Acoustic correlates of emotional dimensions in laughter: arousal, dominance, and valence

Although laughter plays an essential part in emotional vocal communication, little is known about the acoustical correlates that encode different emotional dimensions. In this study we examined the acoustical structure of laughter sounds differing along four emotional dimensions: arousal, dominance, sender's valence, and receiver-directed valence. Correlation of 43 acoustic parameters with individual emotional dimensions revealed that each emotional dimension was associated with a number of vocal cues. Common patterns of cues were found with emotional expression in speech, supporting the hypothesis of a common underlying mechanism for the vocal expression of emotions.     

Dimensional dominance and stimulus discriminability.

The relationship between the discriminability of scaling stimuli and assessed dimensional dominance was investigated in three studies. Sixty kindergarten children were assessed using a psychophysical scaling method to determine JND values for the size, brightness, and orientation dimensions. Thirty of the same subjects were then assessed for dimensional dominance using stimuli of two levels of known discriminability, based on the obtained JND values. In a third experiment, the remaining 30 subjects were assessed for dimensional dominance using stimuli that systematically emphasized the values of one dimension relative to the other two dimensions, again based on obtained JND values.The results indicated that (1) kindergarten children were able to perform consistently during psychophysical scaling, and there was little variability between children in their judgments of stimuli, (2) the overall level of discriminability affects dimensional dominance scaling behavior, with subjects more likely to exhibit dominance for one dimension when all the values of scaling stimuli are high in discriminability, and (3) some support for the hypothesis that dimensional dominance scaling behavior can be manipulated by manipulating the relative discriminability of scaling stimuli was found, though the trend was not clear.The relative discriminability of scaling stimuli appears to have some effects on dimensional dominance scaling behavior of young children. However, some pre-experimental bias to attend to a particular dimension seems to remain even when the values of all dimensions present are of equal and known discriminability. Dimensional dominance is a function of an interaction between discriminability of scaling stimuli and the experiential bias or perceptual set of the subject.     

Acoustic correlates of emotional dimensions in laughter: Arousal,dominance, and valence

Although laughter plays an essential part in emotional vocal communication, little is known about the acoustical correlates that encode different emotional dimensions. In this study we examined the acoustical structure of laughter sounds differing along four emotional dimensions: arousal, dominance, sender's valence, and receiver-directed valence. Correlation of 43 acoustic parameters with individual emotional dimensions revealed that each emotional dimension was associated with a number of vocal cues. Common patterns of cues were found with emotional expression in speech, supporting the hypothesis of a common underlying mechanism for the vocal expression of emotions.     

Family interaction Patterns as a Function of Task Characteristics1

Data from two experiments were evaluated to test the widely held assumption that family process remains essentially constant regardless of the conditions under which it occurs. Significant differences and reversals in patterns of dominance between interacting husbands and wives were obtained under different task conditions. In general, stressful tasks and tasks with structured goals elicited paternal dominance, while maternal dominance of more equalitarian patterns resulted from tasks which involved discussion of feelings and opinions. These and other task dimensions were discussed. The findings of this study generate four conclusions: prior studies must be reviewed to evaluate task effects; future researchers must systematically investigate task characteristics; researchers must exercise care in the selection of tasks in future studies; and the relationship between role behaviors and task demands must be understood in order to help meet the increasing stress impinging upon the modern family system.     

Pleasure,Arousal, Dominance: Mehrabian and Russell revisited

This paper presents a discursive review of the dimensions pleasure, arousal and dominance that Mehrabian and Russell developed in 1974 to assess environmental perception, experience, and psychological responses. Since then numerous researchers applied these dimensions to assess the experience of the physical environment and its perceived qualities. Although the dimensions appeared to be useful, there is a long-lasting debate going on among environmental psychologists about the interpretation of pleasure, arousal and dominance and its underlying mechanisms. Due to the lack of clarity researchers use different adjectives to describe environmental experiences, which makes any comparison between research findings difficult. This paper shows that the three dimensions can be linked to the current ABC Model of Attitudes: pleasure, arousal and dominance can be respectively related to affective, cognitive and conative responses, i.e. Affect, Cognition and Behaviour (ABC). In addition, connecting the three dimensions to the triad feeling, thinking and acting, can also help to improve our understanding, interpretation and measurement of pleasure, arousal and dominance. Based on this review, it is proposed to re-introduce the three dimensions and to replace the nowadays often used two dimensional model with pleasure and arousal by a three dimensional model, including dominance as a third dimension, to represent the complete range of human responses.     

In search of dominance: the case of the missing dimension

Some previous researchers have found that affect can be described in terms of two dimensions (pleasure and arousal), while others have noted three dimensions are needed (pleasure, arousal, and dominance). The competing claims were tested by creating stimuli with factors previously demonstrated to elicit responses of arousal or dominance, asking respondents to rate the stimuli, and contrasting correlations between ratings and the stimulus factors. Under the two-dimensional theory, the planned contrasts should be zero, while under the three-dimensional theory, the planned contrasts should be nonzero. Results supported the three-dimensional model.     

Dominance and competence face to face: Dissociations obtained with a reverse correlation approach

The article explores whether the traits representing the dimensions underlying the structure of facial and non-facial impressions are similarly mapped in the face space. Two studies examine whether the trustworthiness-by-dominance and the warmth-by-competence two-dimensional models overlap in face perception. In Study 1 (N = 200), we used a reverse-correlation task to obtain classification images (CIs) reflecting how each dimension is mapped onto a face. Results show that the similarity between CIs was higher between warmth and trustworthiness than between competence and dominance. In Study 2 (N = 31) the evaluations of each CI on each social dimension show a higher dissociation between dominance and competence than between trustworthiness and warmth. These results, obtained at both perceptual and judgment levels, suggest that there is only a partial correspondence between the two models that seems to be driven by the relationship that the competence and dominance dimensions establish with valence.     

咨询会谈中的人际互补及其与工作同盟、咨询效果的关系

Leary的人际理论将人际互动行为划分为“情感”和“控制”两个维度, 互动双方在情感维度的一致性和控制维度的互补性统称为人际互补。为探究心理咨询过程中人际互补的发展趋势及其与工作同盟、咨询效果的关系, 采用电脑操纵杆方法, 编制《咨询会谈人际互补行为评分手册》, 对16个个案的48个心理咨询会谈录像进行评估。结果表明：有经验的咨询师在咨询前期的情感轴一致性高于中期和后期, 在咨询后期的控制轴互补性高于前期和中期, 新手咨询师的情感轴一致性和控制轴互补性均无阶段性差异; 咨询中期的情感轴一致性负向预测工作同盟和会谈深度; 情感轴一致性呈高-低-高发展趋势的个案咨询效果更好。结论: 心理咨询的人际互补三阶段模型得到一定程度的支持, 其作用机制有待进一步验证。     

Binocular rivalry: a window into emotional processing in aging

Previous binocular rivalry studies with younger adults have shown that emotional stimuli dominate perception over neutral stimuli. Here we investigated the effects of age on patterns of emotional dominance during binocular rivalry. Participants performed a face/house rivalry task where the emotion of the face (happy, angry, neutral) and orientation (upright, inverted) of the face and house stimuli were varied systematically. Age differences were found with younger adults showing a general emotionality effect (happy and angry faces were more dominant than neutral faces) and older adults showing inhibition of anger (neutral faces were more dominant than angry faces) and positivity effects (happy faces were more dominant than both angry and neutral faces). Age differences in dominance patterns were reflected by slower rivalry rates for both happy and angry compared to neutral face/house pairs in younger adults, and slower rivalry rates for happy compared to both angry and neutral face/house pairs in older adults. Importantly, these patterns of emotional dominance and slower rivalry rates for emotional-face/house pairs disappeared when the stimuli were inverted. This suggests that emotional valence, and not low-level image features, were responsible for the emotional bias in both age groups. Given that binocular rivalry has a limited role for voluntary control, the findings imply that anger suppression and positivity effects in older adults may extend to more automatic tasks.     

Exploration as a predictor of congruence in adolescents' career choices

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that adolescents who explore a variety of career alternatives will make career choices that are more congruent with their personality styles than will adolescents who explore less broadly. The sample of 57 female and 45 male high school seniors (mean age = 17.6 years) completed an ego identity interview, from which each occupation they reported considering was coded for four dimensions: occupational prestige, substantive complexity, interest environment, and gender dominance. Participants also completed the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and a verbal ability measure. Two indices were constructed to assess the degree of congruence between the adolescent's primary career choice and personality style. Regression analyses indicated that breadth of exploration in the four career dimensions, particularly in gender dominance exploration, was predictive of congruence for males and females.     

Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Patterns of Cerebral Language Dominance : An Amobarbital Study

As a part of presurgical evaluation, 173 patients received bilateral intracarotid amobarbital tests for determination of cerebral language dominance. Language testing during intracarotid amobarbital procedures (IAP) consisted of the following tasks: automatic speech, sentence comprehension, body commands, naming, repetition, reading, and spontaneous speech. Patterns of cerebral language dominance were evaluated and discussed on five levels of analysis: (1) quantification of language dominance on the basis of a lateralization index derived from the total language scores in each IAP; (2) determination of five dominance subpatterns (left or right dominant, strongly bilateral, and incomplete left or right dominant) according to quantification performed on level (I) and clinical judgment; (3) qualitative differentiation of three kinds of bilaterality (positive, negative, and general) according to total language performance in left and right IAP; (4) analysis of grouped linguistic subfunctions extracted from performance in specific IAP subtests; (5) extraordinary individual case histories. The distribution of lateralization indices revealed only partially continuous degrees of lateralization, especially between the left-dominant and bilateral subgroups. As for the clinically oriented classification, incomplete left dominance is frequent (16.2%), while incomplete right dominance does not occur at all. Atypical dominance patterns are mostly correlated to bilateral and/or extratemporal foci. Concerning grouped subfunctions, a rotated factor matrix statistic yields an analysis of clusters of IAP subtests, where functions involving expressive language capacities are separated from those that are purely receptive. Further analyses of bilaterality subpatterns suggest that there are mainly four bilaterality phenomena, namely interhemispheric dissociation, double representation, unilateal representation of subfunctions, and partial representation of subfunctions in either hemisphere. Application of these differentiations to individual cases yields additional evidence that can be used in patient selection for operation in order to avoid postoperative neuropsychological deficits, especially in candidates for extratemporal surgery. In conclusion, a multilevel analysis of LAP language data is recommended since it permits a detailed account of varieties of language dominance patterns and contributes to more adequate presurgical decision-making in planned operations in cognitively relevant brain areas.     

Social Dominance Orientation, Authoritarianism, and Support for Intergroup Violence Between the Middle East and America

Social dominance theory has generally posited that terror and intergroup violence can be explained in terms of social dominance struggles. Social dominance theorists have described terror mostly as a tool for maintaining intergroup hierarchies in society (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Although implications of the theory suggest that terror may also be used by lower status groups as a tool for the resistance of domination by higher status groups, this prediction heretofore has not been empirically demonstrated. Data from two samples, one in the United States and one in Lebanon, were collected regarding attitudes toward terrorism and intergroup violence. The results show that the American sample demonstrates the typical patterns of social dominance such that those who are higher in social dominance orientation tend to support greater violence toward the Middle East. However, the Lebanese sample shows the opposite pattern, such that those who are lower in social dominance orientation tend to support violence toward the West. These results suggest that (1) support for terrorism among Middle East citizens is a project of counterdominance, and, more broadly, that (2) the relationship between social dominance orientation and support for violence depends on the dynamics of the conflict and the status of the perpetrators.     

The role of central and peripheral vision in postural control duringwalking

Three hypotheses have been proposed for the roles of central and peripheral vision in the perception and control of self-motion: (1) peripheral dominance, (2) retinal invariance, and (3) differential sensitivity to radial flow. We investigated postural responses to optic flow patterns presented at different retinal eccentricities during walking in two experiments. Oscillating displays of radial flow (0° driver direction), lamellar flow (90°), and intermediate flow (30°, 45°) patterns were presented at retinal eccentricities of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, or 90° to participants walking on a treadmill, while compensatory body sway was measured. In general, postural responses were directionally specific, of comparable amplitude, and strongly coupled to the display for all flow patterns at all retinal eccentricities. One intermediate flow pattern (45°) yielded a bias in sway direction that was consistent with triangulation errors in locating the focus of expansion from visible flow vectors. The results demonstrate functionally specific postural responses in both central and peripheral vision, contrary to the peripheral dominance and differential sensitivity hypotheses, but consistent with retinal invariance. This finding emphasizes the importance of optic flow structure for postural control regardless of the retinal locus of stimulation.     

A New Heterogeneous Multidimensional Unfolding Procedure

A variety of joint space multidimensional scaling (MDS) methods have been utilized for the spatial analysis of two- or three-way dominance data involving subjects’ preferences, choices, considerations, intentions, etc. so as to provide a parsimonious spatial depiction of the underlying relevant dimensions, attributes, stimuli, and/or subjects’ utility structures in the same joint space representation. We demonstrate that care must be taken with respect to a key assumption in existent joint space MDS models such that all estimated dimensions are utilized by each and every subject in the sample, as this assumption can lead to serious distortions with respect to the derived joint spaces. We develop a new Bayesian dimension selection methodology for the multidimensional unfolding model which accommodates heterogeneity with respect to such dimensional utilization at the individual subject level for the analysis of two or three-way dominance data. A consumer psychology application regarding the preference for Over-the-Counter (OTC) analgesics is provided. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of the results, as well as directions for future research.     

Sex as a Status Variable in Work Settings: Female and Male Reports of Dominance Behavior

This study shows that sex is an important status variable in occupational settings. The basic hypothesis that males, because of a status prerogative, would be more likely than females to use nonverbal and verbal dominance behaviors, including intimate gestures, toward their opposite sex co-workers was confirmed. Subjects (88 female and 69 male samples from two institutions of higher learning) reported dominance behaviors (a) toward opposite sex co-workers; (b) from opposite sex co-workers; (c) toward opposite sex superiors; and (d) from opposite sex superiors. Analysis of the sexual dominance items revealed that sexual intimacy is expressable along the same continuum as traditional dominance gestures. The hypothesis that sex competes with other status variables was supported. If the sexual dominance patterns explored in this study prove widespread, institutions may wish to provide programs aimed at raising employee awareness of these interactions.     

Friendship similarity during early adolescence: gender and racial patterns.

We studied the relationship of reciprocity, gender, and racial composition (Caucasian, African American, cross-race) of adolescent friendship dyads to similarity and proximity in 136 young adolescents. We found that adolescents selected friends who were of the same gender and race and that female dyads were more similar than male dyads on verbal achievement and several personality dimensions. Caucasian dyads were more similar than African American dyads on verbal achievement, mental alertness, and dominance. African American adolescents had more contact with their best friends outside school, whereas Caucasian adolescent friends had more in-school contact. African American students had fewer reciprocal relationships than the Caucasian students. Cross-race friendships were less reciprocal than same-race friendships. Race and gender were important in determining friendship patterns. Similarity and proximity were more important than reciprocity in understanding early adolescent friendships.     

Friendship Similarity During Early Adolescence: Gender and Racial Patterns

We studied the relationship of reciprocity, gender, and racial composition (Caucasian, African American, cross-race) of adolescent friendship dyads to similarity and proximity in 136 young adolescents. We found that adolescents selected friends who were of the same gender and race and that female dyads were more similar than male dyads on verbal achievement and several personality dimensions. Caucasian dyads were more similar than African American dyads on verbal achievement, mental alertness, and dominance. African American adolescents had more contact with their best friends outside school, whereas Caucasian adolescent friends had more in-school contact. African American students had fewer reciprocal relationships than the Caucasian students. Cross-race friendships were less reciprocal than same-race friendships. Race and gender were important in determining friendship patterns. Similarity and proximity were more important than reciprocity in understanding early adolescent friendships.     

The psychological bases of ideology and prejudice: testing a dual process model

The issue of personality and prejudice has been largely investigated in terms of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, these seem more appropriately conceptualized as ideological attitudes than as personality dimensions. The authors describe a causal model linking dual dimensions of personality, social world view, ideological attitudes, and intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling with data from American and White Afrikaner students supported the model, suggesting that social conformity and belief in a dangerous world influence authoritarian attitudes, whereas toughmindedness and belief in a competitive jungle world influence social dominance attitudes, and these two ideological attitude dimensions influence intergroup attitudes. The model implies that dual motivational and cognitive processes, which may be activated by different kinds of situational and intergroup dynamics, may underlie 2 distinct dimensions of prejudice.     

Affiliative and aggressive dimensions of dominance and possible functions during early adolescence

In this paper, the role of aggression and affiliation in the development and possible functions of dominance during early adolescence is reviewed. It is suggested that both aggression and affiliation relate to dominance at different phases in the formation of new group structures. This conclusion is based on ethological theory and data from human and nonhuman primates. In terms of function, it was noted that dominance should be considered in relation to some outcome, not as an end in its own right. Further, there are probably different goals in different developmental periods. Heterosexual relationships seem to be an important resource for the period of adolescence. Consistent with theory, both affiliative and aggressive dimensions of dominance predict boys' heterosexual relationships. Suggestions for future research are made.