Golden Section Hypothesis:an ERP Study On The Consistency Of Materials And Difference Between Groups

The golden section hypothesis predicts that subjects prefer to rate 61.8% positive adjectives in total when they rate identities with positive and negative words in bipolar dimensions. This hypothesis reveals some deep mechanism of judgement and evaluation. Many researchers believe that the ratio is related to the states of mind (SOM), which has been proved to be related to depression and anxiety. However, in some studies on self and objects, the results don’t accord with the golden section hypothesis. Until now, no comprehensive research has been conducted on the diversity and stability of the golden section. Based on the preliminary studies, experiments are conducted to explore the different ratios when subjects are presented with social identities, self and objects. Besides, ERP is also used in our study to show the EEG difference between the golden section and optimist groups.In experiment 1, subjects are presented with three different kinds of materials (social identities, self and objects) following the paradigm designed by Benjafield. The results show that the positive ratios are not the same. The ratio of self ranks the first while the objects last. On the other hand, they still have something in common. For the majority of subjects, their positive ratios of different kinds of materials are around golden section.In experiments 2, ERP is applied to the study on golden section hypothesis. The subjects are divided in two groups:golden section and optimist. Both groups are ordered to judge social identities and finish the questionnaire of depression and anxiety. After analysing the behavior and EEG data, we have the following conclusions:(1) There is no correlation between the positive ratio and anxiety and depression. (2) The golden section and optimist groups are different in the information characterization. P2 in the golden section group is larger than that of the optimist. The results imply more attention resources are allocated for the golden section group. The interaction between the groups and choices in P3 also:more attention is involved in positive choice than negative in the optimist group, while the golden section group pay more atterntion to negative stimulates than the optimist. (3) During the response-locked time, Pe is larger in negative choice than positive in the golden section group. This results show that the golden section group has a stronger monitoring in decision-making for negative choices than positive.