Undergraduate
Category: Social Sciences, Business, and Law
Degree Level: Psychology
Abstract ID# 600
Time is of the Essence: the Effect of Timing on Affective Vision
Abstract:
Arcidiacono, R., Audi, J., McClure, D., Smith, M., Sears, L., Kopec, J., Siegel, E.H., Wormwood, J., Quigley, K., & Barrett, L.F.
Unseen emotional information affects the way we perceive neutral stimuli - but the temporal boundaries of this effect are still unknown . This study utilized a mirrored stereoscope to present two images at once to a participant. Continuous Flash Suppression
(CFS) was used to render an emotional face presented to one eye invisible while presenting a neutral face to the other eye that participants were consciously able to see. Previous research suggests the unseen, emotional face will influence participants’ ratings of the trustworthiness,
likeability, and reliability of the seen neutral faces. This study aims to explore the temporal boundaries of this person perception effect. Seen, neutral faces were presented concurrently, 150 ms before, or 150 ms after each unseen, emotional face. We hypothesized the influence of the
unseen, emotional face would be strongest during the concurrent trials and that this effect would diminish as the time interval between the two faces increased. As predicted, seen neutral faces were rated more positively when paired with unseen smiling faces and rated more
negatively when paired with unseen scowling faces. However, this effect was only significant in the concurrent timing condition. We would not expect this tight temporal coupling to be necessary if the affective faces were simply priming participants. Thus, these results are inconsistent
with a priming interpretation. Instead, these results provocatively suggest that affective information may be incorporated into the visual pathway. Future research in our lab will test whether the unseen emotional faces can actually change participants’ visual perception.
Method
information, such as one’s
feelings, is integrated into stimulus-based
visual information to create a unified
visual experience. This phenomenon is
called affective realism. (Barrett & Bar,
2009).
Previous research has used a technique
called Continuous Flash Suppression to
explore affective realism.
CFS renders an image presented to one
eye invisible while another image is
presented to the other eye that
participants are consciously aware of
(Tsuchiya & Koch, 2005).
Using CFS, our lab showed that unseen
affective information can influence a
participant's evaluation of a seen neutral
target (Anderson, Siegel, White, & Barrett,
2012).
While these findings are consistent with
affective realism as an explanation, they
do not rule out alternative interpretations.
Another possible interpretation of these
effects is affective misattribution, which
occurs when people use their feelings as
a source of information while making
judgments (Clore, Gasper, & Garvin
2001).
The current study explores whether there
are strict timing boundaries on this effect
in order to differentiate between the two
possible interpretations.
• Eye dominance and mirror stereoscope calibration (Fig. 1)
• Individualized Contrast Adjustment
• Trait Ratings Task
Figure 1 • Seen, full-contrast neutral faces were flashed in the dominant eye either before, concurrently,
or after unseen, low-contrast emotional faces (smiling, neutral, scowling). (Fig. 2)
• Subjects were asked to rate the likeability, reliability, and trustworthiness of seen neutral faces.
Subjects reported the gender of the seen face as a trial-by-trial check for suppression.
•  Objective Awareness Task
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This research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the
Behavioral and Social Sciences (contract number W5J9CQ-12-C-0049). The
views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this paper are those of the authors
and shall not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy,
or decision, unless so designated by other documents.
Study 2: 100ms gaps; N= 56
Figure 2 Results
Unseen Face Type
Trait Ra(ngs of Neutral Faces per Timing Condi(on Study 1
F(2, 30)=5.49, p<.05*
3.2 3.1 F(2,30)=2.16, p>.05
* F(2, 55)=7.42, p<.05*
3.1 F(2,30)=0.14, p>.05
3 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 Before Concurrent Timing Condi(on Study 2
A9er Average Posi(ve Trait Ra(ngs • 
Study 1: 150ms gaps; N= 31
Average Posi(ve Trait Ra(ngs •  Affective
• 
Discussion
Introduction
3.05 F(2,55)=1.48, p>.05
3 * * F(2,55)=2.21, p>.05
• Unseen
affective faces had the strongest
influence on the ratings of seen neutral
faces during the concurrent timing
condition in both studies.
• These results suggest our effect, affective
realism, is indeed distinct from affective
misattribution (or at least represents a
special case of affective misattribution)
because affective misattribution effects do
not rely on such strict time constraints.
• Since the timing matters, affective realism
is a better explanation; individuals may be
constructing and perceiving their realities
differently based on their own feelings.
• For example, a police officer in a negative
mood may actually experience a
community member as being more hostile
(rather than just use his or her feelings to
make a biased judgment about that
person).
• An exciting future line of research will
explore whether affective realism actually
changes the seen physical properties of
stimuli in the world (i.e., whether how we
feel literally changes what we see).
2.95 References
2.9 2.85 2.8 2.75 2.7 Before Concurrent Timing Condi(on A9er •  In both studies, the effect of affective realism was only significant when the unseen and seen faces were presented concurrently.
•  In both studies, in the concurrent condition, the seen neutral faces were rated significantly more positively when paired with unseen
smiling faces than when paired with the unseen scowling faces (ps<.05).
•  In Study 2 in the concurrent condition, seen neutral faces were rated significantly more positive when paired with unseen neutral
faces than when paired with unseen scowling faces (p<.05).
Anderson, E., Siegel, E., White, D., & Barrett, L. F. (2012). Out of sight
but not out of mind: unseen affective faces influence evaluations
and social impressions. Emotion, 12(6), 1210.
Barrett, L. F., & Bar, M. (2009). See it with feeling: affective predictions
during object perception. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1521), 1325-1334.
Clore, G. L., Gasper, K., & Garvin, E. (2001). Affect as information. In
J. P. Forgas, (Ed.). Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition (pp.
121-144). Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Tsuchiya, N., & Koch, C. (2005). Continuous flash suppression
reduces negative afterimages. Nature neuroscience, 8(8),
1096-1101.