introduction methods conclusions results abstract predictions
Undergraduate Category: Social Sciences, Business and Law Degree Level: Bachelor of Science Abstract ID#: 853
Beyond What the Eye can See: How What You Feel Influences What you See Reich, M., Dias, T., Stanley, M., Wormwood, J., Sears, L., Kopec, J., Siegel, E.H., & Barrett, L.F.
ABSTRACT In this study, we examined how changes in affect (or feelings) caused by images outside of participants’ conscious awareness influenced their perception of seen neutral faces. Although past research has shown that unseen affective information can influence participants’ judgments of seen neutral faces, it is not yet clear whether such unconscious affective information can actually alter how people visually perceive others’ expressions. To test this, we used a technique called continuous flash suppression (CFS), which allows for the affective information to be presented outside of the participant’s awareness. Neutral faces were presented in the participant’s dominant eye and were consciously seen, while affective faces (i.e., smiling, scowling, neutral) were presented in the participant’s non-dominant eye and were not consciously seen. On each trial, participants were then asked to choose which face they saw from a set of five different faces, ranging from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling. We predicted that participants would report that the seen neutral face looked more smiling when paired with an unseen smiling face and that it looked more scowling when paired with an unseen scowling face. The results support our hypothesis, suggesting that unseen affective information changes the way we actually perceive the world around us. This has important implications for daily life; feelings may influence important decisions that are based on our perception of others, such as in dating, job interviews and even voting for political candidates.
INTRODUCTION ● Previous studies have shown that affective information influences how people evaluate others’ personality traits (Anderson, Siegel, White, & Barrett, 2012). For example, neutral faces paired with subliminal smiling faces were rated as more trustworthy and likable than when paired with subliminal scowling faces. ● Although this demonstrates that affective information can influence judgments of visual stimuli, studies have not yet shown whether affective information can actually alter the perception of a visual stimulus itself (i.e., can how you feel literally change what you see). ● The present research aims to investigate whether subliminal affective information can alter how people actually perceive seen, neutral facial expressions. ● To study this, we used continuous flash suppression (CFS) to present affective information outside of the participants’ awareness. ● In CFS, flashing high-contrast images are presented to a participant’s dominant eye, while a low-contrast image is presented to their nondominant eye. Participants generally report conscious awareness of only what is presented to their dominant eye. ● In our study, we presented a neutral face in participants’ dominant eye (that participants consciously reported seeing) while showing an affective face (i.e., a smiling, scowling, or neutral face) to their nondominant eye that they reported no conscious awareness of. ● To see if affective information influences how participants visually process facial expressions, participants were asked to identify which face they had seen out of a set of five different faces that ranged from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling.
METHODS
RESULTS
Participants ● 47 (32 female) Northeastern University students ● Ages 17-23 ● Normal or contact-corrected vision Set-up ● Subject tested for eye dominance using Dolman method ● Subject calibrated to mirror stereoscope (Figure 1) Task One— Individualized Contrast Adjustment ● Determine orientation of houses: upside-down or right-side up ● Aims to improve suppression by determining which contrast level renders the suppressed image invisible for each participant. Task Two— Face Perception ● Seen neutral faces flashed in the dominant eye while emotional faces (smiling, neutral, scowling) flashed in the non-dominant eye, and were suppressed from conscious awareness (Figure 2) ● Seen and unseen faces always differed in gender ● Subjects first selected the gender of the face they saw ○ Removed trials where gender of suppressed face or a blend of genders was reported, indicating that the affective face was not fully suppressed from awareness ● Subjects then selected the face they saw from a set of five different faces, ranging from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling (Figure 3)
CONCLUSIONS
● The results supported our hypotheses showing that neutral faces paired with unseen smiling faces were perceived as more smiling, and neutral faces paired with unseen scowling faces were perceived as more scowling than neutral faces paired with unseen neutral faces. ● Previous research has shown that affect can influence which stimuli dominate in visual awareness and how quickly they enter awareness (Anderson, Siegel, Bliss-Moreau, & Barrett, 2011), but to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to show that affective information can actually alter the perception of a visual stimulus itself (i.e., how you feel can literally change what your mind sees). ● Our data suggest that affect can influence input from other senses, similar to the way the more traditional senses (i.e. seeing and hearing) can influence the perception of each other, for example the McGurk Effect. ● These findings demonstrate that we are not passive observers of the world around us; our minds construct reality based on information provided not only by the traditional five senses, but also by affect.
REFERENCES Figure 1: Stereoscope
PREDICTIONS
Figure 3: Range of Facial Expressions
Anderson, E., Siegel, E. H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F. (2011).The visual impact of gossip. Science, 332, 1446-1448. Anderson, E., Siegel, E., White, D., & Barrett, L.F. (2012). Out of sight but not out of mind: Unseen affective faces influence evaluations and social impressions. Emotion, 12(6), 1210-1221.
This research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (contract number W5J9CQ-12-C-0049). The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this paper are those of the authors and shall not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy, or decision, unless so designated by other documents.
We predicted that participants would report that the seen neutral face looked more smiling when paired with an unseen smiling face and that it looked more scowling when paired with an unseen scowling face. Figure 2: CFS Trial Structure
Beyond What the Eye can See: How What You Feel Influences What you See Reich, M., Dias, T., Stanley, M., Wormwood, J., Sears, L., Kopec, J., Siegel, E.H., & Barrett, L.F.
ABSTRACT In this study, we examined how changes in affect (or feelings) caused by images outside of participants’ conscious awareness influenced their perception of seen neutral faces. Although past research has shown that unseen affective information can influence participants’ judgments of seen neutral faces, it is not yet clear whether such unconscious affective information can actually alter how people visually perceive others’ expressions. To test this, we used a technique called continuous flash suppression (CFS), which allows for the affective information to be presented outside of the participant’s awareness. Neutral faces were presented in the participant’s dominant eye and were consciously seen, while affective faces (i.e., smiling, scowling, neutral) were presented in the participant’s non-dominant eye and were not consciously seen. On each trial, participants were then asked to choose which face they saw from a set of five different faces, ranging from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling. We predicted that participants would report that the seen neutral face looked more smiling when paired with an unseen smiling face and that it looked more scowling when paired with an unseen scowling face. The results support our hypothesis, suggesting that unseen affective information changes the way we actually perceive the world around us. This has important implications for daily life; feelings may influence important decisions that are based on our perception of others, such as in dating, job interviews and even voting for political candidates.
INTRODUCTION ● Previous studies have shown that affective information influences how people evaluate others’ personality traits (Anderson, Siegel, White, & Barrett, 2012). For example, neutral faces paired with subliminal smiling faces were rated as more trustworthy and likable than when paired with subliminal scowling faces. ● Although this demonstrates that affective information can influence judgments of visual stimuli, studies have not yet shown whether affective information can actually alter the perception of a visual stimulus itself (i.e., can how you feel literally change what you see). ● The present research aims to investigate whether subliminal affective information can alter how people actually perceive seen, neutral facial expressions. ● To study this, we used continuous flash suppression (CFS) to present affective information outside of the participants’ awareness. ● In CFS, flashing high-contrast images are presented to a participant’s dominant eye, while a low-contrast image is presented to their nondominant eye. Participants generally report conscious awareness of only what is presented to their dominant eye. ● In our study, we presented a neutral face in participants’ dominant eye (that participants consciously reported seeing) while showing an affective face (i.e., a smiling, scowling, or neutral face) to their nondominant eye that they reported no conscious awareness of. ● To see if affective information influences how participants visually process facial expressions, participants were asked to identify which face they had seen out of a set of five different faces that ranged from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling.
METHODS
RESULTS
Participants ● 47 (32 female) Northeastern University students ● Ages 17-23 ● Normal or contact-corrected vision Set-up ● Subject tested for eye dominance using Dolman method ● Subject calibrated to mirror stereoscope (Figure 1) Task One— Individualized Contrast Adjustment ● Determine orientation of houses: upside-down or right-side up ● Aims to improve suppression by determining which contrast level renders the suppressed image invisible for each participant. Task Two— Face Perception ● Seen neutral faces flashed in the dominant eye while emotional faces (smiling, neutral, scowling) flashed in the non-dominant eye, and were suppressed from conscious awareness (Figure 2) ● Seen and unseen faces always differed in gender ● Subjects first selected the gender of the face they saw ○ Removed trials where gender of suppressed face or a blend of genders was reported, indicating that the affective face was not fully suppressed from awareness ● Subjects then selected the face they saw from a set of five different faces, ranging from slightly scowling to neutral to slightly smiling (Figure 3)
CONCLUSIONS
● The results supported our hypotheses showing that neutral faces paired with unseen smiling faces were perceived as more smiling, and neutral faces paired with unseen scowling faces were perceived as more scowling than neutral faces paired with unseen neutral faces. ● Previous research has shown that affect can influence which stimuli dominate in visual awareness and how quickly they enter awareness (Anderson, Siegel, Bliss-Moreau, & Barrett, 2011), but to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to show that affective information can actually alter the perception of a visual stimulus itself (i.e., how you feel can literally change what your mind sees). ● Our data suggest that affect can influence input from other senses, similar to the way the more traditional senses (i.e. seeing and hearing) can influence the perception of each other, for example the McGurk Effect. ● These findings demonstrate that we are not passive observers of the world around us; our minds construct reality based on information provided not only by the traditional five senses, but also by affect.
REFERENCES Figure 1: Stereoscope
PREDICTIONS
Figure 3: Range of Facial Expressions
Anderson, E., Siegel, E. H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F. (2011).The visual impact of gossip. Science, 332, 1446-1448. Anderson, E., Siegel, E., White, D., & Barrett, L.F. (2012). Out of sight but not out of mind: Unseen affective faces influence evaluations and social impressions. Emotion, 12(6), 1210-1221.
This research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (contract number W5J9CQ-12-C-0049). The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this paper are those of the authors and shall not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy, or decision, unless so designated by other documents.
We predicted that participants would report that the seen neutral face looked more smiling when paired with an unseen smiling face and that it looked more scowling when paired with an unseen scowling face. Figure 2: CFS Trial Structure
