Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Factors Affecting Perception

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...

Perception

Perception

Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...

Dark Triad and Person Perception

Dark Triad and Person Perception

Person perception is influenced by both external behaviors and the observer’s internal characteristics, including personality traits. Individuals with dark personality traits, comprising psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism — collectively known as the dark triad – exhibit manipulative and exploitative tendencies in social contexts. These traits affect how they perceive others and how they are perceived.The Role of Dark Personality Traits in Person PerceptionBlack et...

Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies

Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies

When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...

Introducing Social Perception

Introducing Social Perception

Perceiving others accurately is fundamental to effective communication and relationship-building. Social perception, a key concept in social psychology, refers to the cognitive processes through which individuals gather and interpret information about others to understand their actions, intentions, and motivations. This process extends beyond spoken words and overt behaviors, incorporating subtle nonverbal cues and contextual factors.Nonverbal Cues and Their SignificanceNonverbal cues play a...

The Behavioral Perspective on Personality

The Behavioral Perspective on Personality

Behaviorists view personality as primarily shaped by environmental reinforcements and consequences. According to this perspective, behavior is influenced by external stimuli, and individuals adjust their actions based on rewards and punishments. Over time, learning histories — accumulated patterns of reinforcement — play a significant role in shaping personality. Behaviors that lead to positive outcomes are reinforced, while those resulting in negative outcomes are diminished.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Household income and food addiction symptoms predict ultra-processed foods intake in Brazilian university students: implications for policy.

Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS·2026

Same author

Handwriting speed and pen motor control in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same author

Effects of a 16-Week High-Speed Resistance Training Program on Isokinetic Muscle Strength Parameters and Health-Related Quality of Life in Independent Older Adults: A Clinical Trial.

Research quarterly for exercise and sport·2026

Same author

Predicting suicidal ideation in academic communities using machine learning methods: a cross-sectional study.

Lancet regional health. Americas·2026

Same author

The overlooked trauma: psychological violence and its impact on PTSD symptoms.

European journal of psychotraumatology·2026

Same author

Nonlinear Gait Variability and the Role of Cognitive-Physical Exercise in Mitigating Mobility Decline in Institutionalized Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment.

Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology·2026

Same journal

Vowel acoustic parameters in speech assessment and rehabilitation of minimally verbal and speech-motor-impaired autistic children: a narrative review.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same journal

Toward clinical translation of TMS-EEG: an integrative review of multidimensional neurophysiological measures.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same journal

The causal efficacy of consciousness: a neuroscientific analysis and explanation.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same journal

Temporal-oscillatory entrainment: a multi-timescale framework for rhythmic coordination from neural to social frequencies.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same journal

Role of AQP4 in ameliorating heat stress-induced cellular injury in a cell line model through active heat acclimation.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

Same journal

Correction: Cognitive state monitoring for neuroadaptive information visualization.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Published on: September 12, 2014

How you perceive threat determines your behavior.

Orlando Fernandes¹, Liana C L Portugal, Rita C S Alves

¹1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Biomedical Institute, Federal Fluminense University Niterói, RJ, Brazil.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|October 12, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Emotional stimuli impact task performance. Threatening stimuli directed towards you speed up reaction time (RT), while those directed away slow it down, suggesting emotions drive action.

Keywords:

attention behavior defensive responses emotion reaction time threat stimuli

More Related Videos

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 7, 2026

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Published on: September 12, 2014

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

Published on: September 28, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Human Behavior

Background:

Emotional stimuli can impair task performance by consuming cognitive resources.
Defensive reactions to unpleasant stimuli may influence reaction time (RT) paradigms.
The direction of threat perception could differentially modulate emotional effects on RT.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how varying threat perception direction influences emotional modulation of RT.
To determine if different defensive responses to threat stimuli yield distinct RT effects.
To explore the role of attentional and motivational factors in emotional modulation of RT.

Main Methods:

Participants performed a bar orientation discrimination task with threatening or neutral distractor stimuli.
Threat stimuli were presented either directed toward the observer or away from the observer.
Reaction times (RT) were measured and compared across different stimulus conditions.

Main Results:

Threat stimuli directed toward the observer decreased RT compared to neutral stimuli.
Threat stimuli directed away from the observer increased RT compared to neutral stimuli.
Individuals with prior exposure to violent crime showed stronger effects from toward-directed threat stimuli.

Conclusions:

Emotional stimuli modulate RT based on the direction of threat, influencing motor preparation and defensive responses.
RT modulation by emotional stimuli results from a summation of attentional and motivational effects.
Findings support the concept that emotions are action tendencies, influencing behavior based on perceived threat.