Alligator or Squirrel: Musically Induced Fear Reveals Threat in Ambiguous Figures

Abstract

Extant evidence has shown that fear can influence what we see. Fear can exaggerate threatening visual features or make them more salient. Here we show that fear can alter the meaning of what is seen. Three newly devised ambiguous figures that can be seen as benign or dangerous objects were presented for brief intervals. The majority of participants reported perceiving benign objects in a neutral control condition and in a condition in which happiness was induced; but, when fear was induced, the majority reported seeing dangerous objects. This suggests that fear can alter the meaning attributed to a visually perceived stimulus. In this study happiness and fear were induced using instrumental music, so the findings also suggest that sound can influence vision by influencing emotions.