Standardized picture databases such as the International Affective Picture System (IAPS; Lang et al., 2008) and Emotional Picture Set (EmoPicS; Wessa et al., 2010) facilitate the study of emotional scene perception, and have the potential to increase replicability and comparability of results within and across labs. However, with the availability of large numbers of pictures comes the challenge of selecting subsets of pictures for inclusion in experimental paradigms. Typically, researchers rely on expert consensus or normed ratings to select emotional pictures, but these methods may favor pictures with high agreement over those that provide the most information or best differentiate individuals. Here, in n = 297 individuals, we demonstrate how item response theory (IRT), which provides information on psychometric functioning at both the item and test level, can be used to select negative and positive pictures for eliciting the late positive potential (LPP), a measure of emotional attention. We present results for 50 negative and 50 positive pictures, and show how pictures with higher discrimination values improve differentiation between individuals with different levels of emotional attention. Moreover, “strong” modulators of the LPP – i.e., erotic and mutilation pictures – provided the most information about individuals with low levels of emotional attention, whereas, “weak” modulators of the LPP – i.e., affiliative and exciting pictures – provided the most information about individuals with high levels of emotional attention. Results demonstrate how IRT can inform emotional picture selection and improve the psychometrics of psychophysiological tasks, which can ultimately increase the replicability of findings based on standardized pictures.

标准化图片数据库，例如国际情感图片系统（IAPS；Lang 等人，2008 年）和情感图片集（EmoPicS；Wessa 等人，2010 年）促进了对情感场景感知的研究，并有可能提高可复制性和实验室内和实验室间结果的可比性。然而，随着大量图片的可用，选择图片子集以包含在实验范例中的挑战也随之而来。通常，研究人员依靠专家共识或规范评级来选择情感图片，但这些方法可能偏爱具有高度一致性的图片，而不是那些提供最多信息或最能区分个人的图片。这里，在n = 297 个人，我们展示了如何使用项目反应理论 (IRT)，它提供项目和测试级别的心理测量功能信息，可用于选择负面和正面图片以引发晚期正电位 (LPP)，这是一种衡量情感关注。我们展示了 50 张负面图片和 50 张正面图片的结果，并展示了具有较高辨别值的图片如何改善具有不同情绪关注水平的个体之间的差异。此外，LPP 的“强”调制器——即色情和残害图片——提供了关于情绪关注度低的个体的最多信息，而 LPP 的“弱”调制器——即亲和和令人兴奋的图片——提供了最多的信息。有关具有高度情感关注的个人的信息。