Using affective pictures instead of white noise: still different response patterns for Petrie-style augmenters and reducers?

The theory of stimulus intensity modulation (Petrie, 1967) and suggests differences in the way individuals respond to environmental stimuli. Some people tend to augment stimuli (so-called augmenters) whereas others tend to reduce them (socalled reducers). The study tried to extend earlier findings of increased psychophysiological reactivity of Petrie-style augmenters compared with Petrie-style reducers from white noise bursts to the domain of affective pictures. In accordance with Petrieʹs approach and our previous results it was hypothesized that augmenters exhibit enhanced psychophysiological and subjective responses to negative and positive emotional stimuli compared to reducers. Twelve different affective pictures (out of the IAPS) representing pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral scenes were presented to 29 augmenters and 25 reducers of both sexes on a computer screen. Electrodermal activity, heart rate, and subjective ratings of valence and arousal were recorded. The hypothesis could not be confirmed. Irrespective of the kind of stimuli, male reducers exhibited higher skin conductance magnitudes than augmenters. Augmenters, however, showed deeper heart rate decelerations than reducers to all kinds of pictures. Since differential responses were not restricted to emotionally loaded material, the results are discussed in terms of general differences in information processing strategies between augmenters and reducers to rather complex visual stimuli.