Cognitive masking in rapid sequential processing: The effect of an emotional picture on preceding and succeeding pictures

This experiment assessed the effect of an emotional pictorial input on the processing of preceding and succeeding pictorial inputs. Thirty-nine individual pictures were successively presented for 165 msec, with a 500-msec dark interval between each item. The 20th input item was either an emotional or a neutral picture; the remaining 38 items were neutral sketches. Postinput recognition data indicated a processing disruption of several pictorial items following the emotional as compared to the neutral input and a possible processing disruption of the item immediately preceding the emotional stimulus. The outcome suggests nonindependence in the processing of separate picture inputs in rapid sequential presentations.