Source 7

Question 1

What makes horror movies commercially successful despite evoking fear and anxiety?

Answer 1

Horror movies are commercially successful because they provide entertainment through controlled fear, offering excitement and thrill from the arousal of fear without real-world consequences.

Question 2

How do individual differences affect preferences for horror movies?

Answer 2

People with higher scores on the sensation-seeking trait tend to enjoy horror movies more, as these films provide heightened sensory stimulation and intense experiences.

Question 3

Why are high sensation seekers more attracted to horror films?

Answer 3

High sensation seekers are drawn to horror movies because these films offer the intense and varied sensations they crave, providing the heightened sensory experiences they seek.

Question 4

How does the sensation-seeking trait relate to the perception of fear in high sensation seekers?

Answer 4

High sensation seekers tend to experience less negative emotion in challenging situations, such as fear-inducing scenes, and may even find them more enjoyable or thrilling.

Question 5

What is the basic concept of sensation seeking in psychology?

Answer 5

Sensation seeking refers to the desire for novel, intense, and complex experiences. Individuals high in this trait are motivated by the search for excitement and variety.

Question 6

How does the brain of high sensation seekers react to sensory stimuli like fear?

Answer 6

High sensation seekers show greater brain activation when exposed to sensory stimuli, including fear, as their brains are more responsive to intense sensory input.

Question 7

What did the fMRI study aim to investigate regarding sensation seeking and horror movies?

Answer 7

The fMRI study aimed to investigate how brain activation relates to the sensation-seeking trait and anxiety experienced while watching clips from scary movies, focusing on areas related to emotion and sensory processing.

Question 8

Which brain regions were focused on in the fMRI study exploring horror movie anxiety?

Answer 8

The study focused on regions involved in threat processing and anxiety, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), thalamus, and amygdala.

Question 9

How does brain activation in high sensation seekers differ when watching threatening versus neutral scenes?

Answer 9

High sensation seekers show greater brain activation to threatening scenes compared to neutral scenes, particularly in areas responsible for sensory and emotional processing.

Question 10

What does the increased brain activation in high sensation seekers suggest about their relationship with horror films?

Answer 10

The increased activation suggests that high sensation seekers experience stronger emotional responses to intense scenes, which likely contributes to their enjoyment of horror films, providing the stimulation they seek.

Question 11

How does the brain of high sensation seekers respond to low-intensity scenes in horror movies?

Answer 11

High sensation seekers show less brain activation during low-intensity scenes, such as neutral moments in horror films, indicating that they require stronger stimuli to feel engaged.

Question 12

What does the study suggest about the relationship between sensation seeking and brain activation in neutral scenes?

Answer 12

The study suggests that sensation seekers show lower activation during neutral scenes, which supports the idea that they are under-aroused by low-intensity stimuli and seek out more intense experiences.

Question 13

Why might high sensation seekers need to watch more intense scenes in horror films?

Answer 13

High sensation seekers need more intense scenes, like those involving fear, to feel adequately aroused because they experience lower brain activation during less intense moments.

Question 14

How does the arousal model of sensation seeking explain the behavior of high sensation seekers during neutral and threat scenes?

Answer 14

The arousal model suggests that high sensation seekers have a “deficit” in arousal during low-intensity situations (neutral scenes), which motivates them to seek out high-intensity stimuli like threatening scenes to compensate.

Question 15

How do the brain activation patterns of high sensation seekers differ from low sensation seekers in horror movies?

Answer 15

High sensation seekers exhibit stronger activation in response to threat stimuli, while low sensation seekers may not experience the same intensity of response, especially during less intense scenes.

Question 16

What is the significance of the increased brain activation during threatening scenes for high sensation seekers?

Answer 16

The increased brain activation indicates that high sensation seekers thrive on intense sensory experiences, which explains their preference for the heightened arousal provided by horror films.

Question 17

What does the study reveal about how the brain of high sensation seekers reacts to neutral scenes?

Answer 17

The study reveals that high sensation seekers show lower brain activation during neutral scenes, implying that these individuals feel under-stimulated unless faced with high-intensity, emotional scenes.

Question 18

How does the inverse relation between brain activation and sensation seeking support the idea of compensatory behavior?

Answer 18

The inverse relationship suggests that high sensation seekers experience lower activation during low-intensity scenes, which may prompt them to seek out more intense scenes that provide the stimulation they need.

Question 19

What are the broader implications of the study on sensation seeking and horror movies?

Answer 19

The study suggests that individual differences in sensation seeking significantly affect how people respond to and enjoy horror films, with high sensation seekers needing more intense emotional experiences to achieve the desired level of arousal.

Question 20

How were participants selected for the study?

Answer 20

Forty healthy, right-handed university students (20 women and 20 men, mean age: 22.55) participated. They were not preselected based on sensation seeking scores, representing a full spectrum of the trait. The selection criteria were as follows: “Subjects were recruited within the university student population via public announcement and all were required to be right‐handed, as determined by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory [Oldfield, 1971].”

Question 21

What personality inventories were used in the study to assess participants?

Answer 21

Participants completed the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS Form V) and the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory. The SSS V measures preferences for stimulation and arousal, while the NEO-FFI assesses neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The SSS V is described as: “The SSS V is a 40‐item forced‐choice questionnaire measuring individual differences in stimulation and arousal preferences.”

Question 22

How were the horror movie scenes selected for the experiment?

Answer 22

The scenes were chosen from commercially successful horror films based on user ratings from IMDb. The selected scenes had predominantly uncertain threats, avoiding shocking or overly aggressive content. According to the text, “Only scenes with predominantly uncertain threat, which is the most prominent psychological dimension in horror movie clips [Weaver and Tamborini, 1996], were selected.”

Question 23

What was the purpose of the prestudy and how was it conducted?

Answer 23

The prestudy aimed to rate the emotional intensity of horror movie scenes. Participants rated scenes on anxiety, sadness, and disgust using a nine-point Likert scale. The prestudy findings were used to ensure the final clips chosen elicited “the four scenes with the highest anxiety ratings and relatively low sadness and disgust ratings were chosen for the experiment proper.”

Question 24

What criteria were used to match the neutral clips with the threatening ones?

Answer 24

The neutral clips were selected from the same movies as the corresponding threatening scenes, ensuring they matched in duration, speech, music, and number of actors. The text states, “Neutral clips were rated by a subsample of the 29 subjects…Results indicate that the neutral scenes did not induce anxiety or other negative emotions.”

Question 25

How were participants exposed to the movie clips during the fMRI experiment?

Answer 25

Participants viewed a series of eight movie clips, consisting of four neutral and four threatening scenes, shown in a randomized order. Between each movie clip, a fixation cross appeared for 16 seconds. The order was balanced, ensuring no more than two scenes from the same category (neutral or threatening) followed each other. Paraphrase: Participants watched eight selected movie clips in a random order, with breaks in between. This ensured an even distribution of neutral and threatening clips throughout the session.

Question 26

What were participants asked to do after the fMRI scan?

Answer 26

After the scanning session, participants were shown the movie clips again and asked to rate their anxiety levels using a 9-point Likert scale, where 0 meant "not at all" and 8 meant "most intensive." They also assessed how familiar they were with each movie. Quote: “After the fMRI‐session, participants were shown parts of each sequence again and they were asked to rate the anxiety that was felt during the presentation of the particular movie clip in the scanner.”

Question 27

How did the researchers ensure the validity of the emotional responses in the fMRI study?

Answer 27

By carefully selecting only those movie scenes with the highest anxiety ratings and avoiding those with shocking or overly intense elements, the researchers aimed to reduce variance in emotional responses. The goal was to focus on scenes that induced anxiety but were not excessively disturbing, to ensure consistent emotional reactions across participants. Analysis: This approach helped standardize the emotional experience for participants, ensuring that any observed brain activation could be attributed to the intended anxiety-inducing stimuli rather than a wide range of emotional reactions.

Question 28

How were the movie clips presented to participants in terms of sensory experience?

Answer 28

The visual component of the movies was shown on a back-projection screen, and participants listened to the audio through MRI-compatible headphones. This setup ensured that the participants could fully immerse in the sensory experience of watching the movie clips, without interference from the MRI scanner's noise. Paraphrase: The movie clips were presented visually through a screen and audibly through specialized headphones to maintain an authentic viewing experience despite the constraints of the MRI scanner.

Question 29

What was the role of the fixation cross between movie clips?

Answer 29

The fixation cross served as a brief break between each movie clip, lasting 16 seconds. This interval allowed for a period of rest before the next clip, minimizing any carryover emotional effects from the previous scene. Analysis: The fixation cross played a crucial role in controlling the experimental conditions by providing a short break, helping to minimize potential emotional carryover that might have influenced participants' responses to subsequent scenes.

Question 30

What was the purpose of the fMRI data analysis in relation to sensation seeking?

Answer 30

The analysis aimed to explore how sensation-seeking traits correlated with brain activation during exposure to threatening versus neutral scenes. The researchers wanted to see if high sensation seekers had heightened brain responses to threatening stimuli and potentially decreased responses to neutral scenes. Quote: “In the last step, we investigated, at the coordinates found in the previous analysis, the association between each predictor (threat or neutral) and sensation seeking and explored by means of a stepwise regression the contribution of each factor to the prediction of sensation seeking scores.”

Question 31

What were the main results from the questionnaire data on sensation seeking?

Answer 31

The total sensation seeking (TS) score was normally distributed across subjects, and there were no significant gender differences in TS. The TS had a negative correlation with neuroticism and a positive correlation with extraversion. The subscale "experience seeking" showed a significant correlation with "openness to experience." Paraphrase: There was no gender difference in the overall sensation seeking scores. High sensation seekers scored lower on neuroticism and higher on extraversion. Additionally, a strong relationship was observed between openness to experience and the experience seeking subscale of the sensation seeking test.

Question 32

Did anxiety ratings correlate with sensation seeking scores?

Answer 32

No significant correlation was found between anxiety ratings and total sensation seeking scores. However, a trend was observed where high sensation seekers tended to rate lower anxiety in both neutral and threatening scenes, though this was not statistically significant. Quote: “Neither anxiety ratings of threat scenes nor anxiety ratings of neutral scenes correlated significantly with the total sensation seeking score (r = −0.27 and r = −0.28, both P > 0.05), though a tendency of generally decreased anxiety ratings in high vs. low sensation seekers was observed.”

Question 33

What was the impact of familiarity with the movie clips on anxiety ratings?

Answer 33

Familiarity with the movie scenes did not significantly influence the anxiety ratings or the sensation seeking scores. A small minority of participants were familiar with some of the scenes, but no significant associations were found. Analysis: The low percentage of subjects who recognized the clips suggests that familiarity had a minimal effect on emotional reactions. This supports the idea that the experimental setup ensured consistent anxiety responses regardless of prior exposure to the scenes.

Question 34

What did the fMRI analysis reveal about brain activation in response to threatening versus neutral scenes?

Answer 34

The fMRI data showed increased activation in brain regions such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula, thalamus, and visual cortex during the presentation of threatening scenes compared to neutral scenes. Quote: “ROI analysis indicated that threat vs. neutral movie excerpts led to increased activation bilaterally in the ACC, the anterior insula, thalamus, and areas of the visual cortex.”

Question 35

How did brain activation correlate with subjective anxiety ratings?

Answer 35

Anxiety ratings were positively correlated with activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) when comparing threatening and neutral scenes. Subjects who rated higher anxiety showed greater activation in this region. Analysis: This finding supports the idea that the DMPFC plays a role in processing emotional responses, particularly in relation to anxiety. The correlation suggests that this brain region is involved in the regulation of emotional reactions during anticipatory anxiety.

Question 36

How does sensation seeking relate to brain activation during threatening movie scenes?

Answer 36

Sensation seeking scores were positively correlated with activation in several brain regions, including the right fusiform gyrus, anterior insula, and thalamus, when viewing threatening compared to neutral scenes. Quote: “A positive correlation would indicate increased cerebral arousability to threat vs. neutral movie clips in high as compared to low sensation seekers.”

Question 37

What brain regions were more activated during threatening movie clips compared to neutral ones?

Answer 37

The brain areas such as the ACC, insula, thalamus, and visual cortex showed significantly stronger activation during threatening movie clips. This highlights the brain’s greater processing of emotional and threatening stimuli. A (Quote): "ACC, insula, thalamus, and visual areas were strongly activated during the threatening than during the neutral scenes of scary movies."

Question 38

How does sensation seeking relate to brain activation in high vs. low sensation seekers during neutral and threatening movie clips?

Answer 38

High sensation seekers displayed lower activation in areas like the insula and thalamus during neutral scenes, but showed a pronounced increase in brain activity during the threatening scenes. This suggests that high sensation seekers require stronger emotional stimulation to reach optimal arousal levels. A (Quote): "High sensation seekers exhibited reduced activation in these areas during the neutral movie clips...but they showed heightened activation during the threatening scenes."

Question 39

Which brain region is linked to subjective anxiety during movie clips?

Answer 39

The DMPFC is the only brain region that showed a positive correlation with experienced anxiety, indicating its role in the appraisal and subjective experience of anxiety. A (Quote): "The only area which showed a positive correlation with subjective anxiety was the DMPFC." A (Analysis): The DMPFC’s involvement in emotional regulation suggests that it is critical in assessing and processing anxiety. Since it is associated with self-referential processing, its activation indicates the importance of how individuals perceive and evaluate their emotional states in response to anxiety-inducing stimuli.

Question 40

How do high sensation seekers differ from low sensation seekers in terms of brain activation during neutral movie clips?

Answer 40

(Paraphrased): High sensation seekers show decreased activation in areas like the thalamus and insula during neutral scenes, which could explain why they seek out more stimulating experiences to achieve higher levels of arousal. A (Quote): "High sensation seekers seem to be characterized by relatively decreased activity of the thalamic arousal centers." A (Analysis): This finding suggests that high sensation seekers have a lower baseline level of cerebral arousal, which drives them to seek more intense emotional experiences, like watching scary movies. Their need for stronger stimulation highlights a physiological difference in how they process sensory input compared to low sensation seekers.

Question 41

What does the insula’s activation during neutral vs. threatening movie clips suggest about high sensation seekers?

Answer 41

A (Paraphrased): High sensation seekers show reduced activation of the insula during neutral scenes, but when watching more emotionally intense movie clips, the insula shows increased activation, suggesting they need more intense stimuli to engage their awareness of bodily sensations and emotional arousal. A (Quote): "Decreased insula activation in high sensation seekers might be below the optimal homeostatic level of interoceptive sensation." A (Analysis): The reduced activation of the insula in high sensation seekers during neutral stimuli supports the idea that they experience lower arousal levels in less intense situations. This hypoarousal likely contributes to their preference for high-stimulation activities, as they need stronger sensory input to feel engaged and emotionally connected.