Facilitation and interference of the automatic information processing on a reaction time task to threat-relevant stimuli
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How to Cite

Marcos, J. L., & Redondo, J. (2005). Facilitation and interference of the automatic information processing on a reaction time task to threat-relevant stimuli. Psicothema, 17(Número 2), 332–337. Retrieved from https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/PST/article/view/8277

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to study if the threat-relevant stimuli receive automatic processing when presented effectively masked in a priming paradigm. The prime consisted of an angry face (A) as threat-relevant stimulus and a face with neutral expression (N) as threat-irrelevant stimulus. The same stimuli (A and N) were used as target (or mask), giving four masking conditions (A/A, N/N, A/N and N/A). Furthermore, the target was considered an imperative stimulus for a reaction time (RT) task. Thirty-two subjects were exposed to 10 trials of each masking conditions with a stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) of 34 milliseconds (ms). The same number of subjects received the same trials, but with a SOA of 51 ms, this being an unmasking presentation of the stimulus. The results demonstrate that an effective masking presentation of a threat-relevant stimulus produces either facilitation or interference with the RT task, depending on whether the target (mask) is a threat-relevant or a threat-irrelevant stimulus.
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