Fig. 2.

Results of behavioral analysis. a) Average regression weights from the analysis of reaction times. Regression analyses were run on each individual's reaction time data using the explanatory variables listed along the x-axis. The critical explanatory variables (expectation × task, surprise × task) tested whether participants displayed the predicted modulation of reaction time associated with threat-expectancy and surprise (see methods section). * = p < 0.05. The average reaction time of trials in which b) threat-expectation or c) surprise was high (in the top quartile of the range within a given participant) or low (in the bottom quartile) were calculated separately for the gender task (white columns) or the bars task (gray columns). As can be seen, higher values of both of these regressors were associated with increased reaction time on the bars task and decreased reaction time on the faces task. Error bars represent standard error of the mean.