Attention allocation under an emotional passive viewing paradigm: An steady-state visual evoked potential study

In the field of psychophysiology, a specific line of research has focused on the impact that emotional stimuli have on attentional processing and perception. To investigate such effects, the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm has been developed as a methodological advancement in the study of the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). In this experiment, 16 subjects participated in a passive viewing task and were presented with concrete and scrambled emotional images. EEG was recorded and the data collected on the SSVEP amplitudes were analyzed. Subsequently, participants rated the images on arousal and valence judgment scales utilizing SelfAssessment Manikin (SAM). The research investigated differences in psychophysiological data and subjective evaluations, aiming to gain a deeper insight into the mechanisms of involuntary attention capture by emotional stimuli.