Emotion processing in three systems: The medium and the message

In the context of picture viewing, consistent and specific relationships ha ve been found between two emotion dimensions (valence and arousal) and self -report, physiological and overt behavioral responses. Relationships betwee n stimulus content and the emotion-response profile can also be modulated b y the formal properties of stimulus presentation such as screen size. The p resent experiment explored the impact of another presentation attribute, st imulus motion, on the perceived quality of the induced emotion and on its a ssociated physiological response pattern. Using a within-subject design, mo ving and still versions of emotion-eliciting stimuli were shown to 35 subje cts while facial muscle, heart rate, skin conductance, and emotion self-rep orts were monitored. The impact of motion was dramatic. Self-report and phy siological data suggested strongly that motion increased arousal, had littl e impact on valence, and captured and sustained the subject's attention to the image.