Towards the use of visual masking within virtual environments to induce changes in affective cognition

This thesis concerns the use of virtual environments for psychotherapy. It makes use of virtual environment properties that go beyond real-world simulation. The core technique used is based on research found within perception science, an effect known as backwards visual masking. Here, a rapidly displayed target image is rendered explicitly imperceptible via the subsequent display of a masking image. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential of visual masking within virtual environments to induce changes in affective cognition. Of particular importance would be changes in a positive direction as this could form the foundation of a psychotherapeutic tool to treat affect disorders and other conditions with an affective component. The initial pair of experiments looked at whether visual masking was possible within virtual environments, whether any measurable behavioural influence could be found and whether there was any evidence that affective cognitions could be influenced. It was found that the technique worked and could influence both behaviour and affective cognition. Following this, two experiments looked further at parameter manipulation of visual masking within virtual environments with the aim of better specifying the parameter values. Results indicated that the form of visual masking used worked better in a virtual environment when the target and mask were both highly textured and that affective effects were modulated by the number of exposures of the target. The final pair of experiments attempted to induce an affect contagion effect and an affect cognition-modification effect. An affect cognition-modification effect was found whereas an affect contagion effect was not. Overall, the results show that using visual masking techniques within virtual environments to induce affect cognition changes has merit. The thesis lays the foundation for further work and supports the use of this technique as basis of an intervention tool

Dynamic Visual Masking in a Virtual Environment

Virtual environments (VEs) offer more than just simulation; they allow us to create perceptual effects not feasible in the real world. Arising from perception research, one technique that can be used is visual masking: under certain temporal and spatial conditions a masking stimulus can be used to prevent explicit, visual awareness of a target stimulus although the target may still be processed non-consciously. This positional paper describes on- going work into the use of visual masking within VEs. Our previous work has shown that it is possible to use static, visually masked objects within a VE to alter navigation and preference behaviour, without the participant being consciously aware of the stimuli. Building on this, it is intended to animate masked virtual faces to see if larger effects are possible

Contribution of perceptual and emotional skills to moral decision-making

Moral decision-making is the ability to choose an optimal course of action based on a system of norms and values that guides our behaviour in a community. Even though the models of moral decision-making have mainly focused on cognitive reasoning and emotions, moral decisions - like all kind of decisions - are taken within a context and in interaction with environmental factors. Therefore, the role played by such factors is critical in order to explain how a decision is reached. In Chapter 1, after a systematic overview of the different theoretical models proposed to explain morality, I discuss the evidence in favour of the role played by sensory stimuli in moral choices, focusing on a recent meta-analysis (Landy & Goodwin, 2015a) that showed that besides vision, chemosensory stimuli play a central role in the moral decision process. Then, I explore the link between odours and morality, starting from the disgust emotion, arguing that olfactory stimuli could extend their effects to morality via mechanisms unrelated to disgust, as suggested by the shared neural underpinnings underlying olfaction and moral choices..

Exploring the influence of message framing and image valence on the effectiveness of anti-speeding posters

A thesis submitted to the Institute for Applied Social Research, University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of requirements for the MSc by ResearchRoad safety advertisements that generate emotions have been acknowledged to increase the potential persuasiveness of an advertisement message. Nonetheless, there has been much debate about which message framing and image valence strategy is the most robust and influential persuader. In the current study, 40 UK vehicle users completed a simulated driving experiment and a series of self-report measures exploring the influence of three different types of anti-speeding advertisements: a negative loss-framed poster accompanied with a negative valence image, a positive gain-framed poster paired with a positive valence image, and a neutral anti-speeding poster. No significant differences were found between the three different types of anti-speeding advertisements and participants’ visual attention, memory or speeding behaviour. The results, however, showed that the negative anti-speeding advertisement was rated as significantly more effective in its ability to convince both other vehicle users and the vehicle user themselves to adhere to the legal speed limit. The influence of the differential advertisement strategies also appeared to fluctuate depending on several distinct factors and the disposition of the vehicle user. These findings suggest that emotionally-laden anti-speeding advertisements based on theoretical frameworks may effectively reduce the likelihood for participants to engage in risky driving behaviours and increase vehicle users’ intentions to adhere to the legal speed limit

The influence of affect on attitude

Priests of the medieval Catholic Church understood something about the relationship between affect and attitude. To instill the proper attitude in parishioners, priests dramatized the power of liturgy to save them from Hell in a service in which the experience of darkness and fear gave way to light and familiar liturgy. These ceremonies “were written and performed so as to first arouse and then allay anxieties and fears ” (Scott, 2003, p. 227): The service usually began in the dark of night with the gothic cathedral’s nave filled with worship-pers cast into total darkness. Terrifying noises, wailing, shrieks, screams, and clanging of metal mimicked the chaos of hell, giving frightened witnesses a taste of what they could expect if they were tempted to stray. After a prolonged period of this imitation of hell, the cathedral’s interior gradually became filled with the blaze of a thousand lights. As the gloom diminished, cacophony was supplanted by the measured tones of Gregorian chants and polyphony. Light and divine order replaced darkness and chaos (R. Scott, personal correspondence, March 15, 2004). This ceremony was designed to buttress beliefs by experience and to transfigure abstractions into attitudes. In place of merely hearing about “the chaos and perdition of hell that regular performances of liturgy were designed to hold in check ” (Scott, 2003), parishioners shoul

Greater general startle reflex is associated with greater anxiety levels: a correlational study on 111 young women

Startle eyeblink reflex is a valid non-invasive tool for studying attention, emotion and psychiatric disorders. In the absence of any experimental manipulation, the general (or baseline) startle reflex shows a high inter-individual variability, which is often considered task-irrelevant and therefore normalized across participants. Unlike the above view, we hypothesized that greater general startle magnitude is related to participants\u2019 higher anxiety level. 111 healthy young women, after completing the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), were randomly administered 10 acoustic white noise probes (50 ms, 100 dBA acoustic level) while integrated EMG from left and right orbicularis oculi was recorded. Results showed that participants with greater state anxiety levels exhibited larger startle reflex magnitude from the left eye (r109 = 0.23, p < 0.05). Furthermore, individuals who perceived the acoustic probe as more aversive reported the largest anxiety scores (r109 = 0.28, p < 0.05) and had the largest eyeblinks, especially in the left eye (r109 = 0.34, p < 0.001). Results suggest that general startle may represent a valid tool for studying the neural excitability underlying anxiety and emotional dysfunction in neurological and mental disorders