Affect & Arousal

The Excitation Transfer Paradigm and emotional intelligence: Predicting interpersonal attraction

by Simon Boag

Fraser, M. & Boag, S. (2011). The Excitation Transfer Paradigm and emotional intelligence: Predicting interpersonal attraction. In S. Boag & N. Tiliopoulos (Eds.), Personality and Individual Differences: Theory, Assessment and Application (pp. 67-82). New York: Nova.

The Excitation Transfer paradigm emphasises the role of situational variables, whereby externally-caused residual... more The Excitation Transfer paradigm emphasises the role of situational variables, whereby externally-caused residual arousal intensifies later unrelated feelings of attraction. Emotional Intelligence (EI), on the other hand, involves an individual’s capacity to interpret and engage with emotionally-relevant information. This study proposed that EI—(as assessed by the Trait-Meta Mood Scale (TMMS)—may moderate the misattribution of arousal. A sample of 104 female undergraduates were randomly allocated to complete a cognitive task whilst either seated at a table (control) or riding an exercise bike (aroused condition). Participants then viewed a video recording of a male confederate and rated his attractiveness on a 19-item First Impression Scale. Results indicated no main effects for arousal or EI on any factor of attraction. However further analysis demonstrated significant higher-order interactions between EI and arousal upon attractiveness factors. Specifically, individuals with higher EI were less likely to be influenced by irrelevant arousal. Results suggest that evaluative judgements of attractiveness depend upon personality variables interacting with situational variables.

Muziek en geluid: een moeilijk evenwicht.

by Mark Reybrouck

Anticipated violence, arousal, and enjoyment of movies: Viewers’ reactions to violent previews based on arousal seeking tendency

by Guang-Xin Xie

ABSTRACT. The authors investigated the effects of violent portrayals in movie previews on viewers’ arousal and... more ABSTRACT. The authors investigated the effects of violent portrayals in movie previews on viewers’ arousal and anticipated enjoyment of movies based on their arousal-seeking tendencies. A total of 159 college students watched 6 movie previews, each in a violent or nonviolent version, and reported their expectations of enjoying watching the movies. The results show that high arousal seekers reported a higher level of anticipated enjoyment
after watching the violent previews than the nonviolent previews. In contrast, low arousal seekers did not expect much difference in their enjoyment between the two versions. In line with the theory of optimal stimulation level, the results indicate that viewers’ anticipated enjoyment of movies after watching violent images in previews is moderated by individuals’
arousal-seeking tendencies.

Interlinked positive and negative feedback loops design emotional sweating.

by Sasa Brankovic

Affective priming: empirical data and theoretical models].

by Vincent Berthet

Pupillometry and P3 index the locus coeruleus/noradrenergic arousal function in humans

by Redmond O'Connell

PETER R. MURPHY, IAN H. ROBERTSON, JOSHUA H. BALSTERS, and REDMOND G. O’CONNELL
Psychophysiology 2011

The adaptive gain theory highlights the pivotal role of the locus coeruleus–noradrenergic (LC-NE) system in regulating... more The adaptive gain theory highlights the pivotal role of the locus coeruleus–noradrenergic (LC-NE) system in regulating task engagement. In humans, however, LC-NE functional dynamics remain largely unknown.We evaluated the utility of two candidate psychophysiological markers of LC-NE activity: the P3 event-related potential and pupil diameter. Electroencephalogram and pupillometry data were collected from 24 participants who performed a 37-min auditory
oddball task. As predicted by the adaptive gain theory, prestimulus pupil diameter exhibited an inverted U-shaped
relationship to P3 and task performance such that largest P3 amplitudes and optimal performance occurred at the same
intermediate level of pupil diameter. Large phasic pupil dilations, by contrast, were elicited during periods of poor performance and were followed by reengagement in the task and increased P3 amplitudes. These results support recent proposals that pupil diameter and the P3 are sensitive to LC-NE mode.

Reduced electrodermal response to errors predicts poor sustained attention performance in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

by Redmond O'Connell

Self-alert training: Volitional modulation of autonomic arousal improves sustained attention

by Redmond O'Connell

Redmond G. O’Connell, Mark A. Bellgrove, Paul M. Dockree, Adam Lau, Michael Fitzgerald, Ian H. Robertson
Neuropsychologia 2008

The present study examines a new alertness training strategy (Self-Alert Training, SAT) designed to explore the... more The present study examines a new alertness training strategy (Self-Alert Training, SAT) designed to explore the relationship between the top–down control processes governing arousal and sustained attention. In order to maximally target frontal control systems SAT combines a previously validated behavioural self-alerting technique [Robertson, I. H., Tegner, R., Tham, K., Lo, A., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1995). Sustained attention training for unilateral neglect: Theoretical and rehabilitation implications. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 17, 416–430] with an autonomic arousal biofeedback protocol in which participants learn to modulate their own arousal levels. The SAT protocol was first validated with a group of 23 neurologically healthy participants and then independently tested in a group of 18 adults with ADHD to determine
its clinical utility. Half of the participants in each group were assigned to a placebo condition to control for non-specific effects. All participants performed the sustained attention to response task (SART) during pre- and post-training testing sessions to assess training effects on sustained attention. By the end of SAT all participants were able to modulate their own arousal levels without external prompting. Comparison of pre- and
post-training baseline data indicated that, as predicted, SAT was associated with increased levels of autonomic arousal accompanied by improved accuracy on the SART. In contrast, participants in the placebo condition exhibited a gradual reduction in arousal over time and increased reaction time variability indicative of a vigilance decrement. These data demonstrate that the recruitment of top–down control processes during volitional modulation of arousal leads to improved sustained attention. These findings have important implications for the rehabilitation of attention deficits arising from frontal dysfunction.

Emotional imagery: assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry

by Vincent Costa

Negative Brand Names: The effects of using brand names with negative valence on memory and liking

by Duncan Guest

Guest, D., Estes, Z.,& Gibbert (2011). Negative brand names. The effect of using brand names with negative valence on memory and liking. Paper presented at the 2011 conference of the European Marketing Academy.

Brand name research has focused on understanding how consumers respond to neutral or positive brand names. However,... more Brand name research has focused on understanding how consumers respond to neutral or positive brand names. However, numerous examples exist of brand names with negative valence, e.g. Burn energy drink. In two studies we examine the effects of these negative brand names on memory and liking. Study 1 shows that memory is better for negative brand names and related characteristics (their colour and logo). Study 2 shows that although memory improves as brand name negativity and arousal increase, negative brand names are liked less than neutral brand names, although this initial dislike is slightly attenuated over time.

Doing Good To Feel Good – A Theory Of Entrepreneurial Action Based In Hedonic Psychology

by Shoko Kato

Co-authored with Johan Wiklund; published in the 2011 edition of Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. 

What drives entrepreneurs despite lower financial returns and various setbacks?  Researchers have mainly studied... more What drives entrepreneurs despite lower financial returns and various setbacks?  Researchers have mainly studied why entrepreneurs deviate from optimal decisions; risk propensity, optimism, and overconfidence represent such factors.  We offer another perspective to capture the drivers of entrepreneurship, using a hedonic psychology framework.  We analyzed entrepreneurs’ blog diaries and examined a series of decisions and their contexts.  We suggest that entrepreneurs make rational decisions to maximize their happiness and well-being, and they engage in certain activities to manipulate their happiness level.  This study contributes to entrepreneurship research by suggesting alternative drivers of entrepreneurship: contentment and happiness. 

Personality modulates the effects of emotional arousal and valence on brain activation

by Joshua Balsters

Kehoe EG, Toomey JM, Balsters JH, Bokde AL.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, In Press

The influence of personality on the neural correlates of emotional processing is still not well characterized. We... more The influence of personality on the neural correlates of emotional processing is still not well characterized. We investigated the relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and emotional perception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a group of 23 young, healthy women. Using a parametric modulation approach, we examined how the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal varied with the participants’ ratings of arousal and valence, and whether levels of extraversion and neuroticism were related to these modulations. In particular, we wished to test Eysenck's biological theory of personality, which links high extraversion to lower levels of reticulothalamic–cortical arousal, and neuroticism to increased reactivity of the limbic system and stronger reactions to emotional arousal. Individuals high in neuroticism demonstrated reduced sustained activation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and attenuated valence processing in the right temporal lobe while viewing emotional images, but an increased BOLD response to emotional arousal in the right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). These results support Eysenck's theory, as well as our hypothesis that high levels of neuroticism are associated with attenuated reward processing. Extraversion was inversely related to arousal processing in the right cerebellum, but positively associated with arousal processing in the right insula, indicating that the relationship between extraversion and arousal is not as simple as that proposed by Eysenck.

MOTIVATION AND TEMPORAL DISTANCE: EFFECT ON COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE MANIFESTATIONS 1

by Gunnar Bjørnebekk

Asymmetries in face and brain related to emotion

by Alexander Shackman

Davidson, R. J., Shackman, A. J., & Maxwell, J. S. (2004). Asymmetries in face and brain related to emotion. Trends in Cognitive Science, 8(9), 389-391.

Research on the neural substrates of emotion has found evidence for cortical asymmetries for aspects of emotion. A... more Research on the neural substrates of emotion has found evidence for cortical asymmetries for aspects of emotion. A recent article by Nicholls et al. has used a new imaging method to interrogate facial movement in 3D to assess possible asymmetrical action during expressions of happiness and sadness. Greater leftsided movement, particularly during expressions of sadness was observed. These findings have implications for understanding hemispheric differences in emotion and lend support to the notion that aspects of emotion processing might be differentially localized in the two hemispheres.

Emotion Assessment: Arousal Evaluation Using EEG’s and Peripheral Physiological Signals

by Guillaume Chanel

Chanel G., Kronegg J., Grandjean D., Pun T., Multimedia Content Representation, Classification and Security In International conference on Multimedia Content Representation, Classification and Security, 530-537, 2006.

Do moods affect programmers' debug performance?

by Willem-Paul Brinkman

Khan, I.A., Brinkman, W.-P., Hierons, R.M., (2010). Do moods affect programmers’ debug performance?, Cognition Technology & Work.

There is much research that shows people’s mood can affect their activities. This paper argues that this also applies... more There is much research that shows people’s mood can affect their activities. This paper argues that this also applies to programmers, especially their debugging. Literature-based framework is presented linking programming with various cognitive activities as well as linking cognitive activities with moods. Further, the effect of mood on debugging was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, programmers (n = 72) saw short movie clips selected for their ability to provoke specific moods. Afterward, they completed a debugging test. Results showed the video clips had a significant effect on programmers’ debugging performance; especially, there was a significant difference after watching low- and high-arousal-evoking video clips. In the second experiment, programmers’ mood was manipulated by asking participants (n = 19) to dry run algorithms for at least 16 min. They performed some physical exercises before continuing dry running algorithms again. The results showed a significant increase in arousal and valence that coincided with an improvement in programmers’ task performance after the physical exercises. Together, this suggests that programmers’ moods influence some programming tasks such as debugging.

Cognitive vulnerability and frontal brain asymmetry: Common predictors of first prospective depressive episode

by Alexander Shackman

Nusslock, R., Shackman, A. J., Coan, J. A., Harmon-Jones, E., Alloy, L. B. & Abramson, L. Y. (2011). Relations between cognitive and neurophysiological vulnerability to depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 497-503.

The hopelessness theory of depression proposes that individuals with a depressogenic cognitive style are more likely... more The hopelessness theory of depression proposes that individuals with a depressogenic cognitive style are more likely to become hopeless and experience depression following negative life events. Although the neurophysiological underpinnings of cognitive style remain speculative, research indicates that decreased relative left frontal brain electrical activity holds promise as a trait-like marker of depression. This begs the question: Do measures of depressogenic cognitive style and resting frontal brain asymmetry index a common vulnerability? The present study provides preliminary support for this hypothesis. At baseline assessment, increased cognitive vulnerability to depression was associated with decreased relative left frontal brain activity at rest in individuals with no prior history of, or current, depression. Following baseline assessment, participants were followed prospectively an average of 3 years with structured diagnostic interviews at 4-month intervals. Both cognitive vulnerability and asymmetric frontal cortical activity prospectively predicted onset of first depressive episode in separate univariate analyses. Furthermore, multivariate analyses indicated that cognitive vulnerability and frontal asymmetry represented shared, rather than independent, predictors of first depression onset.

Synchronized arousal between performers and related spectators in a fire-walking ritual

by Dimitris Xygalatas

co-authored with I. Konvalinka, J. Bulbulia, U. Schjødt, E-M. Jegindø, S. Wallot, G. Van Orden, and A. Roepstorff.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2011.

Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field... more Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field observations suggest that they may enhance social cohesion and that their effects are not limited to those actively performing but affect the audience as well. Here we show physiological effects of synchro- nized arousal in a Spanish fire-walking ritual, between active participants and related spectators, but not participants and other members of the audience. We assessed arousal by heart rate dynamics and applied nonlinear mathematical analysis to heart rate data obtained from 38 participants. We compared synchro- nized arousal between fire-walkers and spectators. For this comparison, we used recurrence quantification analysis on in- dividual data and cross-recurrence quantification analysis on pairs of participants’ data. These methods identified fine-grained com- monalities of arousal during the 30-min ritual between fire- walkers and related spectators but not unrelated spectators. This indicates that the mediating mechanism may be informational, because participants and related observers had very different bodily behavior. This study demonstrates that a collective ritual may evoke synchronized arousal over time between active partic- ipants and bystanders. It links field observations to a physiological basis and offers a unique approach for the quantification of social effects on human physiology during real-world interactions.

The Fading Affect Bias In the Context of Emotion Activation Level, Mood, and Personal Theories of Emotion Change

by Timothy D. Ritchie

Ritchie, T. D., Skowronski, J. J., Hartnett, J. L., Wells, B., & Walker, W. R. (2009). The fading affect bias in the context of emotion activation level, mood, and personal theories of emotion change. Memory, 17, 428-444.

The intensity of emotions associated with memory of pleasant events generally fades more slowly across time than the... more The intensity of emotions associated with memory of pleasant events generally fades more slowly across time than the intensity of emotions associated with memory of unpleasant events, a phenomenon known as the fading affect bias (FAB). Four studies examined variables that might account for, or moderate, the bias. These included the activation level of the emotions, individual differences in dispositional mood, and participant expectations of emotion change across time. Results suggest that (a) although emotion activation level was related to overall fading of affect, it was unrelated to the FAB; (b) dispositional mood moderated the FAB, but could not fully account for it; and (c) although participants’ predictions of event-related emotion change across time were somewhat veridical, the FAB emerged even when these predictions were accounted for statistically. Methodological and theoretical implications for research on the affect associated with autobiographical events are discussed.

Are the effects of unreal violent videogames pronounced when playing with a virtual reality system?

by Patricia Arriaga

Arriaga, P., Esteves, F., Carneiro, P., & Monteiro, M. B. (2008). Are the effects of unreal violent videogames pronounced when playing with a virtual reality system? Aggressive Behavior, 34 (5), 521-538.

Within the General Aggression Model framework, the present study was conducted to analyze the short-term effects of... more Within the General Aggression Model framework, the present study was conducted to analyze the short-term effects of violent electronic games, played with or without a virtual reality device, on the instigation of aggressive behavior. Physiological arousal (heart rate), priming of aggressive thoughts, and state hostility, were also measured to test their possible mediation on the relationship between playing the violent game and aggression. The participants - 148 undergraduate students - were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions: two groups played a violent computer game (Unreal Tournament), and the other two a non-violent game (Motocross Madness), half with a virtual reality device and the remaining participants on the computer screen. In order to assess the game effects the following instruments were used: a BIOPAC System MP100 to measure heart rate; an emotional Stroop task to analyze the priming of aggressive and fear thoughts; a self-report state hostility scale to measure hostility; and a Competitive Reaction Time Task to assess aggressive behavior. The main results indicated that the violent computer game had effects on state hostility and aggression. Although no significant mediation effect could be detected, regression analyses showed an indirect effect of state hostility between playing a VG and aggression.