PeeledPair

I’m presenting the following abstract at the annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research in Savannah, GA this October. The abstract describes the first project I worked on at my part-time job in Piotr Winkielman’s lab at UCSD.

The Impact of Unconscious Facial Expressions on Consumption Behavior Involves Changes in Positive Affect: Evidence from EMG and Appetitive Reflex-Modulation
Starr, M.J., Lin, J., Winkielman, P.

Subliminally presented affective faces influence appetitive behavior, such as consumption of a novel drink. However, we do not know whether this effect is accompanied by a genuine change in an affective state. In the current study, we tested the engagement of appetitive and defensive systems by measuring the influence of masked subliminal happy and angry faces on physiology, beverage consumption, and mood ratings. We found a significant valence effect on an appetitive reflex (the post-auricular muscle response) and zygomaticus activity, with responses greater after happy than angry faces. Behaviorally, happy faces increased consumption compared to angry, though this effect was limited in time. The effects on the measures of the defensive system (startle blink and corrugator activity) were non-significant. Despite significant changes in physiological and behavioral measures of appetitive response, mood ratings (PANAS) revealed no significant changes in conscious feelings. These results suggest that unconscious affective stimuli can influence consumption behavior by inducing a genuine, if unfelt, change in positive affect.

If you think $50 dollars a person is worth a view of the San Diego Harbor, you will enjoy Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. If you would rather get good service, good food, and a view of the San Diego Harbor for the same price pick any other restaurant nearby. The service was crude. The waiter sloshed our margaritas onto our laps and then gave us attitude when we requested different drinks (the salt customarily on the rim had miraculously disappeared into the bottom of our drinks). The food was horribly plated. The rice was cool to touch. The meat was not cooked to request (is rare too much to ask for?). The vegetables tasted like cooking oil. I will not even comment on the scallops.
Back to the service. The waiter offered to split the check. The check was wrong. What do you think the waiter said when we brought it to his attention? He said, “Well we don’t usually split the check. That was the best I could do. I was just doing you a favor, and you can’t expect too much. It all evens out”.

Too bad my grandmother was there.

Our illustrious North County hospital, Tri-City Medical Center, had the pleasure of my company one night. I found out my hand is too big to wash glass cups the hard way. No problem, right? Just needs a few stitches I told myself. I should have let my wife sew me up with dental floss like she wanted to…

We finally made changes to our site! Hurray!

We’re working on a WordPress theme that will both help us better manage our site and keep our super cool new web design intact. So, please check back soon for more updates!

Once WordPress is installed, our homepage will have info on our latest activities. The Reading tab will showcase news sites we frequent, books we enjoy, and articles of interest. Our Schemes tab will act as our cache of new home ideas. And our About Us page gives folks who we haven’t been in contact with recently, a brief review of where we’re at, what we’re doing, and where we’re going.

~ Crys and Mark