Capture de l'attention par les expressions faciales émotionnelles : nouveaux arguments expérimentaux en faveur de l'hypothèse de conditionnalité

Attentional selection of emotional information has long been considered automatic and unconditional because of its importance for the well-being and survival of the observer. However, this automaticity has been questioned in recent years. Appraisal theories of emotion, and more particularly the Component Process Model (CPM), suggest that a particular factor would be central to the modulation of this selection: the relevance of emotional information to the observer's concerns. By specifically studying the influence of this relevance on attentional capture by faces expressing fear or anger in cueing tasks, our work provides arguments in favour of the conditional hypothesis of emotional attention. It indicates that attentional capture by an emotional face is conditional on its relevance to the top-down search goals of a task (Chapter 2), as well as its social relevance (Chapter 3) in relation to the social characteristics of emotional information itself (e.g. the social category of the face) and those related to the observer (e.g. his attitudes towards different social groups, his socioeconomic status). Our results nourish an integrated approach to cognition. They contribute to transcending traditional boundaries in the study of cognitive mechanisms, showing the influence of social factors in the very early stages of selective attentionLa sélection attentionnelle des informations émotionnelles a longtemps été considérée comme automatique et inconditionnelle du fait de son importance pour le bien-être et la survie de l’observateur. Cette automaticité est cependant remise en question depuis quelques années. Les théories de l’évaluation cognitive, et plus particulièrement le Modèle des Processus Composants (MPC) proposent qu’un facteur en particulier serait central dans la modulation de cette sélection : la pertinence de l’information émotionnelle au regard des intérêts de l’observateur. En étudiant spécifiquement l’influence de cette pertinence sur la capture attentionnelle par un visage exprimant la peur ou la colère dans des tâches d’amorçages, nos travaux apportent des arguments en faveur de l’hypothèse de la conditionnalité de l’attention émotionnelle. Ils indiquent en effet que la capture attentionnelle par un visage émotionnel est conditionnelle à sa pertinence vis-à-vis de l’objectif défini par la tâche (Chapitre 2), ainsi qu’à sa pertinence sociale (Chapitre 3) en relation avec les caractéristiques sociales propres à l’information émotionnelle elle-même (la catégorie sociale du visage) et à celles relatives à l’observateur (e.g. ses attitudes à l’égard de différents groupes sociaux, son statut socioéconomique). Nos résultats nourrissent une approche intégrée de la cognition. Ils contribuent à dépasser les frontières classiques dans l’étude des mécanismes cognitifs, en montrant l'influence de facteurs sociaux dans les toutes premières étapes de l’attention sélectiv

Attentional capture by emotional facial expressions : new experimental evidence for the conditional hypothesis

La sélection attentionnelle des informations émotionnelles a longtemps été considérée comme automatique et inconditionnelle du fait de son importance pour le bien-être et la survie de l’observateur. Cette automaticité est cependant remise en question depuis quelques années. Les théories de l’évaluation cognitive, et plus particulièrement le Modèle des Processus Composants (MPC) proposent qu’un facteur en particulier serait central dans la modulation de cette sélection : la pertinence de l’information émotionnelle au regard des intérêts de l’observateur. En étudiant spécifiquement l’influence de cette pertinence sur la capture attentionnelle par un visage exprimant la peur ou la colère dans des tâches d’amorçages, nos travaux apportent des arguments en faveur de l’hypothèse de la conditionnalité de l’attention émotionnelle. Ils indiquent en effet que la capture attentionnelle par un visage émotionnel est conditionnelle à sa pertinence vis-à-vis de l’objectif défini par la tâche (Chapitre 2), ainsi qu’à sa pertinence sociale (Chapitre 3) en relation avec les caractéristiques sociales propres à l’information émotionnelle elle-même (la catégorie sociale du visage) et à celles relatives à l’observateur (e.g. ses attitudes à l’égard de différents groupes sociaux, son statut socioéconomique). Nos résultats nourrissent une approche intégrée de la cognition. Ils contribuent à dépasser les frontières classiques dans l’étude des mécanismes cognitifs, en montrant l'influence de facteurs sociaux dans les toutes premières étapes de l’attention sélectiveAttentional selection of emotional information has long been considered automatic and unconditional because of its importance for the well-being and survival of the observer. However, this automaticity has been questioned in recent years. Appraisal theories of emotion, and more particularly the Component Process Model (CPM), suggest that a particular factor would be central to the modulation of this selection: the relevance of emotional information to the observer's concerns. By specifically studying the influence of this relevance on attentional capture by faces expressing fear or anger in cueing tasks, our work provides arguments in favour of the conditional hypothesis of emotional attention. It indicates that attentional capture by an emotional face is conditional on its relevance to the top-down search goals of a task (Chapter 2), as well as its social relevance (Chapter 3) in relation to the social characteristics of emotional information itself (e.g. the social category of the face) and those related to the observer (e.g. his attitudes towards different social groups, his socioeconomic status). Our results nourish an integrated approach to cognition. They contribute to transcending traditional boundaries in the study of cognitive mechanisms, showing the influence of social factors in the very early stages of selective attentio

Attentional selection of fearful faces: Stimulus-driven capture or contingent capture?

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Attentional allocation to task-irrelevant fearful faces is not automatic: experimental evidence for the conditional hypothesis of emotional selection

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Sélection attentionnelle des expressions faciales de peur : capture guidée par le stimulus ou capture contingente ?

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Attentional capture by angry faces is conditional on group membership and social status

International audiencePreferential selection of faces expressing negative emotions (e.g., fear or anger) has been repeatedly reported inthe literature and is often taken as evidence that the selection of threat-related stimuli is a fully automatic process.However, appraisal theories of emotion predict that emotional attention should rather be conditional on the appraised relevance of the emotional stimulus according tothe current concerns of individuals. In two studies, we investigated whether attentional capture by angry face cuesin a dot-probe task could be conditional on their social relevance for the observer. Rather than being fully automatic,attentional capture by angry faces appeared to be conditional to the group-membership of the faces (i.e., preferential capture by out-group angry faces), as well as to thesocial status of the observer (i.e., preferential capture byangry faces among low status individuals). These new results support the social conditionality hypothesis of emotional attention

Social conditionality of attentional capture by angry faces: The role of group attitudes and SES

International audienceThe preferential selection of faces expressing negative emotions (such as fear or anger) is a recurrentfinding in experimental psychology. This effect is often used as an argument for theories of emotion thatconsider the selection of threat-related stimuli as an automatic and unconditional process. However,faces belong to a particular class of threat-related stimuli, since they are also important sources of socialinformation. This allows individuals to rapidly categorize people in different groups, and thus to differentiate efficiently “the friends from the foes”. Several studies have already demonstrated that this categorization process may impact cognition and behavior, with a general tendency to favor in-groupsand/or discriminate out-groups. We do not know whether and how this intergroup bias modulates attentional capture by faces expressing negative emotions. Rather than being fully automatic, we suggesthere that emotional capture depends on the social group to which the expressive individual and theobserver belong to. To address this issue, neutral and angry faces were presented as cues in a dot-probetask. Group membership was manipulated through the faces’ ethnicity (Caucasian or North-African), anddid or did not match the French participants’ ethnic group (study 1: Caucasian, study 2: North-African).Participants’ identification with the French group, as well as their implicit and explicit attitudes towardsthe Caucasian and North-African groups were also measured. In opposition to the unconditional view ofemotional selection, no attentional capture by angry faces was observed for Caucasian participants(study 1). In sharp contrast, a strong attentional capture by angry faces was observed for participantsfrom the North-African ethnic group (study 2). Importantly, this effect was modulated by the face’s ethnicity and group attitudes. Attentional capture by North-African angry faces was observed for highlyidentified participants to the French group, or who held the most negative implicit attitudes towardsNorth-African people. Symmetrically, attentional capture by Caucasian angry faces was observed for thelow-identified participants to the French group, or who held the most negative implicit attitudes towardsFrench people. Therefore, these new results suggest that intergroup bias can modulate attentional capture by negative faces, especially angry faces of the devalued group (the group the participants were lessidentified with, or held the most negative implicit attitudes to). Nonetheless, these effects were observed exclusively for participants from the North-African ethnic group. For that matter, previous studiesindicated that low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals are more sensitive to their surroundings, andespecially to potential threats in their environment, compared to high SES individuals. As it happens,belonging to the North-African ethnic group is also commonly associated with lower SES (in France). Wetherefore assumed that low SES may have been responsible of the heightened vigilance observed forthis group of participants. In order to test this hypothesis, a replication of the study with Caucasian participants including a measure of their objective SES is being carried out