The role of visual and audio code in the cognitive elaboration of multimedia emotional stimuli

The present study was aimed at exploring the link among multimedia, individual difference, cognitive load and emotional content, by the way of exploring the cognitive elaboration of emotional multimedia stimuli (audio+video) using eye-tracking technology and biofeedback. More in details, we were interested in exploring the effect of expertise, cognitive style, different format of multimedia emotional presentation on cognitive elaboration and emotional responses. Interesting data emerged from first data analyses. Different kind of multimedia presentation appeared to promote different levels of activation and different exploration behaviors. Individual differences seem to play an important role, as well as level of expertise. This last variable appears to be more linked to response to different type of cognitive load. Quite surprisingly coherence between audio and video emotional content didn’t seem to promote more adequate activation (audio resulted more important than images in influencing participants responses)– while the opposite was true with neutral music background.