IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 1 ImpactofAgeonDetectingEmotionsandInformation AbbyM.WisarbandElizabethA.Maine ABCColege
IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 2 Abstract Differencesinagewereevaluatedintheaspectofaffectiveprocessing,particularlyin theprocessofvisualsearch tasks.both youngerand olderadultswere foundtobefasterindetectinghigharousalpicturesascomparedtolow arousal, aswelasneutralitems.ithasbeendiscoveredthatyoungeradultsturnedoutto befasterwhenitcomestodetectingpositiveandhigharousalimagetargetsas comparedtootherimagesindifferentcategories.incontrast,adultsthatareolder showedoveraldetectionedgewhenitcomestoemotionalimagesascomparedto neutralimages.altogether,theseresultsdepictthatolderadultsarenotableto displacesomevalencebasedeffectswhenitcomestoaffectiveprocessingatautomaticstages.
IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 3 ImpactofAgeonDetectingEmotionsandInformation Mostoften,peoplefacesituationwithintheirsurroundingwhichmakesitquite impossibleforthem toattendtoalstimuliavailable.assuch,itisveryimportant oftheattentionalprocessesofonetochooseonlythemostvaluableinformation inthesurroundingthatneedstobeattended.paststudieshasalsosuggestedthat emotionaldataisprivywhen itcomesto attentionalselection amongyounger adults(andersen,2007;calvin& Lain,2006),thereisanobviousservicetowards evolutionaryeffortsinapproachingarewardingsituation,aswelasinavoiding dangerandthreat. Forinstance,Oman,FlintandEscovar(2003)presentedthedifferentparticipants withvisualarraysofimagesthatdepictfourdifferentcategories,composedofspiders,snakes,mushroomsandflowers.inhalfofthearrays,eightpicturescame from asinglecategory,withanotherimagecomingfrom adifferentcategory(e.g., eightmushroomsandonespider).theparticipantswererequiredtoindicateif thematrixinvolvesadiscrepantstimulus. Outofthisresearch,itseemedquiteclearthatadultswhoareyoungershow the benefitsofdetectionforarousinginformationwithintheirsurroundings.however,itislessclearastowhethertheeffectsarebeingpreservedacrosstheentire lifespanofanadult.thecurrentfocusisdeterminingtheactualextendwithwhich actualagingimpactsearly,aswelasautomaticdetectionofvariousemotionalinformation.
IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 4 Method Participants Youngadultswererecruitedusingflyersthatarepostedinsidethecampusof ABCColege.Adultswhoareolderwerealsorecruited,viatheABCCooperativeon Aging.Theparticipantswereoffered$10foreveryhourthattheyhaveparticipated.Therewerealso30otherparticipantswhowererecruitedinthesimilarwayas beingdescribed,whooffered pilotratingvalue.aloftheparticipantswererequested to bringtheirown correctiveeyewearifnecessary;thusresultingto a normalorcorrectedvisionforaloftheparticipants. ProcedureandMaterials Thetaskwhichinvolvedvisualsearchused10items,witheachofthem containingninedifferentexemplarswhichwereusedinconstructingstimulusmatrices. 90imageswerealsousedalinal,witheachofthem appearingasthefocusand amemberofadisturbingarray.alinal,360matriceswereshowntoeachofthe participants,withhalfofthem havingitsowntargetitem,whilehalfdidnot. Theitemsineachofthecategoriessharedsimilarverballabel,andthespecific item waschosenfrom onlinedatabases.eachoftheimagesshowedaphotoofan object.tenparticipantswerealsorequestedtowritethenameofeachobject.an objectwhichdidnotgeneratetherequiredresponseconsistentlywasremoved from theset.fortheimagesremaining,20additionalparticipantswereaskedto ratetheemotionalvalence,includingthearousaloftheobjects,evaluatingthe levelofvisualsimilarityontheobjectsinsideaset.
IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 5 Eachofthetrialsstartedwiththeuseofawhitefixationcrossthatisshownwith ablackscreenforabackground.itstayedonthescreenuntilaresponseofthe participantwasrecorded.theparticipantswereadvised to provideaquickresponseusingabuttonthatismarkedas yes;,iftheyseeatarget,oramarkwith no iftheycannotseeatargetthatispresent.theaccuracyaswelaslatencyof theresponsewerealsorecorded. Results Evaluation focused on participants response trialsto the 120 situationswith whichatargetwaspresentedandwasdeemedasfarfrom anotheremotionalcategory.aspreviouslyoutlined,threevalidalternativesfortheperformanceofboth youngandolderadultswerepresent.thefirsttwoagegroupsmayshow asame patternofimproveddetectiononemotionalinformation,witholderadultspotentialyshowingabetteradvantageondetectingemotionsascomparedtoyoung adults. Assuch,eventhoughbothyoungandolderadultshaveshowndivergentpatterns whenitcomestodetectingemotionsonataskthatisdependentonearlyandautomaticprocessingphase,wehavefoundnoproofonanyage-relatedeffecton positivity.thislackoffocusonpositivityamongolderadultsisinlinewiththeproposalthatthepositiveeffectdoesnotnecessarilyariseviaautomaticattention andinfluences.instead,whentheeffectwasobservedamongolderadults,there isalikelihoodthatage-relatedchangeswhenitcomestogoalsonemotionregula tion which operateatthelaterprocessingstages,oncetheinformation hasalreadybeen attended to and afterthe emotionalnature hasalreadybeen discerned.eventhoughwearenotabletocompletelyconcludethatthecurrenttask strictlydependsonautomaticphases,thereareevidencesthattheconstructevaluatedshow thatthereisahugelikelihoodoflinkingagewithemotions.
IMPACTOFAGEON DETECTING EMOTIONS 6 References Andersen,A.H.(2007).Affective impacton attentionaldynamics thatsupport awareness. Experimental Psychology Journal: General, 156, 260, 283, doi:12:1038/2345-32545.345.3.325 Calvin,G.A.,& Lain,G.A(2006).Differentpatternswhenviewingemotionalimages: biased by motivations and attention.emotion and Motivation,30,223-245. Doi:23.3543/23.23523.ed Oman,G.,Flint,E.A.& Escovar,G.A(2003).Emotionsgetquicklynoticed:Detecting threatsamongadults.gerontologyjournal,thebseries:scienceofpsychology,61c, P23-P24.