2 research outputs found
Physiological Responses to Isolated Auditory and Visual Stimulus versus the Combination of Auditory and Visual Stimulus
An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2018A variety and multitude of stimuli elicit a fear response in humans, including horror
films. Fear responses include various physiological alterations such as an increase in heart rate,
changes in electrodermal activity (EDA), and an increased respiration rate. The type and
intensity of sensory intake from a fear inducing stimulus determines the extent of physiological
alterations. In order to understand the effects of auditory and visual stimuli on the fear response,
a five minute horror film clip was played for 24 participants. Participants were randomly selected
to participate in one of three groups: Group 1 watched the clip with audiovisual stimulus, Group
2 watched the clip with visual-only stimulus, and Group 3 watched the clip with audio-only
stimulus. Since the combination of both an auditory and visual stimulus is the most intense form
of sensation, it was hypothesized that participants in Group 1 would demonstrate the greatest fear
response and show the largest rate of physiological change in EDA, respiration rate, and heart
rate. Paired two sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA tests showed there was some statistical
significance in the resulting data. Overall, this study supported the hypothesis that bimodal
audiovisual fear inducing stimulus would lead to a larger physiological response