Affect in Visual Perception: A Brief Review of Theories and Perspectives

Abstract

This article presents a brief overview of how ‘affect’ has been incorporated by the major theories in the field, in the process of visual perception. This article investigated both classical and contemporary theories. The range of affective involvement varies from none to minimal involvement in theories strongly guided by the bottom up approach like direct perception to a significant involvement like contemporary theories like affective realism. Recent neurological findings have furthered the argument of affective salience as a catalyst for the selection of alternate visual pathways to ensure a quicker early perception of stimuli which might be threatening to the perceiver, providing an adaptive value.