Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 28, 2026
11:18
Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
15.8K
Caution follows fear: Evidence from hierarchical drift diffusion modelling.
1Leeds Beckett University.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|June 13, 2017
Summary
Seeing fearful facial expressions increases decision-making caution, not visual perception. This research introduces a new direction for studying how emotions influence our choices.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Neuroscience
- Decision Science
Background:
- Fearful expressions are widely believed to signal potential threats, prompting cautious responses.
- Previous research explored the impact of fear on visual perception but not on decision-making caution.
- Facial expressions are crucial social cues influencing cognitive and behavioral processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether observing fearful facial expressions influences decision-making caution.
- To differentiate between effects on visual perception versus decision-making caution.
- To explore how other facial expressions, like happy and sad, affect caution.
Main Methods:
- Hierarchical drift diffusion modeling applied to data from four experiments.
- Analysis of reaction times and decision-making processes following exposure to various facial expressions.
- Comparison of responses to fearful, neutral, happy, and sad facial expressions.
Main Results:
- Slower reaction times were observed after viewing fearful compared to neutral expressions.
- Diffusion modeling indicated increased decision-making caution, not impaired visual perception, in response to fear.
- Happy expressions did not increase caution, while sad expressions decreased caution compared to neutral expressions.
Conclusions:
- Observing fearful facial expressions enhances decision-making caution.
- The study highlights the importance of distinguishing between perceptual and decision-making effects of emotional cues.
- Future research should explore decision-making caution in response to a broader range of emotional stimuli.
Related Concept Videos
01:05Instinctive Drift
942
Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...
942
01:53Cause and Effect
12.6K
While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
12.6K
01:09Preparedness and Phobias
400
Human fear responses to certain stimuli, such as darkness, heights, deep water, and blood, can often arise despite the absence of direct negative experiences. This phenomenon is rooted in evolutionary psychology, which posits that humans have developed a predisposition to fear stimuli that historically posed significant survival threats. This predisposition, known as preparedness, suggests that early humans who developed a fear of potentially dangerous entities, such as venomous snakes and...
400
01:14Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
2.8K
Avoidance learning and learned helplessness are critical concepts in understanding behavioral responses to negative stimuli.
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
2.8K