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Abstract:
We studied the effects of specific categories of emotional
pictures on a simple reaction time task. Pictures of mutilated
bodies (negative), nudes (positive) and objects (neutral) were
chosen from the International Affective Picture System. A block
consisted of 24 photographs of one of the categories. Each picture
was presented for 2s and after their offset a fixation point
appeared on the center of the screen. The interval for the
appearance of the target stimulus, which was a small circle around
the fixation point, varied from 500 to 700 ms. The subject has to
press a button as soon as he perceives the target. This task was
repeated 6 times during each interpicture interval. The block of
unpleasant pictures yielded reaction times slower than neutral or
pleasant blocks. For unpleasant versus neutral, this difference was
highly significant for the first trials after the pictures\'
offset. These results show that the manual reaction time was
clearly affected by a previous presentation of photographs from
mutilated bodies. Supported by PRONEX, FAPERJ, CNPq.
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