestros datos mostraron un efecto del contenido afectivo en todas las medidas registradas. Nuestros resultados no mostraron, sin embargo, efectos del tamaño de las imágenes afectivas sobre ninguna de las medidas registradas, lo que indica que el contenido afectivo es más importante que las propiedades formales de los estímulos para provocar respuestas emocionales.

Keywords

emotionpicture sizestartle blink reflexskin conductance responseheart rateemocióntamaño de la imagenparpadeo reflejo de sobresaltorespuesta de conductancia de la pielfrecuencia cardiaca
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , November 2006 , pp. 145 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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