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Published on: March 18, 2019
Negative triangles: simple geometric shapes convey emotional valence.
Derrick G Watson1, Elisabeth Blagrove, Chesney Evans
1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom. d.g.watson@warwick.ac.uk
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|July 27, 2011
Summary
Downward pointing triangles can influence emotional perception. In a flanker task, these shapes slowed responses to positive faces and sped responses to negative faces when attention was divided.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
- Emotion Research
Background:
- Geometric shapes may implicitly convey emotional valence.
- Downward pointing triangles are hypothesized to mimic negative facial expressions.
- Previous research suggests potential links between shape and emotion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether downward pointing triangles elicit valence-based processing.
- To test the influence of geometric shapes as emotional distracters in a perception task.
- To examine the role of attentional competition in shape-emotion interactions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a flanker interference paradigm with central face targets and adjacent geometric or face flankers.
- Participants performed a valence judgment task on central face stimuli.
- Manipulated attentional competition between target and flanker stimuli across two experiments.
Main Results:
- Downward pointing triangles showed minimal interference with face targets in Experiment 1 (low competition).
- In Experiment 2 (high competition), downward pointing triangles created compatibility effects, slowing responses to positive faces and speeding responses to negative faces.
- These results suggest valence-based processing of geometric shapes under conditions of increased attentional demand.
Conclusions:
- Simple geometric shapes, like downward pointing triangles, can carry and influence emotional valence perception.
- Attentional load is a critical factor in revealing valence-based effects of geometric shapes.
- Findings support the idea that basic visual features can be linked to emotional processing.
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