FREQUENCY AND EMOTIONAL PRIMING COULD MODULATE COMPLEX DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES DEPENDING ON TASK RELEVANCE

AYELÉN CARAMÉS; FRANCO AGUSTIN BERNAL; TOMAS ALVES SALGUIERO; AXEL BRZOSTOWSKI; PABLO NICOLÁS FERNÁNDEZ LARROSA

Leipzig

Simposio; 9th MindBrainBody Symposium 2022. Max Planck Institute; 2022

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Introduction: Complex decision-making processes (CDM) differ from simple ones because they require greater cognitive commitment, in which the precision of the response predominates over the reaction time (RT). Methods: Through online cognitive experiments, it was studied if CDM can be modulated by two different conditions: repetition and emotional priming. Faces were sequentially presented with different frequencies (1, 6 or 12 times in 20 repetitions) or with the same frequency (5 times each face) associated to one emotional content phrase (positive, negative or neutral). Subjects were aleatory separated into two analysis groups by asking them to choose one face among four faces to realize an important task (IT) or a non-specified task (NST). Results indicated that: 1. RT in IT is significantly longer than in NST; 2. Face with frequency 12 was significantly more chosen in NST; 3. Faces with positive phrases associated were significantly more chosen in both groups. These experiments raise the role of the task´s nature in a possible top-down mechanism modulating CDM. In this essay a third analysis group was evaluated by choosing faces to realize a not important task (NIT) replicating the same online experiments, comparing with a new NST group. Results: Results show that: 1. Face with frequency 12 was significantly more chosen in NST than in NIT; 2. RT in NIT is significantly longer than NST; 3. In NIT the faces significantly more chosen were associated with negative or neutral phrases. Discussion: These results support the hypothesis that priming modulation could be affected by the task´s relevance, with a top down mechanism.