Master
English

Integration between fear-relevant stimuli and action in fear of spiders and snakes : a behavorial and EEG study

ContributorsLelievre, Valérie
Master program titleMaîtrise interdisciplinaire en neurosciences
Defense date2019
Abstract

Experiencing co-occurring stimulus and response leads to the binding of their corresponding feature codes and to the creation of an “event file” (Hommel, 2001), that is a temporary memory trace integrating a perceptual event and the performed action. In our study, we were interested in this binding phenomenon in relation to fear. Fast reactions to fear-relevant stimuli may have been developed over our phylogenetic and ontogenetic history in order to face potential threats. Research has highlighted attentional biases and expectancies towards fear-relevant stimuli, especially among fearful individuals, but perception-action interactions have not received sufficient attention. 63 participants performed a task adapted from Hommel's paradigm (1998), with fear-relevant stimuli (snakes and spiders), as opposed to neutral stimuli (birds) while an EEG was conducted. Results showed that stimuli could be integrated with motor response, but they revealed different and reversed response patterns depending on the relevance of the stimulus and the level of fear. Binding effects for spider pictures were modulated by the level of fear of spiders and of snakes, but they were little affected by the level of fear of snakes for snake pictures...

Citation (ISO format)
LELIEVRE, Valérie. Integration between fear-relevant stimuli and action in fear of spiders and snakes : a behavorial and EEG study. Master, 2019.
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Master thesis
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:114478
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Creation20/02/2019 10:53:00
First validation20/02/2019 10:53:00
Update time15/03/2023 15:46:47
Status update15/03/2023 15:46:47
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