ICPS
2019 International Convention of Psychological Science · 2019
Processing Emotional Faces Under Different Perceptual Load Conditions: Effects of Alexithymia and Heart Rate Variability
- Georgia Panayiotou
University of Cyprus - Marios Theodorou
University of Cyprus - Nikos Konstantinou
Cyprus University of Technology - Scott Vrana
Virginia Commonwealth University
Abstract
We examined effects of alexithymia and perceptual load on processing of emotional faces (threatening/neutral) vs objects, presented as distractors during a letter search task. There was no preferential processing of faces, but threatening distractors attracted more attention. Alexithymia and heart rate variability moderated effects on RT, accuracy and physiology.
Emotion