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Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
Published on: November 16, 2017
Automatic semantic association between emotional valence and brightness in the right hemisphere
1Department of Psychology, Senshu University, Kanagawa, Japan. mokubo@psy.senshu-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Positive words (e.g., faith) were recognised better when presented in white fonts than in black fonts, whereas the opposite was true for negative words (e.g., enemy). A neural basis for this type of association between emotional valence and brightness was investigated using a visual half-field paradigm. Positive and negative words were presented in black or white fonts and presented to the left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) or right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH) in a word valence judgement task (i.e., positive vs. negative). A cross-over interaction between emotional valence and brightness was observed; valence judgements were facilitated when a positive word appeared in white and when a negative word appeared in black. This interaction was qualified by a higher-order interaction. The cross-over interaction appeared only for LVF-RH trials, suggesting that the right hemisphere was responsible for the association between emotional valence and brightness.
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