Panic Search: Fear Produces Efficient Visual Search for Nonthreatening Objects
Abstract
The ability to rapidly detect and respond to potentially threatening has survival value that has led researchers to posit that a threat detection system should have evolved within human cognitive architecture. LeDoux and his colleagues (Armony, Servan-Schreiber, Cohen, & LeDoux, 1997; LeDoux, 2000; Phelps & LeDoux, 2005) have proposed an early-warning system that is mediated by the amygdala. Under this view, the amygdala's rapid, preattentive evaluation of the emotional relevance of a threatening stimulus produces a rapid shift of attention toward the threat. Behavioral studies demonstrating efficient visual search for threatening targets (Eastwood, Smilek, & Merikle, 2001; Ohman, Flykt, & Esteves, 2001) and the capture of attention by threatening (Koster, Crombez, Van Damme, Verschuere, & De Houwer, 2004; Smith, Most, Newsome, & Zald, 2006) support the claim that attention rapidly shifts toward threatening stimuli. Importantly, the effect of this mechanism is selective: It increases processing for only the threat-relevant object. Ideally, the detection of threat would also produce a more generalized increase in processing efficiency, thereby allowing one to rapidly identify objects that would be beneficial to fleeing or fighting the threat, objects that themselves may not be threatening. Very little research has investigated how threatening influence the processing of non-threat-relevant stimuli. Recently, Phelps, Ling, and Carrasco (2006) ran such a study and found that contrast sensitivity increased when a fearful face preceded a contrast-discrimination task. They concluded that people actually see better in the presence of emotional stimuli (p. 298). How increased visual processing of contrast would be advantageous in an emotional situation was not directly addressed by their study. Here we posit that increased low-level visual
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Becker (2009) found more rapid disengagement from neutral stimuli following the presentation of a threatening stimulus in an unselected sample.
“Becker (2009), for example, found more rapid disengagement from neutral stimuli following the presentation of a threatening stimulus in an unselected sample.”
From Eye tracking of attention in the affective disorders: a meta-analytic review and synthesis (2012) · cites this paper as Becker (2009)
Cites
LeDoux, J. E. (2000) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155 · Cited by 8,444 · see citing works
Ekman, P. (1976) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 4,345 · see citing works
Contributions of the Amygdala to Emotion Processing: From Animal Models to Human Behavior
Phelps, E. A., & LeDoux, J. E. (2005) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.09.025 · Cited by 3,203 · cited 2× · see citing works
“This finding is consistent with the theory that threat evaluation produces increased arousal that leads to a fairly generalized increase in vigilance and attention (Phelps & LeDoux, 2005).”
BackgroundResultEmotion drives attention: Detecting the snake in the grass.
Öhman, A., Flykt, A., & Esteves, F. (2001) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.130.3.466 · Cited by 2,542 · see citing works
Emotion drives attention: Detecting the snake in the grass.
Öhman, A., Flykt, A., & Esteves, F. G. (2001) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037//0096-3445.130.3.466 · Cited by 2,527 · see citing works
Emotion Facilitates Perception and Potentiates the Perceptual Benefits of Attention
Phelps, E. A., Ling, S., & Carrasco, M. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01701.x · Cited by 815 · see citing works
Differential attentional guidance by unattended faces expressing positive and negative emotion
Eastwood, J. D., Smilek, D., & Merikle, P. M. (2001) · Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/bf03194519 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
Attentional rubbernecking: Cognitive control and personality in emotion-induced blindness
Most, S. B., Chun, M. M., Widders, D. M., & Zald, D. H. (2005) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03196754 · Cited by 414 · see citing works
Modulation of Focused Attention by Faces Expressing Emotion: Evidence From Flanker Tasks.
Fenske, M. J., & Eastwood, J. D. (2003) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.3.4.327 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Does Imminent Threat Capture and Hold Attention?
Koster, E. H. W., Crombez, G., Van Damme, S., Verschuere, B., & De Houwer, J. (2004) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.4.3.312 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
An emotion-induced attentional blink elicited by aversively conditioned stimuli.
Smith, S. D., Most, S. B., Newsome, L. A., & Zald, D. H. (2006) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.6.3.523 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Armony, J. L., Servan‐Schreiber, D., Cohen, J. D., & LeDoux, J. E. (1997) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(97)01007-3 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Threat-related attentional biases: an analysis of three attention systems
Dennis, T. A., Chen, C., & McCandliss, B. D. (2007) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20308 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Eye tracking of attention in the affective disorders: a meta-analytic review and synthesis
Armstrong, T., & Olatunji, B. O. (2012) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2012.09.004 · Cited by 1,049 · see citing works
“Alternatively, a threatening target could be located faster due to reduced dwell time on non-threatening distracters (Becker, 2009).”
BackgroundPereira, M. G., de Oliveira, L., Erthal, F. S., Joffily, M., Mocaiber, I. F., Volchan, E., & Pessoa, L. (2010) · Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/cabn.10.1.94 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
- Authors
- Becker, M. W.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Becker, Mark W.
- ORCID
- Becker, Mark W.
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 435-437
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2129792469
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 4.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- threat detection, amygdala, attentional capture, emotional face processing, contrast sensitivity, contrast discrimination, visual search
- MeSH terms
- Environment, Fear, Humans, Reaction Time, Visual Perception, Panic Disorder, Signal Detection, Psychological
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
