Development and Initial Normative Validation of the Affective Valence Image Task (AVIT)

Abstract
The aim of the present study was to develop and provide an initial validation of the Affective Valence Image Task (AVIT), a visual instrument designed to assess basic hedonic polarity in terms of attraction and rejection. The image bank consisted of 60 color digital images, divided into two sets of 30 stimuli: one attraction set and one rejection set. The images were selected to represent affectively clear contents and to serve as functionally useful reference stimuli for later studies on affective responses, behavioral classification, and neurophysiological recording.
The initial normative validation was conducted with 52 young adult participants aged 19 to 23 years, who rated all images using 1-to-5 Likert scales. The results showed high and consistent ratings in the expected direction for both sets. The attraction images obtained a mean score of 4.61 (SD = 0.37), and the rejection images obtained a mean score of 4.73 (SD = 0.30). Internal consistency was excellent in both categories (α = .960 for attraction and α = .953 for rejection), and inter-rater agreement was high, both in terms of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = .845 and .907, respectively) and Kendall’s W, which was significant in both cases. The mean ratings for both sets were significantly above the midpoint of the scale, with no significant differences between the overall mean intensity of attraction and rejection.
Overall, the results support the initial psychometric adequacy of the AVIT as a brief, clear, and functionally focused tool for the assessment of attraction–rejection, and support its use as a reference system in future research involving both generic affective stimuli and domain-specific stimuli.

Keywords
Hedonic valence; affective images; emotional assessment; visual instrument; approach–avoidance

Cite this paper
Alfonso García-Monge, Ana Escudero Montero, Development and Initial Normative Validation of the Affective Valence Image Task (AVIT) , SCIREA Journal of Education. Volume 11, Issue 1, February 2026 | PP. 10-29. 10.54647/education880658

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