What is in a name when there is an emotional face: Interference from emotional face distractors at high perceptual load.

Abstract

We examined distractor effects caused by neutral versus emotional faces in a perceptual load paradigm. In a series of experiments, we asked participants to categorize female or male names (the target) into their respective genders. The target was presented with 1, 3, 5, or 7 pseudonames (i.e., varying perceptual load) in the center of the screen, with an irrelevant face distractor (to the right or left of center). At low load, we expected flanker effects (i.e., faster responses if face gender and name gender were congruent compared with the incongruent condition) that were expected to vanish at high load, in line with the perceptual load literature. For emotional faces, however, flanker effects were expected to be present at all load levels. In Experiment 1, we presented happy versus neutral faces. In Experiment 2, we presented angry versus neutral faces. In Experiment 3, we replicated both earlier experiments, varying types of emotion in a between-participants design. All experiments show an emotional flanker effect advantage, meaning that at a load level where neutral flanker effect ceases, emotional flanker effects persist. Finally, the analysis of the full data set supported our hypothesis that flanker effects for emotional faces but not for neutral faces were found even at the highest load level. We discuss the results given the prevailing theories to explain perceptual load effects, with an emphasis on attentional slippage theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).