1. INTRODUCTION HYPOTHESES MEASURES RESULTS Correspondence to: mullermd@mountunion.eduPresented at the 27 th Association for Psychological Science Conference, New York, NY, May 21-24 RESULTS Jeffrey J. Yoza, Casey L.Lambert, Natalie M. Ricciutti, Melissa D. Muller, & Michael M Knepp University of Mount Union One hundred, thirty-seven undergraduates from a small Midwestern university. The final sample was predominately female (70.3%) with an average age of 19.09 (SD=1.20). PARTICIPANTS CONCLUSIONS Baby Animal Imagery on Emotion Behavior Self-Report and Cardiac Activity Being able to induce careful behaviors in individuals can be beneficial for many occupations or scenarios. Both adults and children have been shown to have a natural preference for “cuter” imagery with humans and animals (Sanefuji, Ohgami, & Hashiya, 2007). Research has shown that exposure to cute baby animal imagery can increase participant’s carefulness behaviors in physical activities (Nittono, Fukushina, Yano, Moriya, & Paterson, 2012) Video vs. static imagery has been investigated as a means of distributing instructions (Cihak, Alberto, taber-Doughty, & Gamma, 2006). Imagery has also been used as a means of manipulating humans’ heart rate (Cumming, Olphin, & Law, 2007). H1: The method of imagery paradigm delivery (video vs. static image slideshow) will have an effect on HRV and carefulness state emotion rating. H2: The type of imagery paradigm (cute baby animal vs. neutral waterfall) will have an effect on HRV and participant’s carefulness state emotion. H3: The cute animal video imagery paradigm will have the greatest impact on participant’s heart rate and carefulness report. The impact of imagery on state emotion was explored using a 2 x 2 MANOVA. No main effects for imagery method or type (p > 0.10). For the physiological variables, 2x2x2 repeated measures ANOVAs were run. Significant three-way interaction of the independent variables on heart rate (F(1,124)=4.38, p <.05). With phase, there was a significant impact of the imagery paradigm on pNN50 (F (1, 124) = 12.05), p <.005) and high frequency power (F (1, 124) = 16.50), p <.001) and a trend toward significance with rMSSD (F (1, 124) = 3.03, p =.084). Imagery Paradigm Either a three minute video clip or a three minute set of six images. The images were taken from appropriate times in the video. The imagery type was either of a baby animal (kitten) or neutral (a campus waterfall). Emotion Questionnaire The scale was created for this study to determine present emotional state. The scale consisted of 25 items on a 5-point scale and divided into positive (n=10) and negative (n=9) emotionality questions. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) HRV was measured using a limb lead II placement. Procedure Participants were recruited using an online research management system. Participants were brought into a designated laboratory space and written informed consent was correct. Participants were first exposed to one of the four imagery paradigms while their HRV was recorded. Participants then completed a questionnaire regarding carefulness-related behaviors. The type and method of the imagery paradigm had no notable effects on participant’s carefulness ratings. Participant’s who were exposed to the cute animal video paradigm had a lower after-exposure heart rate when compared to other groups. It is worth exploring if exposure to a different cute imagery video could induce a greater increase in carefulness self-ratings. Being able to lower a person’s heart rate through exposure to a cute animal video can be potentially beneficial in situations where more active relaxation methods are unavailable. Figure 1: Baseline and Task Heart Rates for All Conditions