Carretié L, Mercado F, Tapia M, Hinojosa J A
Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2001 May;41(1):75-85. doi: 10.1016/s0167-8760(00)00195-1.
Behavioral studies indicate that there exists a 'negativity bias' in the way surrounding events are processed. Particularly, it has been indicated that negative events elicit more rapid and more prominent responses than non-negative events. The objective of the present study was to explore the role of attention in relation to this negativity bias. Three groups of emotional pictures were used as stimuli: positive, negative and neutral. Event-related potentials were recorded from 35 subjects at F5, Fz, F6, C5, Cz, C6, P5, Pz and P6. Valence and arousal content of the stimulation was measured via a questionnaire. The experimental design ensured that subjects whose data were finally analyzed attended to the stimuli. ANOVAs showed that P200, an attention-related component, showed higher amplitudes and shorter latencies in response to negative stimuli than in response to positive stimuli. Additional partial correlation analyses indicated that P200 amplitude, but not latency, significantly associates (at frontal and central sites) with valence content of the stimulation. Therefore, due to the valence-related nature of the bias, it is concluded that intensity aspects (more than timing aspects) of the P200-related attentional processes are particularly involved in the negativity bias.
行为学研究表明，在处理周围事件的方式上存在一种“负性偏向”。具体而言，研究表明负性事件比非负性事件引发的反应更快、更显著。本研究的目的是探讨注意力在这种负性偏向中的作用。使用了三组情绪图片作为刺激物：正性、负性和中性。从35名受试者的F5、Fz、F6、C5、Cz、C6、P5、Pz和P6部位记录事件相关电位。通过问卷调查测量刺激的效价和唤醒内容。实验设计确保最终分析数据的受试者关注了刺激物。方差分析表明，P200是一个与注意力相关的成分，对负性刺激的反应比对正性刺激的反应具有更高的波幅和更短的潜伏期。额外的偏相关分析表明，P200波幅（而非潜伏期）（在额叶和中央部位）与刺激的效价内容显著相关。因此，由于这种偏向与效价相关的性质，可以得出结论，P200相关注意力过程的强度方面（而非时间方面）尤其与负性偏向有关。
