Valence makes a stronger contribution than arousal to affective priming

PeerJ

article

Zhao Yao¹  Xiangru Zhu³  Wenbo Luo⁵ 

[1] Research Center of Shaanxi intelligence society development, Xidian University;School of Humanities, Xidian University;Institute of Cognition, Brain and Health, Henan University;Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University;Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University

关键词: Valence;    Arousal;    Affective priming;    Prime strength;    Lexical decision;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.7777

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundRecent data suggest that both word valence and arousal modulate subsequent cognitive processing. However, whether valence or arousal makes a stronger contribution to cognitive processing is less understood.MethodsThe present study performed three experiments that varied the valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low) of prime-target word pairs in a lexical decision-priming task. Affective priming was derived from pure valence (Experiment 1), pure arousal (Experiment 2), or a combination of valence and arousal (Experiment 3).ResultsBy comparing three types of priming effects, we found an effect of valence on affective priming was obvious regardless of whether the relationship of the prime-target varied with valence, arousal, or the combination of valence and arousal. In contrast, an effect of arousal on affective priming only appeared in the condition that based on the arousal relationship of the prime-target pair. Moreover, the valence-driven priming effect, arousal-driven priming effect, and emotional-driven priming effect were modulated by valence type but not by arousal level of word stimuli.ConclusionThe present results revealed a pattern of valence and arousal in semantic networks, indicating that the valence information of emotional words tends to be more stable than arousal information within the semantic system, at least in the present lexical decision-priming task.

【 授权许可】

CC BY