Assessment of threat and negativity bias in virtual reality

Abstract

Negativity bias, i.e., tendency to respond strongly to negative stimuli, can be captured via behavioural and psychophysiological responses to potential threat. A virtual environment (VE) was created at room-scale wherein participants traversed a grid of ice blocks placed 200 m above the ground. Threat was manipulated by increasing the probability of encountering ice blocks that disintegrated and led to a virtual fall. Participants interacted with the ice blocks via sensors placed on their feet. Thirty-four people were recruited for the study, who were divided into High (HN) and Low (LN) Neuroticism groups. Movement data were recorded alongside skin conductance level and facial electromyography from the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major. Risk-averse behaviours, such as standing on ‘safe’ blocks and testing blocks prior to movement, increased when threat was highest. HN individuals exhibited more risk-averse behaviour than the LN group, especially in the presence of high threat. In addition, activation of the corrugator muscle was higher for HN individuals in the period following a movement to an ice block. These findings are discussed with respect to the use of room-scale VE as a protocol for emotion induction and measuring trait differences in negativity bias within VR.

Embodied virtual geographies: Linkages between bodies, spaces, and digital environments

“…Baker et al. (2020), for example, took advantage of room‐scale movement tracking within VR to design an experiment where participants were asked to walk across a (virtual) bridge made out of ice blocks. Participants were physically walking across the room whilst seeing and hearing some of the ice blocks cracking as they stepped on them in the digital space.…”

“…This flexibility also offers researchers opportunities to look at participant responses to different scenarios and how this reflects or even alters their pre-existing embodied tendencies. Baker et al (2020), for example, took advantage of room-scale movement tracking within VR to design an experiment where participants were asked to walk across a (virtual) bridge made out of ice blocks. Participants were physically walking across the room whilst seeing and hearing some of the ice blocks cracking as they stepped on them in the digital space.…”

Wuthering heights: gauging fear at altitude in virtual reality

“…In [6], instead, subjects are asked to traverse a grid of ice blocks with the risk of falling down. During the experiment, participant's movements are recorded alongside skin conductance level and facial electromyography.…”

To verify or not to verify: using partial least squares to predict effect of online news on panic buying during pandemic

“…Needless to say, it can aggravate symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression (Silver et al, 2013). A possible reason for this phenomenon is negativity bias, where an individual pays more attention to negative things than positive things (Baker et al, 2020). This explains why individuals pay more attention to one's flaws than assets, focusing more on losses than gains and recognizing fears rather than opportunities (Goldsmith and Dhar, 2013;Galoni et al, 2020).…”