Ensemble coding is the ability of the visual system to extract a summary statistic from a set of stimuli. For example, observers often spontaneously extract an average face identity from a set of faces. Ensemble coding is known to operate in the frame of a distributed/global attention model. Because both attention and holistic processing are modulated by emotion – where positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and facilitate global processing, whereas negative emotions narrow the scope of attention and promote local processing – the c...
