A comparative study of the influence of emotional conflict on the emotional attention processing of the elderly and the young

Objective To explore the impact of emotional conflicts on the emotional attention processing between the elderly and the young. Methods A total of 37 young and 37 elderly participants were enrolled in the study.2 (group: old group, young group) × 2 (Emotional valence of face: happy, fear) × 2 (cue type: consistent and inconsistent) mixed experimental design was used among the emotional stroop task and eye tracking task for all of subjects. Results (1) Behavioral response analysis showed that stroop interference effects in young and old groups were not significant under different emotional conditions (F=0.02, P>0.05). (2) The internal characteristics of the face for the gaze time were analyzed, and the total gaze time of the elderly group ((402.28±15.88) ms) was significantly longer than that of the younger group ((340.52±15.88) ms) under the happy-inconsistent condition(t=2.75, P<0.05). The total gaze time of the elderly group under the happy-inconsistent condition was significantly longer than under the fear-inconsistent condition((365.96±13.95) ms)(t=4.32, P<0.05). The first gaze time for a happy face was significantly longer than that for the fear face((315.56±13.13)ms vs (293.51±13.23)ms, t=4.33, P<0.05), and also showed a positive effect. Conclusion Emotional conflicts have an impact on the emotional attention processing of the elderly, and the elderly are more likely to process the positive stimulation in the control stage. Key words: Elderly; Emotional attention processing; Eye movement; Emotional interference effect; Conflict adaptive effect