Affective primacy refers to the notion that affective reactions are not dependent upon cognitive mediation, and thus affective and cognitive evaluations are to some degree dependent on functionally independent information processing streams with different behavioral dynamics. It is generally thought that affective information processing is endowed with special features: It is largely preattentive/automatic, can occur outside of awareness and prior to the appraisal of more general cognitive and perceptual features. These features of affective processing may be referred to as affective automaticity. The primary aim of this proposal is to apply functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the neural basis of affective automaticity by testing the following hypotheses: 1) Perceptual processing of affective but not neural stimulus dimensions is accomplished independent of attentional resource allocation, 2) Neural responses to affectively significant but not neutral stimuli are evoked prior to and independent of perceptual awareness, and 3) Neural responses to affectively significant stimuli support affective discriminations without awareness.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32MH012829-03
Application #
6528634
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-4 (01))
Program Officer
Curvey, Mary F
Project Start
2002-09-01
Project End
Budget Start
2002-09-01
Budget End
2003-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$44,212
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
800771545
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305