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Individual differences in early attentional orienting to approach- and avoidance-related stimuli

Poster Session E - Monday, March 9, 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Sophie Wilson¹ (), Madison Pittman¹, Anthony Kang¹, Madison Risner¹, Natalie Ceballos¹, Reiko Graham¹; ¹Department of Psychology, Texas State University

Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), the difference in alpha power across the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH), is a marker of emotion/motivation. The present study examined relationships among self-reported approach and avoidance motivation, FAA, and event-related potentials (ERPs) to emotionally salient animal faces. Twenty-seven undergraduates (mean age = 19.48 years) completed the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales (BIS/BAS) and resting EEG was recorded. Participants then viewed images of snakes, snarling dogs, puppies, and kittens, indicating whether they would approach or avoid each stimulus. Preliminary results revealed that a frontal ERP negativity (N2, a marker of attention) was more negative for snakes and snarling dogs. Regression analyses showed that higher BAS scores were associated with larger (more negative) N2 amplitudes during approach trials (β = −.48, p = .016). Resting FAA, however, did not significantly predict N2 activity within our experiment. Much like the approach trials, BAS again predicted N2 amplitude in the avoid trials (β = −.43, p = .043), while BIS and FAA were not significant predictors. These results suggest that individuals reporting stronger approach motivation show greater early attentional engagement with motivationally relevant cues, whereas resting FAA appears less closely tied to this neural response. Although FAA has been described as a both stable trait and a dynamic state marker of approach–avoidance motivations, the findings garnered from our preliminary analyses hint that ERPs may capture more state-like aspects of motivational processing. Future work with larger samples and additional EEG indices will help clarify these relationships.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Other