Affecting emotional experience with auditory-vibrotactile heartbeat false feedback

Ana Tajadura, Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

Abstract
In 1890 William James hypothesized that emotions are our perception of physiological changes. Many different theories of emotion have emerged since then, but it has been demonstrated that induced physiological state changes can influence one’s emotional responses to stimuli (e.g. Schachter and Singer (1962)). We tested how the presentation of false heartbeat feedback to participants (N=24) via auditory and (or) tactile stimulation can affect their physiological state and likewise their emotional attitude to positive and negative images. In addition, distant versus close sound reproduction conditions (loudspeakers vs. headphones) were used to identify whether an “embodied” experience can occur, i.e. participants associating the heartbeat with their own, and modulate the emotional responses. Self-reported valence (pleasantness) and arousal (activation) ratings for the pictures, participants’ peripheral heartbeat signals, memory performance and individual imagery scores were collected. False heartbeat feedback significantly amplified emotional responses to pictures: high heart rate resulted in higher arousal values and enhanced picture memory, while slow heart rate revealed a relaxing effect when facing negative stimuli. Seat vibrations showed interaction with heartbeat sound depending on its spatial location (tactile capture of audition) and picture type. A relationship between auditory imagery and vibratory stimulation has been also observed.

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