The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness

Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness
Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness
The rapid detection and evaluation of threat is of fundamental importance for survival. Theories suggest that this evolutionary pressure has driven functional adaptations in a specialized visual pathway that evaluates threat independently of conscious awareness. This is supported by evidence that threat-relevant stimuli rendered invisible by backward masking can induce physiological fear responses and modulate spatial attention. The validity of these findings has since been questioned by research using stringent, objective measures of awareness. Here, we use a modified continuous flash suppression paradigm to ask whether threatening images induce adaptive changes in autonomic arousal, attention, or perception when presented outside of awareness. In trials where stimuli broke suppression to become visible, threatening stimuli induced a significantly larger skin conductance response than nonthreatening stimuli and attracted spatial attention over scrambled images. However, these effects were eliminated in trials where observers were unaware of the stimuli. In addition, concurrent behavioral data provided no evidence that threatening images gained prioritized access to awareness. Taken together, our data suggest that the evaluation and spatial detection of visual threat are predicted by awareness.
0096-1523
798-806
Hedger, N.
26a456a8-1f18-4c41-a29e-1ddd2218ea9b
Adams, W.J.
25685aaa-fc54-4d25-8d65-f35f4c5ab688
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072
Hedger, N.
26a456a8-1f18-4c41-a29e-1ddd2218ea9b
Adams, W.J.
25685aaa-fc54-4d25-8d65-f35f4c5ab688
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072

Hedger, N., Adams, W.J. and Garner, M. (2015) Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance, 41 (3), 798-806. (doi:10.1037/xhp0000051). (PMID:25867508)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The rapid detection and evaluation of threat is of fundamental importance for survival. Theories suggest that this evolutionary pressure has driven functional adaptations in a specialized visual pathway that evaluates threat independently of conscious awareness. This is supported by evidence that threat-relevant stimuli rendered invisible by backward masking can induce physiological fear responses and modulate spatial attention. The validity of these findings has since been questioned by research using stringent, objective measures of awareness. Here, we use a modified continuous flash suppression paradigm to ask whether threatening images induce adaptive changes in autonomic arousal, attention, or perception when presented outside of awareness. In trials where stimuli broke suppression to become visible, threatening stimuli induced a significantly larger skin conductance response than nonthreatening stimuli and attracted spatial attention over scrambled images. However, these effects were eliminated in trials where observers were unaware of the stimuli. In addition, concurrent behavioral data provided no evidence that threatening images gained prioritized access to awareness. Taken together, our data suggest that the evaluation and spatial detection of visual threat are predicted by awareness.

Text
JEPHPP_NH1.pdf - Other
Download (1MB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 2015
Published date: 1 June 2015

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 375239
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375239
ISSN: 0096-1523
PURE UUID: e57a45ef-df3a-434e-a665-626daa04a350
ORCID for W.J. Adams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5832-1056
ORCID for M. Garner: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9481-2226

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 18 Mar 2015 15:05
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:19

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: N. Hedger
Author: W.J. Adams ORCID iD
Author: M. Garner ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×