From specificity to sensitivity: affective states modulate visual working memory for emotional expressive faces.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Affective Science

Background:

• Visual working memory (VWM) typically shows enhanced recall for angry faces.
• Facial expression interpretation is influenced by contextual cues.
• The impact of affective context on VWM for emotional faces remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how affective context influences VWM for emotional faces.
• To determine if mood induction alters the preferential recall of angry faces in VWM.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized a VWM task with emotional faces and a mood induction procedure.
• Affective context was manipulated using International Affective Picture System (IAPS) images to induce varying motivational intensities.
• Participants completed VWM tasks under neutral, unpleasant, or pleasant mood conditions.

Main Results:

• A neutral context showed enhanced VWM for angry faces.
• High motivational intensity moods (unpleasant or pleasant) prevented the specific enhancement of angry faces.
• Affective states induced a shift towards equally sensitive VWM representation for all emotional expressions.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral relevance of emotional expressions is context-dependent, impacting VWM.
• VWM exhibits flexible resource allocation, adjusting stimulus processing to situational requirements.
• VWM transitions between a default prioritizing mode and a hypervigilant mode based on affective context and emotional events.