ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate and compare mechanisms underlying supraliminal and subliminal emotional Stroop effects.Methods 52 college students were recruited to distinguish the color of each emotional picture,which was either supraliminal (30 students) or subliminally (22 students) presented to the students; and their reaction time(RTs) and accuracy(ACC) in each condition were assessed.Results ①In supraliminal task,the main effect of emotion on RT was significant(F(4.116) =3.63,P=0.008),such that RT in high arousing positive ( ( 781 ± 60 ) ms ) and negative ( ( 787 ± 63 ) ms ) conditions were larger than those in neutral ( ( 733 ± 62 ) ms)condition; ②In supraliminal task,the main effect of arousal on RT was significant(F(1,29) =5.14,P=0.031 ),such that RT in high arousing( (784 ± 59 ) ms) conditions were larger than those in low arousing( (761 ± 55 ) ms)conditions; ③In subliminal task,the main effect of emotion on RT was significant (F(4,84) =2.50,P =0.049 ),such that RT in high arousing positive ( ( 661 ± 52 ) ms) and negative ( ( 667 ± 56) ms) conditions were larger than those in neutral ( (633 ± 49 ) ms) condition.④ In subliminal task,the main effect of arousal on RT was significant (F(1,21) =9.97,P=0.005),such that RT in low arousing( (664 ±51 ) ms) conditions were larger than those in high arousing( (638 ± 50)ms) conditions.ConclusionSupraliminal and subliminal emotional Stroop effects may be involved in different mechanisms.