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Measuring appetitive responding with the postauricular reflex.

Arthur R Sandt¹, Denise M Sloan, Kareem J Johnson

¹Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadephia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Psychophysiology

|June 5, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The postauricular reflex (PAR) is stronger when viewing appetitive images compared to other pleasant images. This reflex can effectively measure appetitive responses in humans.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Neuroscience
Human Physiology

Background:

The postauricular reflex (PAR) has been shown to increase when viewing pleasant images.
Previous research suggests PAR modulation by image valence.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if appetitive salience, not just pleasantness, more robustly modulates the PAR.
To determine the utility of PAR in measuring human appetitive responding.

Main Methods:

Recorded eyeblink startle and PAR responses in 51 participants.
Participants viewed images varying in valence and thematic content, including appetitive and non-appetitive pleasant images.

Main Results:

Mean PAR magnitude was significantly greater during appetitive-related images (e.g., food, erotica, families) compared to non-appetitive pleasant images.
The PAR response is modulated by the appetitive nature of visual stimuli.

Conclusions:

The PAR is more strongly modulated by the appetitive salience of stimuli than general pleasantness.
The postauricular reflex is a valuable tool for assessing appetitive responding in humans.