Expression and interpretation of emotions in multilingual psychotherapy: A literature review

This review aimed at presenting the findings of 19 original studies that were published in the period from 2000 to 2022 in order to outline the current state of the art in the field of emotion communication (i.e., expressing and interpreting emotions) in multilingual psychotherapy. This analysis involves in particular the studies that investigate multilingual phenomena (e.g., code-switching and language-mixing) that occur during psychotherapeutic sessions when client and therapist can speak more than one language, as well as the articles that research emotion communication in this multilingual setting. With this in mind, the articles selected for this review are divided into two main categories: linguistic phenomena in multilingual psychotherapy and emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy. Results of the studies in the current analysis reveal that code-switching remains one of the main linguistic phenomena that arises in the area of multilingual psychotherapy. Switching languages in therapy tends to be considered as beneficial for both client and therapist. Besides, findings suggest a connection between speaking L1/LX and one's identity (e.g., feeling different depending on the language). Additionally, studies that investigate emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy show that an individual's first language (L1) is predominantly viewed as more emotionally charged than their language(s) learned later in life (LX). However, some studies also demonstrate that the relationship between L1 and LX is more fluid and context-dependent than it has traditionally been regarded. Propositions are given for future research in the field of emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy.     

Text-speak processing impairs tactile location

Dual task experiments have highlighted that driving while having a conversation on a cell phone can have negative impacts on driving (Strayer & Drews, 2007). It has also been noted that this negative impact is greater when reading a text-message (Lee, 2007). Commonly used in text-messaging are shortening devices collectively known as text-speak (e.g.,Ys I wll ttyl 2nite, Yes I will talk to you later tonight). To the authors' knowledge, there has been no investigation into the potential negative impacts of reading text-speak on concurrent performance on other tasks. Forty participants read a correctly spelled story and a story presented in text-speak while concurrently monitoring for a vibration around their waist. Slower reaction times and fewer correct vibration detections occurred while reading text-speak than while reading a correctly spelled story. The results suggest that reading text-speak imposes greater cognitive load than reading correctly spelled text. These findings suggest that the negative impact of text messaging on driving may be compounded by the messages being in text-speak, instead of orthographically correct text.     

Working memory in children: tracing age differences and special educational needs to parameters of a formal model

Parameters of a formal working-memory model were estimated for verbal and spatial memory updating of children. The model proposes interference though feature overwriting and through confusion of whole elements as the primary cause of working-memory capacity limits. We tested 2 age groups each containing 1 group of normal intelligence and 1 deficit group. For young children the deficit was developmental dyslexia; for older children it was a general learning difficulty. The interference model predicts less interference through overwriting but more through confusion of whole elements for the dyslexic children than for their age-matched controls. Older children exhibited less interference through confusion of whole elements and a higher processing rate than young children, but general learning difficulty was associated with slower processing than in the age-matched control group. Furthermore, the difference between verbal and spatial updating mapped onto several meaningful dissociations of model parameters.     

Integrating multiple perspectives on error-related brain activity: The ERN as a neural indicator of trait defensive reactivity

In the past 20 years, research concerning the error-related negativity (ERN), a negative-going deflection in the event-related brain potential (ERP) following an erroneous response, has flourished. Despite a substantial body of research, debate regarding its functional significance persists. In what follows, we selectively review literature on the ERN, and outline several prominent cognitive theories related to the generation and significance of the ERN. Cognitive theories predict that the size of the ERN should relate to variation in behavior, although there is substantial evidence that the ERN and behavioral measures are at least partially dissociable. Moreover, individual difference measures, psychopathology, and motivational factors all appear to impact basic mechanisms that generate the ERN to moderate the magnitude of the ERN, suggesting a need to integrate alternative perspectives into models of ERN amplitude. Insofar as errors prompt the mobilization of defensive responses, we view variation in the ERN in terms of error detection in the service of protecting the organism. Based on data indicating that the ERN is highly stable over time, heritable, and related to broad dimensions of personality, we propose that the ERN is a neural index of a neurobehavioral trait and variation in its amplitude is related in part to individual differences in defensive reactivity. Implications and future directions are considered.     

This is funny: on the beneficial role of self-enhancing and affiliative humour in job design

Building on positive psychology, the present study aims to address the role of humour in the workplace, and particularly in job design, one of the crucial job aspects contributing to employee well-being. Specifically, we examine the main effects of self-enhancing and affiliative types of humour both on burnout and work engagement. Furthermore, we study whether these humour styles serve as personal resources, moderating the associations of job hindrances (i.e., role conflict), job challenges (i.e., workload) and job resources (i.e., social support) with burnout and work engagement, as outlined in the Job Demands-Resources model. Results in a large sample of Belgian employees ( N = 1200) showed that both types of humour related negatively to burnout and positively to work engagement. No interactions between humour and the job characteristics were found in the prediction of burnout. The significant interactions in predicting work engagement showed that self-enhancing and affiliative humour played a positive role, particularly when role conflict and social support were low. No interactions with workload were found. The discussion aims to shed light on the unexpected results and to further the study of the humour-health hypothesis.     

Priming the activation of fear and disgust: evidence for semantic processing

Given that semantic processes mediate early processes in the elicitation of emotions, we expect that already activated emotion-specific information can influence the elicitation of an emotion. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to masked International Affective Picture System (IAPS) pictures that elicited either disgust or fear. Following the presentation of the primes, other IAPS pictures were presented as targets that elicited either disgust or fear. The participants' task was to classify the target picture as either disgust or fear evoking. In Experiment 2, we substituted the IAPS primes with facial expressions of either disgust or fear. In Experiment 3, we substituted the IAPS primes with the words disgust or fear. In all three experiments, we found that prime-target combinations of the same emotion were responded to faster than prime-target combinations of different emotions. Our findings suggest that the influence of primes on the elicitation of emotion is mediated by activated schemata or appraisal processes.     

Selective attention to imagined facial ugliness is specific to body dysmorphic disorder

Cognitive-behavioral models postulate that biases in selective attention are key factors contributing to susceptibility to and maintenance of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Visual attention in particular toward the imagined defect in appearance may be a crucial element. The present study therefore examined whether individuals with BDD showed increased visual attention to flaws in their own and in unfamiliar faces. Twenty individuals with BDD, 20 individuals with social phobia, and 20 mentally healthy individuals participated in an eye-tracking experiment. Participants were instructed to gaze at the photographs of 15 pictures of themselves and several unfamiliar faces. Only patients with BDD showed heightened selective visual attention to the imagined defect in their own face, as well to corresponding regions in other, unfamiliar faces. The results support the assumption that there is a specific attentional bias in BDD.