AUTHOR=Lebrecht Sophie , Bar Moshe , Barrett Lisa F., Tarr Michael J.

TITLE=Micro-Valences: Perceiving Affective Valence in Everyday Objects

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2012

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00107

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00107

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Affective valence influences both our cognition and our perception of the world. Indeed, the speed and quality with which we recognize objects in a visual scene can vary dramatically depending on its affective content. However, affective processing of visual objects has been typically studied using only stimuli with strong affective valences (e.g., guns or roses). Here we explore whether affective valence must be strong or obvious to exert an effect on our perception. We conclude that the majority of objects carry some affective valence (“micro-valences”) and, thus, nominally “neutral” objects are not really neutral. Functionally, the perception of valence in everyday objects facilitates perceptually-driven choice behavior, decision-making, and affective responses.