Opportunity for Information Search and the Effect of False Heart Rate Feedback

The role of information search in the attribution of physiological states was investigated by manipulating the subject's opportunity for information search following the presentation of false information about his heart-rate reactions to photographs of female nudes. Consistent with the self-persuasion hypothesis proposed by Valins, the rated attractiveness of the slides was not affected by the false heart-rate feedback for those subjects who were prevented from visually searching the slides. Those subjects who had ample opportunity to view the slides rated those slides accompanied by false information of a heart-rate change as more attractive than those slides which were not paired with a change in heart rate.     

Opportunity for information search and the effect of false heart rate feedback

The role of information search in the attribution of physiological states was investigated by manipulating the subject’s opportunity for information search following the presentation of false information about his heart-rate reactions to photographs of female nudes. Consistent with the self-persuasion hypothesis proposed by Valins, the rated attractiveness of the slides was not affected by the false heart-rate feedback for those subjects who were prevented from visually searching the slides. Those subjects who had ample opportunity to view the slides rated those slides accompanied by false information of a heart-rate change as more attractive than those slides which were not paired with a change in heart rate.     

Physiological mediation of attitudinal responses.

A study was undertaken to try to ascertain the best model of the relationship between stimuli, physiological responses, and attitudes. Subjects were asked to indicate their attitudes toward various nations after having received various bogus information about how they responded physiologically to the stimuli. The results indicate the following: (a) In general, attitudes appear to be physiologically mediated; (b) physiological mediation of attitudes is strongest when prior knowledge about the stimuli is low but is independent of prior attitudes about the stimuli; (c) bogus physiological feedback does not seem to be verbally mediated; and (d) the most fruitful distinction between types of bogus feedback is between any feedback versus no feedback, not between change versus no change or between increase versus decrease in response.     

Persistent Effects of Information about Internal Reactions: Ineffectiveness of Debriefing

A process of self-persuasion has been advanced to account for the effects of information about internal reactions on attitudes toward emotional stimuli. To determine whether the results of this cognitive activity would be resistant to debriefing, Ss were shown slides of female nudes while hearing their alleged heart-rate reactions and were subsequently informed that these reactions were part of a deception manipulation. It was found that, although Ss accepted the debriefing, the false information continued to exert an influence on their attitudes toward the nudes. The attitudes of these Ss toward the nudes were the same as those of Ss who were not debriefed.     

Persistent effects of information about internal reactions: Ineffectiveness of debriefing

A process of self-persuasion has been advanced to account for the effects of information about internal reactions on attitudes toward emotional stimuli. To determine whether the results of this cognitive activity would be resistant to debriefing, Ss were shown slides of female nudes while hearing their alleged heart-rate reactions and were subsequently informed that these reactions were part of a deception manipulation. It was found that, although Ss accepted the debriefing, the false information continued to exert an infleunce on their attitudes toward the nudes. The attitudes of these Ss toward the nudes were the same as those of Ss who were not debriefed.     

The effects of false feedback on attributed arousal and rated attractiveness in female subjects1

In an expanded version of the Valins false feedback paradigm, female subjects viewed ten slides of seminude males accompanied by either an increase or no change in amplified heart beats. Heart rate increase slides were rated as both more attractive and more arousing than no-change slides. These two measures were highly correlated, and did not differ significantly in the degree to which they were influenced by feedback. Subjects also showed significantly greater changes in actual heart rate for the increasing feedback slides than for the no-change slides, although the feedback produced no corresponding differences in GSR. Despite the effects on both subjective report and cardiac activity, correlations between these two measures were generally nonsignificant. Subjects classified as high in autonomic perception showed no significant relationship between actual cardiac activity and slide ratings, nor were they more influenced in their ratings by the feedback than subjects low in autonomic perception. Implications for the false feedback paradigm and for current issues in the social psychology and psychophysiology of emotion are discussed.     

Active search,mediation, and the manipulation of cue dimensions: Emotion attribution in the false feedback paradigm

The present experiments investigated the mechanism(s) that produce the false feedback effect. Although the present studies replicated the basic phenomenon, previously proposed mediators of attention and arousal did not appear related to the effects obtained. In Experiment 1, change feedback slides were rated significantly higher than no-change feedback slides (F(1, 39)=11.88,p<.01). Correlations showed that both arousal and nonarousal feedback cues produced active search and influenced stimulus ratings. Attention or arousal differences between change and no-change feedback should not result in equal cue effects. In Experiment 2, feedback rating differences were eliminated by presenting less differentially ambiguous situational stimuli. These findings suggested that important factors in the emotion attribution process may be the relative ambiguity and subjective salience of both situational and physiological cues.     

The role of perceived physiological activity in affective judgments

This study assessed the physiological and cognitive effects of Valins' (Valins, S. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 4, 400–408) false heart rate procedure. Twenty-two male subjects were exposed to two feedback conditions during which measures of actual heart rate and skin conductance were obtained. In each condition, eight slides of nude females were presented; some slides were associated with false heart rate increases, while for other slides the feedback remained stable. In one condition, subjects were told that the heart rate was that of another subject; in the other condition, subjects were told that the feedback was their own heart rate. In both conditions, subjects judged the attractiveness of the slides from their own point of view and from the point of view of the other subject. Slides associated with false heart rate increases were rated as more attractive than stable slides when subjects (1) heard their own heart rate and rated their own attraction; (2) heard the other subject's heart rate and rated their own attraction; and (3) heard the other subject's heart rate and rated the other subject's attraction. Skin conductance responses and actual cardiac decelerations were greater when subjects heard what was allegedly their own heart rate and when the slides were accompanied by apparent cardiac acceleration. However, these actual physiological responses did not play a causal role in relation to the affective judgments. Instead, the relationship between perceived physiological changes and feelings of attractiveness was mediated by cognitive processes associated with informational and directive influences of the feedback.     

False physiological feedback and emotion: Experimenter demand and salience effects

Four experiments examined the hypothesis that the Valins (1966) false physiological feedback effect with attractiveness ratings of slides is due to experimenter demand. Experiments 1 and 2 showed significant feedback effects with 5-sec feedback periods, previously reported by Barefoot and Straub (1971) to be too brief a time to search the slides for a cause of the apparent physiological arousal. Experiments 3 and 4 had 17 variations of instructions (emotional, nonemotional), stimuli (slides of people, scenic tourist slides), and type of feedback information (heart rate, eyeblink, or none). The typical false feedback effect was found under many conditions that did not seem to meet the presumptive attributional requirements for the effect. In Experiment 4, only subjects who said they were supposed to rate feedback slides higher showed the effect, regardless of instructions, stimuli, or type of feedback. The overall results are interpreted in terms of experimenter demand and stimulus salience effects.     

False autonomic feedback: Effects of attention to feedback on ratings of erotic stimuli

This study examines the roles played by sound track type, attention to sound track, and meaning of sound track in mediating the effects of false autonomic feedback on attractiveness ratings of erotic stimuli. Male subjects were instructed either to ignore or to pay attention to a pulsed or continuous sound track that was described either as heart-rate feedback or as a neutral auditory stimulus while slides of nude females were shown. Slides associated with a change in either the pulsed sound track or the continuous-tone sound track (increase slides) were subsequently rated as significantly more attractive than those associated with steady sound (stable slides). This effect was contingent on the meaning given to the auditory stimuli, with subjects in the heart-rate condition showing a stronger tendency to rate increase slides more positively than stable slides, by comparison with subjects in the neutral sounds condition. Within the heart-rate condition, subjects told to pay attention to the feedback showed greater rating differences between these two types of slide than those told to ignore it. This pattern of findings contrasts with those of an earlier experiment (Parkinson & Manstead, 1981), where differential unpleasantness ratings of slides of skin diseases depended on the attention paid to the sound track but not on its meaning. It is concluded that the effects of false autonomic feedback are contingent upon the kind of emotional stimuli that are presented.This article is based on research supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK). We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Andrew Gregory, who was responsible for the computer program used in generating the sound track, and we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments on a previous version of this paper.     

Self-esteem and cognitive consistency effects on self-other evaluation

Reactions to bogus evaluations of one's self, either positively or negatively discrepant from one's own self-evaluation, were investigated among subjects differing in self-ideal discrepancy. All subjects exhibited greater acceptance of the source of favorable information than the source of unfavorable information, and changed their self-evaluation more toward the favorable than unfavorable position. However, among low self-ideal discrepancy subjects, the change in self-evaluation was accompanied by a similar change in friend evaluation, thereby maintaining their standing in relation to this friend after receiving either positive or negative evaluations. In contrast, high discrepancy subjects downgraded the friend more and upgraded the friend less than themselves, thereby enhancing their relative standing as a result of the feedback. These findings indicated that defensive or self-enhancing effects on self-evaluation processes are determined by self-ideal discrepancy.     

Accountability forces in performance appraisal

This experiment investigated the effects of two factors felt to influence the quality of ratings: anticipated feedback sharing and knowledge of subordinates' self-assessment. One hundred and eighty subjects receiving either favorable, unfavorable, or no subordinate self-assessment information were led to anticipate either face-to-face, written, or no feedback sharing with a subordinate. Main effects were found both for type of feedback sharing and level of subordinate self-assessment. Partial support was also found for the interaction of feedback sharing and partial self-assessment effects. Supervisors anticipating sharing face-to-face feedback with a subordinate rated the latter's performance significantly more positively than did supervisors who received no self-assessment data; while supervisors receiving knowledge of an unfavorable self-assessment rated their subordinates significantly more negatively than those receiving no self-assessment information. Ancillary analyses support the contention that the impact of knowledge of self-assessment information is largely motivational, as opposed to informational, in nature. Despite their potential to influence ratings, it is suggested that face-to-face feedback sharing requirements and the use of subordinate self-assessment data are not necessarily detrimental, but rather that care should be taken to minimize their potential to reduce rating quality.     

Effects of false heart rate feedback and task instructions on information search,attributions, and stimulus ratings

Summary Predictions derived from an information seeking, attribution model of false autonomic feedback were tested in an experiment using a 3 × 3 design. Male students (n = 61) viewed aversive slides accompanied by either increasing, constant, or no heart sounds. They were instructed either to attend to slides and sounds labelled extraneous, or to slides and sounds labelled as their own heart beats, or to try to explain their fictitious heart beats through slide features (attribution condition). Increase and constant feedback instigated equally intense information search (measured through self-determined viewing time and heart-rate deceleration) but increased feedback did not direct the search (measured through viewing time distribution and recall) more towards negative or less towards neutral features than did constant feedback. Increased feedback enhanced rated slide unpleasantness in the attention and attribution conditions whereas constant feedback decreased unpleasantness in the attribution condition only. Correlations were consistent with the hypothesis that attributions of fictitious autonomic reactions, but not information search and actual heart rate, mediate feedback effects on stimulus valences.The author would like to thank Paul Wagemann, who ran part of the subjects, Alfred Holl, who helped to cope with equipment problems, and Günter Eisenhut, who assisted in data reduction and analysis.     

The Effects of Source Credibility and Performance Rating Discrepancy on Reactions to Multiple Raters1

Using multiple feedback sources, the present study investigated the effects of source credibility and performance rating discrepancy on recipients' reactions. Individuals performed an ambiguous group task, rated their own performance on the task, and were later provided bogus feedback ostensibly from their peers and an expert rater. Individuals reacted toward the feedback and the source of the feedback as a function of the rating discrepancy and credibility of the feedback source. Generally, more credible sources and their feedback were evaluated more favorably. However, as predicted, this effect was overcome by performance rating discrepancy in the predicted conditions. The results show the importance of studying the interactive effects of message and source characteristics on individuals' reactions.     

The self-attribution of emotion as a function of success and failure1

When an act is interpreted as emotional, the responding individual generally is considered less responsible than if the act were interpreted as deliberate. This leads to the hypothesis that the self-attribution of emotion will more likely occur when behavior has undesirable rather than desirable consequences. Three experiments were conducted to explore this hypothesis. In these experiments, the self-attribution of emotion was assessed indirectly by having the subjects judge potentially arousing stimuli (e.g., nudes and corpses) after these stimuli had been associated with either failure or success on a problem-solving task. As predicted, the nudes were judged more attractive and the corpses more disturbing when they were associated with failure. This tendency was most apparent among subjects who perceived the task to be a valid indication of intellectual ability.     

Exposure effects in person perception: Familiarity,similarity, and attraction

Two experiments explored the relationship between familiarity, similarity, and attraction. In the first experiment, subjects viewed photographs of faces at various exposure frequencies and then rated them for likeableness and similarity. Familiar people were regarded by the subjects as both more likeable and more similar to themselves. The effects of familiarity on perceived similarity were primarily mediated by changes in attraction, although some evidence of a direct link between familiarity and perceived similarity was also found. In the second experiment, subjects viewed the same stimuli at a single exposure frequency, and received bogus information regarding the similarity of the people shown therein. Subsequent ratings of likeableness and perceived familiarity revealed that people who seemed similar to the subjects were regarded as both more likeable and more familiar. The effects of similarity on perceived familiarity were almost entirely mediated by changes in attraction. Some of the theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Barnum effect in a group setting

The present study expands the typical Barnum effect paradigm by investigating reactions to feedback in a group setting. People initially participated in a group experience (8 per group), and then were given bogus positive or negative feedback (the favorability manipulation) purportedly prepared by either the group leader or another group member (the source status manipulation). The answerability manipulation led participants to believe that they either would or would not have to share their reactions to the feedback with the person who prepared it. Positive feedback was rated as more accurate and accepted more highly than the negative feedback, though no differences in recall of either the positive or negative feedback emerged. Additionally, a pattern of results revealed that the feedback from the group leader generated greater perceived accuracy, acceptance, and recall than did feedback from another group member. Implications for the impact of feedback given by a high status person in group settings are discussed.     

The long, steep path to equality: progressing on egalitarian goals

The present research examined the impact that perceived progress on egalitarian goals had on subsequent racial bias. In particular, a new bogus pipeline procedure was used to provide feedback to participants that they were becoming incrementally more egalitarian. The impact of this information on intergroup behavior and attitudes was tested. In particular, we looked at the effect of goal feedback on outgroup discrimination and ingroup favoritism, as well as implicit racial attitudes. Three studies found that participants demonstrated greater racial bias after receiving feedback that they were progressing on egalitarian goals versus either feedback that they were failing on egalitarian goals or no feedback. Specifically, participants who were told that they were progressively becoming more egalitarian sat farther away from Blacks and closer to Whites and demonstrated greater implicit racial prejudice. The implication of these findings for current theories on prejudice, intergroup relations, and social goals are discussed.     

Arousal, valence, and memory for detail

A common finding in the emotion-memory literature is that memory is enhanced for positively arousing stimuli and negatively arousing stimuli relative to neutral stimuli. We tested the notion that post-stimulus elaboration is responsible for these effects. Post-stimulus elaboration refers to the process of thinking about an event (after its offset) more frequently or more in-depth. We tested the hypothesis by presenting participants with 36 slides depicting events that varied in arousal (low and high) and valence (positive and negative). The opportunity for elaboration was manipulated by requiring participants, during the interslide interval, to complete addition problems, simply view the addition problems, or view a blank slide. Cued recall memory was tested for central and background details. Based on the post-stimulus elaboration hypothesis it was expected that the greatest memory decline would occur for the central details of negatively and positively arousing slides when participants were required to complete addition problems (i.e., a distractor task x arousal x detail interaction). Contrary to the hypothesis, we found that filling the inter-slide interval with a distractor task decreased memory for negative stimuli compared to positive stimuli. This effect was independent of arousal. We also found that arousal increased central detail memory for positive and negative stimuli and background detail memory for positive stimuli but not for negative stimuli. This interaction was explained on the basis of pre-attentive encoding and cue utilisation. It was concluded that in order to understand the complex relationship between emotion and memory, future studies should include, as a minimum, the variables of valence, arousal, and detail.     

Arousal,valence, and memory for detail

A common finding in the emotion‐memory literature is that memory is enhanced for positively arousing stimuli and negatively arousing stimuli relative to neutral stimuli. We tested the notion that post‐stimulus elaboration is responsible for these effects. Post‐stimulus elaboration refers to the process of thinking about an event (after its offset) more frequently or more in‐depth. We tested the hypothesis by presenting participants with 36 slides depicting events that varied in arousal (low and high) and valence (positive and negative). The opportunity for elaboration was manipulated by requiring participants, during the inter‐slide interval, to complete addition problems, simply view the addition problems, or view a blank slide. Cued recall memory was tested for central and background details. Based on the post‐stimulus elaboration hypothesis it was expected that the greatest memory decline would occur for the central details of negatively and positively arousing slides when participants were required to complete addition problems (i.e., a distractor task × arousal × detail interaction). Contrary to the hypothesis, we found that filling the inter‐slide interval with a distractor task decreased memory for negative stimuli compared to positive stimuli. This effect was independent of arousal. We also found that arousal increased central detail memory for positive and negative stimuli and background detail memory for positive stimuli but not for negative stimuli. This interaction was explained on the basis of pre‐attentive encoding and cue utilisation. It was concluded that in order to understand the complex relationship between emotion and memory, future studies should include, as a minimum, the variables of valence, arousal, and detail.