Emotion processing in three systems:
The medium and the message
ROBERT F. SIMONS,a BENJAMIN H. DETENBER,b THOMAS M. ROEDEMA,a
and JASON E. REISSa
aDepartment of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, USA
bDepartment of Communication, University of Delaware, Newark, USA
Abstract
In the context of picture viewing, consistent and specific relationships have been found between two emotion dimen-
sions ~valence and arousal! and self-report, physiological and overt behavioral responses. Relationships between
stimulus content and the emotion-response profile can also be modulated by the formal properties of stimulus presen-
tation such as screen size. The present experiment explored the impact of another presentation attribute, stimulus
motion, on the perceived quality of the induced emotion and on its associated physiological response pattern. Using a
within-subject design, moving and still versions of emotion-eliciting stimuli were shown to 35 subjects while facial
muscle, heart rate, skin conductance, and emotion self-reports were monitored. The impact of motion was dramatic.
Self-report and physiological data suggested strongly that motion increased arousal, had little impact on valence, and
captured and sustained the subject’s attention to the image.
Descriptors: Emotion, Media, Heart rate, Skin conductance, EMG
During the course of the past decade or so, there has been a
resurgence of interest in the specific relationships between emo-
tion and its physiological sequelae. Whether emotion is viewed in
terms of discrete entities ~e.g., Ekman, 1989; Izard, 1997; Tomkins,
1962, 1963! or as a multidimensional space ~e.g., Lang, Bradley, &
Cuthbert, 1997; Russell, 1997; Russell & Mehrabian, 1977!, an
overarching goal for many psychophysiological investigators is the
profiling of each emotion or emotion dimension by determining
the pattern of physiological changes with which these emotion
variables are associated.
Although the search for physiological specificity has a long
history and remains controversial ~for a r