Emotion processing in different media types: Realism, complexity, and immersion

Abstract

With the aim to improve the ecological validity when studying real life phenomena, research has increasingly been employing more complex and realistic materials, from pictorial and verbal (e.g., movies vs. pictures, narratives vs. single words), to interactive or virtual settings. This article has the objective to understand the emotional impact of these different types of media. It first summarizes neuroimaging findings on emotion processing, focusing on the development toward more realistic and complex materials. The presented literature shows that all media types, simple words or complex movies, may induce consistent emotional responses, mirrored in activations in core emotion regions. Regions related to the (embodied) simulation of another’s bodily state, and mentalizing, the cognitive representation of another’s mental state, are particularly reported in response to more complex, narrative or social materials. Other media-specific responses are described in sensory or language brain regions, while dynamic and multimodal stimuli are reported to yield behavioral advantages together with increased emotional brain responses. Finally, the article discusses the role of immersive processes for emotional engagement in different media settings. The potential to make the viewer immerse into fictional or artificial worlds, is proposed as a crucial modulator for emotional responses in different media types, leading to the formulation of open questions and implications for future research on emotion processing. Correspondence to: Lorna Schlochtermeier, FreieUniversität Berlin, HabelschwerdterAllee 45, 14195 Berlin, Tel: +49 (0)176 64760649, Fax: +49 (0)30 838 55620; E-mail: l.schlochtermeier@fu-berlin.de