Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness

Hedger, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2733-1913, Adams, W. J. and Garner, M. (2015) Autonomic arousal and attentional orienting to visual threat are predicted by awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Human Perception and Performance, 41 (3). pp. 798-806. ISSN 0096-1523 doi: 10.1037/xhp0000051

Abstract/Summary

The rapid detection and evaluation of threat is of fundamental importance for survival. Theories suggest that this evolutionary pressure has driven functional adaptations in a specialized visual pathway that evaluates threat independently of conscious awareness. This is supported by evidence that threat-relevant stimuli rendered invisible by backward masking can induce physiological fear responses and modulate spatial attention. The validity of these findings has since been questioned by research using stringent, objective measures of awareness. Here, we use a modified continuous flash suppression paradigm to ask whether threatening images induce adaptive changes in autonomic arousal, attention, or perception when presented outside of awareness. In trials where stimuli broke suppression to become visible, threatening stimuli induced a significantly larger skin conductance response than nonthreatening stimuli and attracted spatial attention over scrambled images. However, these effects were eliminated in trials where observers were unaware of the stimuli. In addition, concurrent behavioral data provided no evidence that threatening images gained prioritized access to awareness. Taken together, our data suggest that the evaluation and spatial detection of visual threat are predicted by awareness.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/87283
Identification Number/DOI	10.1037/xhp0000051
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Publisher	APA PsycNET
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