Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events
Individuals often predict consequences, particularly emotional consequences, according to emotional or non-emotional signals conveyed by environmental cues (i.e., emotional and non-emotional cues, respectively). Some of these cues signify the consequences with certainty (i.e., certain cues), whereas...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00140/full |
| _version_ | 1818848520141012992 |
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| author | Huiyan Lin Huiyan Lin Jiafeng Liang Ting Liu Ziping Liang Hua Jin |
| author_facet | Huiyan Lin Huiyan Lin Jiafeng Liang Ting Liu Ziping Liang Hua Jin |
| author_sort | Huiyan Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Individuals often predict consequences, particularly emotional consequences, according to emotional or non-emotional signals conveyed by environmental cues (i.e., emotional and non-emotional cues, respectively). Some of these cues signify the consequences with certainty (i.e., certain cues), whereas others do not (i.e., uncertain cues). Several event-related potential (ERP) studies regarding non-emotional cues have suggested that the effects of cue uncertainty on attention to emotional events occur in both perception and evaluation processes. However, due to the limitations of previous studies, it is unclear what the effects of cue uncertainty would be in an emotional cue condition. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the effects of cue uncertainty are affected by cue valence (i.e., emotional and non-emotional cues). To address these questions, we asked participants to view cues and then to view emotional (positive or negative) pictures. The cues either did or did not indicate the emotional content of the picture. In the emotional cue condition, happy and fearful faces were used as certain cues indicating upcoming positive and negative pictures, respectively, and neutral faces were used as uncertain cues. In the non-emotional cue condition, scrambled faces outlined in red and blue indicated upcoming positive and negative pictures, respectively, and scrambled faces outlined in green served as uncertain cues. The results showed that for negative pictures, ERP responses in a time range between 60 and 1,000 ms were shifted to a more negative direction in a certain condition than in the uncertain condition when the cues were emotional. However, the effect was the reverse for positive pictures. This effect of cue uncertainty was similar in the non-emotional cue—negative condition. In contrast, there was no effect of cue uncertainty in the non-emotional cue—positive condition. Therefore, the findings indicate that cue uncertainty modulates attention toward emotional events when the events are signified by emotional cues. The findings may also suggest that cue valence modulates the effects of cue uncertainty on attention to emotional events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T06:18:39Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T06:18:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-f12a3335b6d14825b1747fd8b838bec62022-12-21T20:32:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612020-04-011410.3389/fnhum.2020.00140487843Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional EventsHuiyan Lin0Huiyan Lin1Jiafeng Liang2Ting Liu3Ziping Liang4Hua Jin5Institute of Applied Psychology, School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, ChinaLaboratory for Behavioral and Regional Finance, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Education, Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou, ChinaKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Center of Cooperative Innovation for Assessment and Promotion of National Mental Health, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, ChinaKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Center of Cooperative Innovation for Assessment and Promotion of National Mental Health, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, ChinaKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Center of Cooperative Innovation for Assessment and Promotion of National Mental Health, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, ChinaIndividuals often predict consequences, particularly emotional consequences, according to emotional or non-emotional signals conveyed by environmental cues (i.e., emotional and non-emotional cues, respectively). Some of these cues signify the consequences with certainty (i.e., certain cues), whereas others do not (i.e., uncertain cues). Several event-related potential (ERP) studies regarding non-emotional cues have suggested that the effects of cue uncertainty on attention to emotional events occur in both perception and evaluation processes. However, due to the limitations of previous studies, it is unclear what the effects of cue uncertainty would be in an emotional cue condition. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the effects of cue uncertainty are affected by cue valence (i.e., emotional and non-emotional cues). To address these questions, we asked participants to view cues and then to view emotional (positive or negative) pictures. The cues either did or did not indicate the emotional content of the picture. In the emotional cue condition, happy and fearful faces were used as certain cues indicating upcoming positive and negative pictures, respectively, and neutral faces were used as uncertain cues. In the non-emotional cue condition, scrambled faces outlined in red and blue indicated upcoming positive and negative pictures, respectively, and scrambled faces outlined in green served as uncertain cues. The results showed that for negative pictures, ERP responses in a time range between 60 and 1,000 ms were shifted to a more negative direction in a certain condition than in the uncertain condition when the cues were emotional. However, the effect was the reverse for positive pictures. This effect of cue uncertainty was similar in the non-emotional cue—negative condition. In contrast, there was no effect of cue uncertainty in the non-emotional cue—positive condition. Therefore, the findings indicate that cue uncertainty modulates attention toward emotional events when the events are signified by emotional cues. The findings may also suggest that cue valence modulates the effects of cue uncertainty on attention to emotional events.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00140/fullcue valencecue uncertaintypositivenegativeERPs |
| spellingShingle | Huiyan Lin Huiyan Lin Jiafeng Liang Ting Liu Ziping Liang Hua Jin Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events Frontiers in Human Neuroscience cue valence cue uncertainty positive negative ERPs |
| title | Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events |
| title_full | Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events |
| title_fullStr | Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events |
| title_short | Cue Valence Influences the Effects of Cue Uncertainty on ERP Responses to Emotional Events |
| title_sort | cue valence influences the effects of cue uncertainty on erp responses to emotional events |
| topic | cue valence cue uncertainty positive negative ERPs |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00140/full |
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