Perception and recall of aversive material as a function of personality type

Relationships between personality dimensions of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), psychoticism (P) and barrier (B) and patterns of psychophysiological responding during exposure to and subsequent recall of aversive and non-aversive material were investigated. Sixteen male volunteers were asked to recall the critical features of 10 film segments containing either neutral or aversive material. Heart rate (HR), skin conductance (SC) and electromyographic (EMG) responses were recorded throughout the session. Analysis showed that during exposure to aversive material, high BE Ss recorded high levels of autonomic responding and low levels of muscle tension, while during recall, they showed reduced autonomic activity and significantly higher levels of muscle tension. Low BE Ss showed significantly higher levels of muscle tension during film presentation and significantly lower levels during recall, with little change in autonomic reactivity between treatments. Recall data indicate that high BE Ss had significantly better recall under all conditions. N and P differences were unrelated to patterns of psychophysiological responding or efficiency of recall.     

The effect of person on a conditioned emotional response of schizophrenic and normal subjects

Thirteen normal and 13 schizophrenic Ss were given 100 tone-shock trials over five days under four conditions: the S alone in the experimental room, a person present in the room, the person talking to the S, and the person massaging the S’s shoulder. Results showed an inhibitory effect of the social stimulus on the HR-CR and HR-UR of normals. For schizophrenics, conversely, the effect of the social stimulus was to increase HR responses during tone-shock and social interactions. A social learning analysis suggested early emotional and autonomic conditioning to significant persons and later generalization to others as primary determinants of HR indices of social responding. It was suggested that variation of the past relationship with anE and measurement of Ss’ perceptions of the experimenter-social stimulus together with physiological responses could contribute to analysis of the component variables of affectional and attachment responses.     

Cognitive and emotional covariates of violence exposure among former prisoners: links to antisocial behavior and emotional distress and implications for theory

In this study, formerly incarcerated men (N = 123) were assessed for their experiences with violence in the community as well as their current behavioral and mental health status (antisocial behavior and emotional distress). Participants also completed measures of two constructs theorized to moderate relations between exposure to violence and outcomes: cognitive beliefs supporting aggressive responding and negative emotional reactivity to witnessed violence. Data on key social-demographic background factors affecting outcomes were also collected. Analyses showed that, after controlling the effects of background factors, relationships between experiences with violence in the community and behavioral/mental health were moderated by cognitive beliefs and emotional reactivity. At high levels of support for aggressive responding, significant positive links were observed between exposure to violence and antisocial behavior as well as emotional distress. At high levels of negative reactivity to violence, a significant positive link was observed between exposure to violence and emotional distress (but not antisocial behavior). Findings are discussed with respect to research and theory on the effects of exposure to violence in high-risk adult populations.     

Personality and conditioning with appetitive and aversive stimuli

Two studies examining relationships of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N) and psychoticism (P) to conditioning performance are reported. In the first, 31 male volunteers developed electrodermal CRs to appetitive or aversive stimuli of either weak or strong rated intensity. Factor analysis yielded general factors of classical CR acquisition and extinction across reinforcement type. Stability and E loaded the acquisition factor, these Ss, from post-hoc analysis, revealing superior conditioning in the strong appetitive condition. In the second study, 20 of these 31 Ss participated in two series of discrimination motor reaction time trials, in which attainment of criterion RT was reinforced by appetitive slides, and slower-than-criterion responding by aversive slides. Introversion was correlated with greater response acquisition under both conditions, although post-hoc analysis suggested that improvement under positive reinforcement did not differ from simple practice. Results are congruent with a model combining reinforcer preference with response potential to describe personality-conditioning relationships.     

Depression and emotional reactivity: variation among Asian Americans of East Asian descent and European Americans

Studies of Western samples (e.g., European Americans [EAs]) suggest that depressed individuals tend to show diminished emotional reactivity (J. G. Gehricke & A. J. Fridlund, 2002; G. E. Schwartz, P. L. Fair, P. Salt, M. R. Mandel, & G. L. Klerman, 1976a, 1976b). Do these findings generalize to individuals oriented to other cultures (e.g., East Asian cultures)? The authors compared the emotional reactions (i.e., reports of emotional experience, facial behavior, and physiological reactivity) of depressed and nondepressed EAs and Asian Americans of East Asian descent (AAs) to sad and amusing films. Their results were consistent with previous findings: Depressed EAs showed a pattern of diminished reactivity to the sad film (less crying, less intense reports of sadness) compared with nondepressed participants. In contrast, depressed AAs showed a pattern of heightened emotional reactivity (greater crying) compared with nondepressed participants. Across cultural groups, depressed and nondepressed participants did not differ in their reports of amusement or facial behavior during the amusing film. Physiological reactivity to the film clips did not differ between depressed and control participants for either cultural group. Thus, although depression may influence particular aspects of emotional reactivity across cultures (e.g., crying), the specific direction of this influence may depend on prevailing cultural norms regarding emotional expression.     

The differential contribution of facial expressions,prosody, and speech content to empathy

Background: Facial expressions, prosody, and speech content constitute channels by which information is exchanged. Little is known about the simultaneous and differential contribution of these channels to empathy when they provide emotionality or neutrality. Especially neutralised speech content has gained little attention with regards to influencing the perception of other emotional cues. Methods: Participants were presented with video clips of actors telling short-stories. One condition conveyed emotionality in all channels while the other conditions either provided neutral speech content, facial expression, or prosody, respectively. Participants judged the emotion and intensity presented, as well as their own emotional state and intensity. Skin conductance served as a physiological measure of emotional reactivity. Results: Neutralising channels significantly reduced empathic responses. Electrodermal recordings confirmed these findings. The differential effect of the communication channels on empathy prerequisites was that target emotion recognition of the other decreased mostly when the face was neutral, whereas decreased emotional responses attributed to the target emotion were especially present in neutral speech. Conclusion: Multichannel integration supports conscious and autonomous measures of empathy and emotional reactivity. Emotional facial expressions influence emotion recognition, whereas speech content is important for responding with an adequate own emotional state, possibly reflecting contextual emotion-appraisal.     

独乐乐与众乐乐？社会与非社会正性情绪刺激的加工差异：一个ERP研究

个体情绪加工具有其生物基础,也受到文化因素的影响。社会性和非社会性情绪刺激加工可能存在不同的机制。然而,以往大多数研究主要关注负性情绪的加工差异。因此,本研究选取大学生被试20名采用图片感知范式（Picture Perception Paradigm）探讨个体在加工社会性和非社会性正性情绪刺激的脑电位活动差异。研究发现：（1）在P1成分上,情绪图片诱发的波幅要显著大于中性图片。（2）在N2成分上,正性社会情绪图片诱发的波幅要显著大于正性非社会情绪图片（3）在早期时间窗中,由正性社会情绪图片与非社会情绪图片诱发的LPP波幅差异不显著。在中期时间窗中,正性社会情绪图片与非社会情绪图片的LPP波幅差异显著。晚期时间窗中,正性社会情绪图片诱发的LPP波幅显著大于正性非社会情绪图片。由此,相对于非社会性请刺激来说,正性社会情绪刺激在加工上可能占据优势地位。     

Enhancing the Benefits of Written Emotional Disclosure Through Response Training

Writing about a personal stressful event has been found to have psychological and physical health benefits, especially when physiological response increases during writing. Response training was developed to amplify appropriate physiological reactivity in imagery exposure. The present study examined whether response training enhances the benefits of written emotional disclosure. Participants were assigned to either a written emotional disclosure condition (n = 113) or a neutral writing condition (n = 133). Participants in each condition wrote for 20 minutes on 3 occasions and received response training (n = 79), stimulus training (n = 84) or no training (n = 83). Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded throughout a 10-minute baseline, 20-minute writing, and a 10-minute recovery period. Self-reported emotion was assessed in each session. One month after completing the sessions, participants completed follow-up assessments of psychological and physical health outcomes. Emotional disclosure elicited greater physiological reactivity and self-reported emotion than neutral writing. Response training amplified physiological reactivity to emotional disclosure. Greater heart rate during emotional disclosure was associated with the greatest reductions in event-related distress, depression, and physical illness symptoms at follow-up, especially among response trained participants. Results support an exposure explanation of emotional disclosure effects and are the first to demonstrate that response training facilitates emotional processing and may be a beneficial adjunct to written emotional disclosure.     

Turn down the volume or change the channel? Emotional effects of detached versus positive reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal, or changing one's interpretation of an event in order to alter the emotional response to it, is thought to be a healthy and an effective emotion regulation strategy. Although researchers recognize several distinct varieties of reappraisal, few studies have explicitly compared the effects of multiple reappraisal strategies on emotional responding. The present study compares the effects of detached and positive reappraisal on thought content, subjective emotional experience, physiological reactivity, and facial expressions of emotion while viewing film clips evoking sadness and disgust. Although both forms of reappraisal reduced overall emotional responding to unpleasant stimuli, the effects of detached reappraisal were stronger in this regard, and positive reappraisal was more likely to maintain subjective experience and facial expression of stimulus-appropriate positive emotions. The two reappraisal strategies also produced somewhat different profiles of physiological responding. Differences between detached and positive reappraisal with respect to subjective experience and facial expression were more pronounced among men than women; the reverse was true for differences with respect to physiological responding. Beyond these effects on individual emotion response systems, detached and positive reappraisal also had somewhat different effects on coherence in change across response systems. Implications for our understanding of emotion regulation processes, and for emotion theory more broadly, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Trait Versus Task-Induced Emotional Reactivity and Distress Intolerance in Hoarding Disorder: Transdiagnostic Implications

Evidence from analogue samples suggests that deficits in emotional functioning, namely elevated emotional reactivity and distress intolerance, are implicated in the development and maintenance of hoarding disorder. We aimed to extend previous research in this area by investigating emotional reactivity and distress intolerance in a sample of individuals diagnosed with hoarding disorder (n = 24) in comparison to clinical controls (n = 21) and nonclinical community controls (n = 26) using a combination of self-report, physiological, and behavioral measures. We found that trait distress intolerance was significantly and independently associated with greater hoarding severity. The hoarding and clinical control groups reported more trait emotional reactivity and distress intolerance than the community control group, but did not differ from each other on these traits. The hoarding group reported more subjective distress before beginning a frustrating behavioral task, but did not evidence more physiological arousal. Moreover, the hoarding group experienced similar increases in distress during the task and did not differ from either group in regard to time persisting on this task. The clinical control group, however, terminated the frustrating task significantly faster than the community control group, who tended to persist until the task timed out. Lastly, trait distress intolerance evidenced a small-to-moderate but nonstatistically significant independent relationship with task persistence time. Given the desynchrony between subjective distress and physiological arousal, we encourage researchers to utilize multimodal assessment in the future. We also suggest that clinicians start to use behavioral experiments, as has been done with other psychological disorders, to improve distress intolerance among persons who experience hoarding disorder.     

Emotional-processing in posttraumatic stress disorder II: startle reflex modulation during picture processing

This study examined the impact of a trauma-related stressor on subsequent emotional behavior in veterans with (n = 35) and without (n = 24) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Self-report and physiological responses, including acoustic startle, were recorded during viewing of emotionally evocative photographs at baseline and following exposure to trauma-related and non-trauma-related stressors. The 2 groups exhibited equivalent patterns of emotional response across self-report and physiological measures at baseline. In contrast, following the trauma challenge, participants with PTSD showed a pattern of startle modulation suggestive of greater defensive reactivity and reduced visual perceptual engagement. These findings, along with augmented corrugator EMG reactivity during the same interval, suggest that trauma-related reexperiencing primes subsequent negative emotional responding in individuals with PTSD.     

Personality and socialization correlates of vicarious emotional responding

The relations of personality and family characteristics to adults' negative vicarious emotional responses to sympathy and distress films were examined. Ss reported more sympathy and less personal distress and exhibited less skin conductance as well as heart rate deceleration when viewing a sympathy-evoking film. Dispositional emotional intensity and fantasy empathy were associated with greater self-reported emotional responding and higher skin conductance. Dispositional perspective taking and personal distress were positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with reported vicarious responding to the sympathy film when Ss were administered instructions to imagine the emotions of those in the films. Family cohesiveness was associated with reported sympathy and sadness in reaction to the sympathy film, whereas the expression of negative subordinate and positive emotional states in the home of origin was associated with women's reported responsivity.     

Positive emotion dysregulation across mood disorders: How amplifying versus dampening predicts emotional reactivity and illness course

Maladaptive regulation of positive emotion has increasingly been associated with psychopathology. Little is known, however, about how individual strategies used to manage positive emotion predict concurrent emotional responding and prospective illness course across mood disorders. The present study examined the concurrent and prospective influence of amplification and dampening regulation strategies of positive emotion (i.e., self-focused positive rumination, emotion-focused positive rumination, and dampening) among remitted individuals with bipolar I disorder (BD; n = 31) and major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 31). Rumination over positive emotional states concurrently predicted increased positive emotion across both mood disordered groups during an experimental rumination induction. However, dampening positive emotion concurrently predicted increased emotional reactivity (i.e., heart rate and negative affect) and prospective increases in manic and depressive symptoms for the BD group only. This suggests that amplifying positive emotion transdiagnostically increases positive emotion across mood disordered groups, while attempts to dampen positive emotion may paradoxically exacerbate emotional reactivity and illness course in BD. For individuals with BD, negative thinking about one's positive emotion (via dampening) may be particularly maladaptive.     

CER suppression, passive-avoidance learning, and stress-induced suppression of drinking in the Syracuse high- and low-avoidance strains of rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The Syracuse strains of Long-Evans rats were selectively bred for good (SHA) or poor (SLA) avoidance learning in a two-way shuttle box, which resulted in a phenotypic difference that is correlated with behavior patterns indicative of emotional reactivity, SLA animals showing evidence of greater emotional reactivity than SHA animals. The first three experiments examined conditioned suppression of bar pressing and compared paired and unpaired conditioned- and unconditioned-stimulus presentations to evaluate the influence of conditioning versus primary aversive stimulation on baseline responding. SLA animals acquired conditioned suppression faster than SHA animals and also showed greater suppression of baseline responding than SHA animals. In Experiment 4, SLA animals learned a passive-avoidance task faster than SHA animals. In Experiment 5, SLA animals showed greater stress-induced suppression of drinking a weak quinine solution than SHA animals. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that SLA animals are more emotionally reactive than SHA animals.     

The Relation of Psychopathic Characteristics and Anxiety in Noncriminals: Physiological and Cognitive Responses to Guided Imagery

In response to a paucity of research examining the phenomenology of psychopathy among nonforensic samples, the present study explored the relations among psychopathic traits, self-reported anxiety, and physiological reactivity to experimental stimuli. Undergraduate students with no history of criminal behavior listened to four audiotaped vignettes designed to elicit affective responses. Imagery and anxiety ratings, as well as physiological indices supported the utility of the experimental manipulation. Consistent with data obtained among forensic samples, participants with greater psychopathic characteristics exhibited electrodermal hyporeactivity in response to guided imagery. However, inconsistent with previous findings, hyporeactivity was primarily related to high emotional detachment rather than elevated levels of deviant behavior. Results also suggested certain psychopathic qualities (emotional detachment) may be more associated with somatic and trait anxiety than other characteristics (deviant behavior), although anxiety did not moderate the effects of psychopathic characteristics on physiological responding. Theoretical implications are addressed, including the possible generalizability of psychophysiological models of diagnosed psychopaths to individuals with more benign psychopathic characteristics.     

Cognitive reappraisal attenuates the association between depressive symptoms and emotional response to stress during adolescence

Depression is associated with increased emotional response to stress. This is especially the case during the developmental period of adolescence. Cognitive reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation strategy that has been shown to reduce the impact of emotional response on psychopathology. However, less is known about whether cognitive reappraisal impacts the relationship between depressive symptoms and emotional responses, and whether its effects are specific to emotional reactivity or emotional recovery. The current study examined whether cognitive reappraisal moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and trait or state measures of emotional reactivity and recovery. A community sample of 127 adolescents (M-age?=?15.28; 49% female, 47% Caucasian), at an age of risk for depression, completed self-report measures of trait emotional responding and depressive symptoms. In addition, they completed an in vivo social stress task and were assessed on state emotional reactivity and recovery from the stressor. Findings suggested that cognitive reappraisal was associated with an attenuated impact of depressive symptoms on trait and state emotional recovery. These results provide evidence that cognitive reappraisal may be an effective strategy for improving some aspects of emotional responding in relation to depressive symptoms among adolescents.     

Presence of human friends and pet dogs as moderators of autonomic responses to stress in women

Autonomic responses were measured while 45 adult women performed a standard experimental stress task in the laboratory with only the experimenter present and 2 weeks later at home in the presence of a female friend, pet dog, or neither. Results demonstrated that autonomic reactivity was moderated by the presence of a companion, the nature of whom was critical to the size and direction of the effect. Ss in the friend condition exhibited higher physiological reactivity and poorer performance than subjects in the control and pet conditions. Ss in the pet condition showed less physiological reactivity during stressful tasks than Ss in the other conditions. The results are interpreted in terms of the degree to which friends and pets are perceived as evaluative during stressful task performance. Physiological reactivity was consistent across the laboratory and field settings.     

Anxiety and speaking in people who stutter: An investigation using the emotional Stroop task

People with anxiety disorders show an attentional bias towards threat or negative emotion words. This exploratory study examined whether people who stutter (PWS), who can be anxious when speaking, show similar bias and whether reactions to threat words also influence speech motor planning and execution. Comparisons were made between 31 PWS and 31 fluent controls in a modified emotional Stroop task where, depending on a visual cue, participants named the colour of threat and neutral words at either a normal or fast articulation rate. In a manual version of the same task participants pressed the corresponding colour button with either a long or short duration. PWS but not controls were slower to respond to threat words than neutral words, however, this emotionality effect was only evident for verbal responding. Emotionality did not interact with speech rate, but the size of the emotionality effect among PWS did correlate with frequency of stuttering. Results suggest PWS show an attentional bias to threat words similar to that found in people with anxiety disorder. In addition, this bias appears to be contingent on engaging the speech production system as a response modality. No evidence was found to indicate that emotional reactivity during the Stroop task constrains or destabilises, perhaps via arousal mechanisms, speech motor adjustment or execution for PWS.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) explain the importance of cognitive aspects of anxiety, such as attentional biases, in the possible cause and/or maintenance of anxiety in people who stutter, (2) explain how the emotional Stroop task can be used as a measure of attentional bias to threat information, and (3) evaluate the findings with respect to the relationship between attentional bias to threat information and speech production in people who stutter.     

Personality and susceptibility to positive and negative emotional states

Gray's (1981) theory suggests that extraverts and neurotics are differentially sensitive to stimuli that generate positive and negative affect, respectively. From this theory it was hypothesized that efficacy of a standard positive-affect induction would be more strongly related to extraversion than to neuroticism scores, whereas efficacy of a standard negative-affect induction would be more strongly related to neuroticism scores. Positive and negative affect was manipulated in a controlled setting, and the effectiveness of the mood induction was assessed using standard mood adjective rating scales. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that neurotic Ss (compared with stable Ss) show heightened emotional reactivity to the negative-mood induction, whereas extraverts (compared with intraverts) show heightened emotional reactivity to the positive-mood induction. Results corroborate and extend previous findings.     

Are Elevations in ADHD Symptoms Associated with Physiological Reactivity and Emotion Dysregulation in Children?

The present study examined whether children with elevated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms display a unique pattern of emotion dysregulation as indexed by both parent report and physiological reactivity during experiences of failure. A sample of 61 children (9 to 13 years; M?=?11.62, SD?=?1.29; 48 % male) with and without clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms participated. Parent and teacher report of ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and parent report of internalizing problems were collected. Parents also provided ratings of children’s emotional negativity/lability and emotion regulation. Children’s physiological reactivity, based on changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance level (SCL), were assessed while they completed a manipulated social rejection task and impossible puzzle task. Regression analyses indicated that ADHD symptoms were associated with higher parent-rated emotional negativity/lability and with blunted RSA withdrawal in response to social rejection; these effects were not accounted for by co-occurring ODD symptoms or internalizing problems. ODD symptoms also were uniquely associated with parent ratings of poor emotion regulation. Internalizing problems were uniquely associated with emotional negativity/lability, poor emotion regulation, and increased SCL activity in response to social rejection. Results suggest that there may be a pattern of emotion dysregulation that is specific to ADHD symptomatology. The importance of contextual factors when examining physiological reactivity to stress in youth with ADHD is discussed.