Psychology, Department of

 

First Advisor

Maital Neta

Second Advisor

Tierney Lorenz

Date of this Version

3-2021

Citation

Student work

Comments

Copyright 2021, Claudia Clinchard. Used by permission

Abstract

There is evidence that threatening facial expressions (e.g., angry faces) direct attention toward the target, and that for facial expressions that are less threatening but still convey negative valence (e.g., fear faces) direct attention outward and to one’s environment, therefore causing a shift in memory performance and attentional bias depending on the level of threat in emotional facial expressions presented. Extant literature provides evidence for attentional biases both towards and away from threat in those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology. The current study aimed to replicate the previous findings of the effects stimulus and emotion have on memory performance and attentional bias, while also examining the relationship between PTSD and individual differences in response to emotional ambiguity (e.g., valence bias) among a sample of 35 college students (Mage = 19.6 years; 94.3% female) with a wide range of PTSD symptom severity. The level of PTSD symptoms was not related to valence bias. We did not replicate the effect that threatening facial expressions (angry faces) direct attention toward the target cue but did find weak evidence that facial expressions that are less threatening but still conveying negative valence (surprise faces) direct attention toward environmental cues in that words in the surprise block were remembered better than surprise faces (p = 0.08). Altogether, our results suggest that surprise faces may operate similar to fear faces in their impact on memory performance, acting as a cue which directs a person’s attention outwards, therefore enhancing the memory for objects in that person’s environment.

Advisors: Maital Neta and Tierney Lorenz

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