Cited by 212Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlEmotion and Mood RecognitionNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Autonomic specificity of basic emotions: Evidence from pattern classification and cluster analysis

Stephens, Chad L., Christie, Israel C., Friedman, Bruce H.·2010·Biological Psychology

Abstract

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) specificity of emotion remains controversial in contemporary emotion research, and has received mixed support over decades of investigation. This study was designed to replicate and extend psychophysiological research, which has used multivariate pattern classification analysis (PCA) in support of ANS specificity. Forty-nine undergraduates (27 women) listened to emotion-inducing music and viewed affective films while a montage of ANS variables, including heart rate variability indices, peripheral vascular activity, systolic time intervals, and electrodermal activity, were recorded. Evidence for ANS discrimination of emotion was found via PCA with 44.6% of overall observations correctly classified into the predicted emotion conditions, using ANS variables (z=16.05, p<.001). Cluster analysis of these data indicated a lack of distinct clusters, which suggests that ANS responses to the stimuli were nomothetic and stimulus-specific rather than idiosyncratic and individual-specific. Collectively these results further confirm and extend support for the notion that basic emotions have distinct ANS signatures.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.03.014

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  • The same is true for studies that successfully created different patterns of autonomic physiology, despite using the same stimuli and experimental method, and sampling from the same population.

    “The same is true for studies that successfully created different patterns of autonomic physiology, despite using the same stimuli and experimental method, and sampling from the same population (e.g. Stephens et al., 2010; Kragel and LaBar, 2013).”

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Authors
Stephens, C. L., Christie, I. C., & Friedman, B. H.
Affiliations
  • Virginia Tech (US)
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
Corresponding author
Friedman, Bruce H.
Venue
Biological Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-07
Volume
84
Issue
3
Pages
463-473
ISSN
0301-0511 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2112273791
Cited by
209
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 11
FWCI
8.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Biological Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Emotion and Mood Recognition
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
autonomic nervous system, basic emotions, emotion specificity, heart rate variability, systolic time intervals, electrodermal activity, pattern classification
MeSH terms
Acoustic Stimulation, Adolescent, Adult, Autonomic Nervous System, Blood Pressure, Electrocardiography, Electroencephalography, Emotions, Female, Galvanic Skin Response, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Motion Pictures, Music, Photic Stimulation, Predictive Value of Tests, Surveys and Questionnaires, Cluster Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Young Adult, Self Report

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