Age-related differences in the distribution of stimuli in the valence by arousal affective space.

<p>Each scatterplot shows the mean values for all words of the Italian affective norms in the valence (x-axis) and arousal (y-axis) affective dimensions in both older and younger participants (left and right panel, respectively). In each panel, the colored points shown in the eight external scatterplots represent the words for which a significant difference was found between older and younger adults’ ratings in the valence and/or the arousal dimension, whereas the grey points represent the remaining words. Specifically, the scatterplots along the horizontal and vertical midlines of each panel show, respectively, the words for which the older adults’ ratings differed from the younger ones in either the valence (green and red: higher and lower valence ratings, respectively) or the arousal dimension (yellow and blue: higher and lower arousal, respectively), whereas the scatterplots located in the four corners show the words for which the older and younger adults’ ratings differed in both dimensions (see the text for details). To better illustrate the general pattern of differences between older and younger adults’ ratings in the affective space, the central scatterplot shows all the words showing a significant age-dependent difference (the color code was the same as in the other scatterplots).