Perspective taking and emotion: The case of disgust and sadness

In a recent study (Gilead et al., 2016), perspective taking (PT) was found to have a significant effect on affect ratings of negative pictures compared to neutrals. The current study explores the question whether PT would be affected equally by distinct negative emotions. We used neutral pictures and pictures classified as provoking sadness or disgust, matched for their intensity and arousal. Participants were asked to rate the pictures (on a scale from 1—no emotional reaction, to 5—very strong reaction) from 3 different perspectives - tough, sensitive, or their own – “me”. In Experiment 1, all pictures were mixed in the same blocks. In Experiment 2, the sad and disgust pictures were separated into two different blocks (each including neutrals). Both experiments showed significant interaction between PT and emotion. PT was found to be influenced by valence; however, distinct negative emotions were found to affect PT similarly.     

Sender repertoires of pure and blended facial expressions of emotion

Six actors attempted to communicate by facial expression seven assumedly basic emotions (pleasure, surprise, fear, hate, sorrow, disgust and interest), and all pairwise blends, e.g., fear+sorrow. One hundred and eighty-two subjects (divided into groups as to the six actors) judged pictures of these emotions by three methods: (1) mapping, placing the pictures on coordinate systems with denotated axes, (2) identification and (3) sorting similar emotions into the same pile, followed by multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses. Recognition of the emotions was fairly good, though not equally good for all emotions and their blends; also the actors' ability to express emotions varied. Emotions of opposite hedonic tone did not blend well. Interest seemed to lend poignancy to the basic emotion with which it was blended rather than to constitute an emotion in itself. Expressions seemed to be more easily identified if the actor did not try to feel the emotion too deeply.     

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。     

Parental perception and interpretation of infant emotions: psychological and physiological processes

To study parental experience and perception of infant emotional expressions parents' responses to infant pictures depicting positive, neutral and negative emotions were assessed on the level of affective judgments (perceived and experienced valence and arousal), of mimic responses (facial muscle activity) and of the eyelid reflex (using the startle paradigm). In general, while parents were able to appropriately perceive infant emotions and were clearly affected by them, they exhibited a bias for positive interpretation. This was obvious from their subjective evaluations which, e.g. were more positive for experienced than for perceived valence, as well as from their mimic responses indicating positive responses in general. In addition, infant pictures including the negative ones lead to an inhibition of the startle reflex, indicating a positive evaluation of infant emotions on the sub‐cortical level. These effects were most prominent when parents were faced with pictures of their own infants as compared to unfamiliar ones. The way parents process information about infant emotions may facilitate appropriate responsiveness to infants' needs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rumination,emotional intensity and emotional clarity

It has been suggested that a high tendency to ruminate presents a deficient emotion regulation. Past research found that people with high tendency to ruminate show sustained attention for negative stimuli and increased negative thinking, which may result in intensified experiences of negative emotions. Moreover, high level of rumination was associated with low emotional understanding. Accordingly, we hypothesized (1) high ruminators (HR) experience more intense emotional reactions than low ruminators (LR) for negative but not positive emotions, (2) LR have higher emotional clarity than HR, and (3) there would be the same pattern of results for brooding but not for reflective pondering. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a rumination response style questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. They also rated emotional intensity and identified emotion type for scene pictures from the CAP-D (Categorized Affective Pictures Database). The highest (HR) and lowest (LR) quarters of ruminators were compared on levels of emotional intensity and emotional clarity. We found HR experienced negative emotions more intensely than LR, with no difference for positive emotions. In contrast to our hypothesis, the two groups did not differ in their emotion understanding. This pattern of results was found for brooding but not for reflective pondering. Our research sheds light on the mechanism underlying rumination and emotion regulation.     

Humour as emotion regulation: The differential consequences of negative versus positive humour

Humour is often seen as an adaptive coping strategy; however, the empirical literature is inconclusive. One possible explanation is that different types of humour have different adaptive consequences. In the present research, we predicted that positive (good-natured) humour would be more effective at regulating negative emotions than negative (mean-spirited) humour. In Study 1, participants were shown negative pictures two times. First, they simply viewed the pictures and rated their levels of positive and negative emotions. Second, they were instructed to: (a) view; (b) use positive humour; or (c) use negative humour, and then rate their reactions. Compared to negative humour, positive humour was more successful at down-regulating negative and up-regulating positive emotion. In Study 2, we replicated these findings and showed that these effects cannot be explained by differences in difficulty between the two humour conditions, participants’ expectations, or social desirability. Taken together, these findings suggest that positive (but not negative) humour may be an effective form of emotion regulation.     

Humour as emotion regulation: the differential consequences of negative versus positive humour

Humour is often seen as an adaptive coping strategy; however, the empirical literature is inconclusive. One possible explanation is that different types of humour have different adaptive consequences. In the present research, we predicted that positive (good-natured) humour would be more effective at regulating negative emotions than negative (mean-spirited) humour. In Study 1, participants were shown negative pictures two times. First, they simply viewed the pictures and rated their levels of positive and negative emotions. Second, they were instructed to: (a) view; (b) use positive humour; or (c) use negative humour, and then rate their reactions. Compared to negative humour, positive humour was more successful at down-regulating negative and up-regulating positive emotion. In Study 2, we replicated these findings and showed that these effects cannot be explained by differences in difficulty between the two humour conditions, participants' expectations, or social desirability. Taken together, these findings suggest that positive (but not negative) humour may be an effective form of emotion regulation.     

PTSD青少年对威胁图片注意偏向的时程特点及习惯化倾向

探讨创伤后应激障碍(post-traumatic stress disorder,PTSD)青少年(n=20)与创伤控制组(n=20)对威胁图片注意偏向的时间进程特点以及习惯化倾向.在线索提示任务中,图片的呈现时间为100ms、500ms和1250ms.研究表明:(1)在时间进程上,当图片呈现100ms时,创伤控制组对地震图存在注意警觉;当呈现时间为500ms时,两组被试对负性图和地震图存在注意回避;当呈现时间为1250ms时,PTSD组对负性图仍存在注意回避、对地震图的注意偏向消失,创伤控制组对负性图和地震图的注意偏向均消失.(2)在习惯化倾向上,当第六次呈现威胁图片时,PTSD组对负性图和地震图的注意偏向消失,而创伤控制组对负性图和地震图的注意回避仍未消失.     

Enhanced memory for emotional pictures: A product of increased attention to affective stimuli?

The current experiment addressed the question, is enhanced memory for emotional pictures due to increased attention to affective stimuli? Participants viewed pairs of pictures (emotional-neutral or neutral-neutral) whilst their eye movements were recorded; participants had to decide which picture out of each pair they preferred. There was increased attention to positive pictures and decreased attention to negative images during picture viewing. Despite this, when a recognition test was given 1 week later, memory enhancements were found for negative pictures only. Moreover, although there was a general correlation between total inspection time and memory performance, this reliability was clear only for neutral pictures, and not for emotional images. The results suggest that memory advantages for emotional pictures can occur without increased attention to such images.     

情绪的动机维度对趋避行为的影响

基于Gable和Harmone-Jones提出的情绪的动机维度模型,本研究采用改进的模拟“小人”任务实验范式考察了情绪的动机维度如何影响趋避行为。研究结果表明：（1）改进的模拟“小人”任务范式能较好地考察情绪对趋避行为的影响;（2）对情绪图片的有意识和无意识加工均出现了“趋利避害的相容效应”,较好地解决了动机定向理论和事件编码理论的纷争;（3）和低动机强度积极情绪相比,高动机强度积极情绪对趋近行为的易化程度更高;和低动机强度消极情绪相比,高动机强度消极情绪对回避行为的易化程度更髙。     

12-month-old infants allocate increased neural resources to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion

Young infants use caregivers' emotional expressions to guide their behavior in novel, ambiguous situations. This skill, known as social referencing, likely involves at least 3 separate abilities: (a) looking at an adult in an unfamiliar situation, (b) associating that adult's emotion with the novel situation, and (c) regulating their own emotions in response to the adult's emotional display. The authors measured each of these elements individually as well as how they related to each other. The results revealed that 12-month-olds allocated more attention, as indicated by event-related potential measures, to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion than to those associated with positive or neutral emotion. Infants' interaction with their caregiver was affected by adult emotional displays. In addition, how quickly infants referenced an adult predicted both their brain activity in response to pictures of stimuli associated with negative emotion as well as some aspects of their behavior regulation. The results are discussed with respect to their significance for understanding why infants reference and regulate their behavior in response to adult emotion. Suggestions for further research are provided.     

情绪对学习不良青少年选择性注意和持续性注意的影响

以学习不良青少年为被试,采用成绩反馈法诱发情绪,考察了情绪对学习不良青少年选择性注意和持续性注意的影响,结果表明：（1）情绪会影响学习不良青少年的选择性注意,具有积极低唤醒情绪的学习不良青少年,他们的选择性注意的反应时显著短于消极情绪下的被试;(2)学习不良青少年的情绪会影响到他们的持续性注意能力,消极高唤醒的情绪能够增加虚报率,而积极高唤醒的情绪能够提高判断标准,降低虚报率     

Attachment style impacts behavior and early oculomotor response to positive,but not negative,pictures

The present study investigated whether oculomotor behavior is influenced by attachment styles. The Relationship Scales Questionnaire was used to assess attachment styles of forty‐eight voluntary university students and to classify them into attachment groups (secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing). Eye‐tracking was recorded while participants engaged in a 3‐seconds free visual exploration of stimuli presenting either a positive or a negative picture together with a neutral picture, all depicting social interactions. The task consisted in identifying whether the two pictures depicted the same emotion. Results showed that the processing of negative pictures was impermeable to attachment style, while the processing of positive pictures was significantly influenced by individual differences in insecure attachment. The groups highly avoidant regarding to attachment (dismissing and fearful) showed reduced accuracy, suggesting a higher threshold for recognizing positive emotions compared to the secure group. The groups with higher attachment anxiety (preoccupied and fearful) showed differences in automatic capture of attention, in particular an increased delay preceding the first fixation to a picture of positive emotional valence. Despite lenient statistical thresholds induced by the limited sample size of some groups (p < 0.05 uncorrected for multiple comparisons), the current findings suggest that the processing of positive emotions is affected by attachment styles. These results are discussed within a broader evolutionary framework.     

学校氛围与初中生学业成就:学业情绪的中介和未来取向的调节作用

采用问卷法对1243名初中生进行调查研究,考察了学业情绪在学校氛围与初中生学业成就间的中介效应,以及未来取向对这一中介过程的调节效应。结果发现,（1）在控制了性别、年级、社会经济地位后,学校氛围对学业成就具有正向预测作用;（2）积极低唤醒学业情绪和消极低唤醒学业情绪显著中介学校氛围与学业成就的关系;（3）未来取向显著调节学校氛围对初中生学业成绩的直接路径,以及通过积极低唤醒和消极低唤醒学业情绪影响学业成绩的间接路径;即学校氛围和积极低唤醒学业情绪对学业成绩的影响在低未来取向的青少年群体中更为强烈;而学校氛围对消极低唤醒学业情绪的影响在高未来取向的青少年群体中更为强烈。总之,在学校氛围影响初中生学业成就的过程中,既存在中介效应,又存在调节效应。实际干预时,可以通过改善初中生学业情绪提高初中生的学业成就,未来取向可以进一步调节该过程。     

Brief report Effects of spinal cord injuries on the subjective component of emotions

Responses to a structured interview by 19 patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI) (7 women and 12 men) concerning their past (pre‐injury) and present emotions were analysed and compared with responses by 19 SCI‐free controls matched for sex, age, and education. In addition, subjects assessed the valence and arousal of 10 pleasant, 10 neutral, and 10 unpleasant pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System. The results indicate that there is no decrease in emotional experience among individuals with SCI compared with those without. For all the emotional scales (joy, love, sentimentalism, positive emotions as a whole, fear, anger, sadness, and negative emotions as a whole) the SCI group always showed either no change or an increase; this increase was significantly higher in SCI than in control subjects for sadness. No differences were observed between the two groups in the subjective assessment of the pictures. The implications of the results for the James versus Cannon controversy on the theory of emotions are discussed.     

Mindful attention predicts greater recovery from negative emotions,but not reduced reactivity

This study investigated the role of dispositional mindful attention in immediate reactivity to, and subsequent recovery from, laboratory-induced negative emotion. One hundred and fourteen undergraduates viewed blocks of negative pictures followed by neutral pictures. Participants’ emotional responses to negative pictures and subsequent neutral pictures were assessed via self-reported ratings. Participants’ emotional response to negative pictures was used to index level of emotional reactivity to unpleasant stimuli; emotional response to neutral pictures presented immediately after the negative pictures was used to index level of emotional recovery from pre-induced negative emotion (residual negativity). Results indicated that mindful attention was not associated with the emotional response to negative pictures, but it was associated with reduced negative emotion in response to the neutral pictures presented immediately after the negative pictures, suggesting better recovery as opposed to reduced reactivity. This effect was especially pronounced in later experimental blocks when the accumulation of negative stimuli produced greater negative emotion from which participants had to recover. The current study extends previous findings on the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and reduced negative emotion by demonstrating that mindful attention may facilitate better recovery from negative emotion, possibly through more effective disengagement from previous stimuli.     

不同回避动机强度的消极情绪对类比推理的影响:来自ERP的证据

研究采用类比推理的四项比例式任务和事件相关电位技术,探究不同回避动机强度的消极情绪(恐惧—高动机强度、悲伤—低动机强度、中性情绪)对类比推理的影响及脑机制。结果发现:(1)行为:不同回避动机强度的消极情绪均会延长类比推理的反应时; 与中性情绪相比,悲伤会提高推理的正确率,而恐惧会降低推理的正确率。(2)脑电:图式提取阶段,N400、P300、LNC被诱发; 类比映射阶段,N400和LNC被诱发,情绪在N400和LNC上的主效应均显著,恐惧情绪下的N400和LNC幅值比悲伤情绪和中性情绪下的更大。研究表明,情绪对类比推理的作用发生在类比映射阶段。恐惧情绪窄化认知,悲伤情绪扩展认知,支持情绪动机维度模型。     

情绪场景图片的注意偏向：眼动研究

注意实验中,与不带情绪色彩的刺激相比,具有情绪意义的刺激可引起注意偏向。本研究以情绪场景图片为材料,通过眼动技术分别记录被试在反向眼跳任务和Go/No-go任务中的眼动数据,考察了情绪图片的注意偏向。结果发现：反向眼跳任务中,对情绪图片的眼跳潜伏期比中性图片更长,眼跳错误率也更高;在Go任务中,相对于呈现在中央的中性图片,情绪图片引起的对靶子的眼跳潜伏期更长;在No-go任务中,相对于呈现在中央的中性图片,情绪图片引起的眼跳错误率更低。实验结果说明,情绪图片可引起注意偏向,表现为更快的捕获注意并且注意更难从情绪图片上转移。     

Lateral and medial prefrontal contributions to emotion generation by semantic elaboration during episodic encoding

Memories for emotion-laden stimuli are remembered more accurately than those for neutral stimuli. Although this enhancement reflects stimulus-driven modulation of memory by emotions, functional neuroimaging evidence of the interacting mechanisms between emotions generated by intentional processes, such as semantic elaboration, and memory is scarce. The present fMRI study investigated how encoding-related activation is modulated by emotions generated during the process of semantic elaboration. During encoding with fMRI, healthy young adults viewed neutral (target) pictures either passively or with semantic elaboration. In semantic elaboration, participants imagined background stories related to the pictures. Encoding trials with semantic elaboration were subdivided into conditions in which participants imagined negative, positive, or neutral stories. One week later, memories for target pictures were tested. In behavioral results, memories for target pictures were significantly enhanced by semantic elaboration, compared to passive viewing, and the memory enhancement was more remarkable when negative or positive stories were imagined. fMRI results demonstrated that activations in the left inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) were greater during the encoding of target pictures with semantic elaboration than those with passive viewing, and that these activations further increased during encoding with semantic elaboration of emotional stories than of neutral stories. Functional connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus and dmPFC/hippocampus during encoding significantly predicted retrieval accuracies of memories encoded with self-generated emotional stories. These findings suggest that networks including the left inferior frontal region, dmPFC, and hippocampus could contribute to the modulation of memories encoded with the emotion generation.