Fig 3. Affective space: Bi-dimensional space consisting of hedonic valence (y axis) and arousal ratings (x axis) for each picture.

For the Social Work group (A), the majority of surgical procedure pictures occupy the lower "defensive motivational system" arm of the space, whereas for the Nursing students (B), they are closer to a neutral "less emotional" area. Each point in the graph represents the mean rating for each picture. IAPS unpleasant pictures (triangles); pleasant pictures (circles); neutral pictures (squares); surgical procedure pictures (stars). (A) Social Work; (B) Nursing.