What variable did the Canli study manipulate as the independent variable?

In the Canli study, the independent variable was the type of images displayed to participants. This study was primarily focused on how different emotional stimuli could affect brain activity and memory recall. Participants were shown various images that varied in emotional intensity, specifically negative and neutral images, to observe how these different types of emotions elicited varying levels of arousal in the brain.

The manipulation of image types allowed researchers to examine the relationship between emotional arousal and amygdala activation. The findings demonstrated that images that provoked stronger emotional responses (like fear or disgust) generated significantly more activity in the amygdala compared to neutral images. Understanding how different types of emotional stimuli affect brain responses is crucial for deeper insights into emotional processing and memory, making the precise identification of the manipulated variable crucial for analyzing the study's outcomes.