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=International Affective Picture System (IAPS)=

The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) is a database of pictures used to elicit a range of emotions. The IAPS was developed by the NIMH Center for Emotion and Attention at the University of Florida. There are currently over 1,000 colored pictures in the database. These pictures are representative of daily experiences such as household furniture to encounters such as a mutilated body. The familiarity of the human experience is what evokes such an array of emotions. IAPS is widely used in experiments studying emotion and attention.

Why is the IAPS database helpful?
The reproducibility of research studies is essential to science for a new theory. Emotion researchers have had difficulty in replication of studies that used stimuli sets. This was due to experimenters creating their own stimuli sets for their studies. The problem with this method is that some of the picture stimuli used varied greatly in individual differences and were not readily accessible. The accessibility to a standardized picture stimulus set is ideal because it makes it easier to repeat a given experiment.

Adults
A sample of 100 participants, 50 female and 50 male, rated 20 picture sets. Each IAPS picture set consisted of 60 pictures. 3 pictures called “Anchors” were presented before the experimental picture set. Anchors provided an example of the types of pictures they may see in a given rating session. This is helpful because it briefs the participant to wide range of pictures he or she may see. Each picture was presented for 6 seconds, immediately after participants were given 15 seconds to rate the picture using a Self-Assessment Manikin Scale. Pictures were rated in 3 dimensions, valence, arousal, and control/dominance.

Children
Children ages 7-9 years, 10-12, and 13-14 rated IAPS pictures in the same procedure with a few minor changes. Children were in a different experiment setting, given different instructions, and they were allotted 20 seconds to rate each picture instead of 15.

Where are IAPS pictures used?
IAPS pictures have been used in accordance with a number of physiological and neurological measurements. Studies have used the following methods while viewing IAPS pictures: fMRI, EEG , magnetoencephalography, skin conductance, , and heart rate, electromyography.

Access to the IAPS database
The IAPS images themselves are not typically shown in any media outlet, publications and reports. This is to maintain the novelty and efficacy of the stimuli set within research experiments. To gain access to the IAPS, a form that can be found here must be filled out. Requests from students without a faculty advisor will not be accepted. Only requests from degree-granting academic, not-for-profit research at recognized educational institutions are accepted.