Abstract
Emotional modulation of startle reflex. We present the results on the startle-probe reflex evoked by an intense auditory stimulus and its modulation through affective slide visualization. The aim was to test the validity of the Spanish adaptation of the methodology and instruments developed by Lang and colleagues at Florida University and to confirm his model of motivational priming. 78 students in the second year of Psychology from Málaga University participated in the study. The results confirm that the university students modulated the magnitude of the startle-probe reflex according to the emotional valence of the image: it was largest when the subject was viewing unpleasant slides and smallest when viewing pleasant ones. These results confer validity on the Spanish adaptation of the startle-probe reflex paradigm and Lang's theoretical model.
