Work

Scan patterns when viewing natural scenes: Emotion, complexity, and repetition

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Eye movements were monitored during picture viewing, and effects of hedonic content, perceptual composition, and repetition on scanning assessed. In Experiment 1, emotional and neutral pictures that were figure-ground compositions or more complex scenes were presented for a 6-s free viewing period. Viewing emotional pictures or complex scenes prompted more fixations and broader scanning of the visual array, compared to neutral pictures or simple figure-ground compositions. Effects of emotion and composition were independent, supporting the hypothesis that these oculomotor indices reflect enhanced information seeking. Experiment 2 tested an orienting hypothesis by repeatedly presenting the same pictures. Although repetition altered specific scan patterns, emotional, compared to neutral, picture viewing continued to prompt oculomotor differences, suggesting that motivationally relevant cues enhance information seeking in appetitive and defensive contexts.

Source: Psychophysiology

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01223.x

Authors: Margaret M. Bradley, Petra Houbova, Laura Miccoli, Vincent D. Costa, Peter J. Lang

Institution: University of Florida

Language: English

Topic: Visual Attention and Saliency Detection

Subfield: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health

Award: Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention