The Negative Pictures Habituation Attenuates Emotion-induced Blindness

Negative emotional stimuli in the rapid serial visual presentation streams can capture individual attention,so that the subject cannot properly recognize the target stimuli presented in the visual stimuli streams,an effect known as emotion-induced blindness(EIB).Studies have shown that the EIB effect is due to the fact that negative emotional images will automatically attract attention due to their strong resource competitive advantage(especially arousal advantage),and occupy attentional resources of the target stimulus,so that the individual can't correctly identify the target stimulus.Previous studies from emotional habituation have shown that by repeatedly watching negative emotional images,the emotional arousal can be reduced,thereby reducing the allocation of attentional resources to the subjects.Based on the above,negative emotional habituation means may be one of the means to effectively attenuate the EIB effect.But so far,no research has explored this possibility.Therefore,this experiment tests this.Experiment 1 uses Most(2005)classic emotion-induced blindness paradigm and Codispoti(2017)emotional habituation paradigm to explore whether individuals can attenuate their EIB effects through negative emotional habituation under free-viewing conditions.On the basis of experiment 1,experiment 2 combines the spatial dual-task paradigm of Chen(2016)and the emotional adaptation paradigm of Codispoti(2017),further explores whether there is the distraction stimulation in the habituation phase will reduce the attenuating effect of negative emotional stimuli habituation on EIB.The distraction stimulation experiment in the habituation phase uses spatial dual-task paradigm of Chen(2016).The main research findings: The experimental results of experiment 1 show that the EIB effect can be attenuated by habituation.But this attenuating effect is due to negative emotional pictures habituation,rather than due to negative emotional habituation.Experiment 2 demonstrates the reliability of the conclusion of the experiment 1,and further shows that the distraction stimulation in the habituation phase does not reduce the attenuating effect of negative emotional images habituation on EIB.This result illustrates that habituation of negative emotional pictures attenuating EIB is an automatic effect.In summary,the results of this study show that the EIB effect can be attenuated by habituation.But this attenuating effect is due to negative emotional pictures habituation,rather than due to negative emotional habituation.Habituation of negative emotional pictures attenuating EIB is an automatic effect;this reflects the impact of the automated learning mechanism reflected by emotional habituation on the EIB effect,indicating that memory learning,which indicates a specific negative emotional stimulus,can regulate the attention deficit of EIB in the temporal dimension.