The Structure of Emotion

ABSTRACT— One common point of debate in the study of emotion is whether the basic, irreducible elements of emotional life are discrete emotion categories, such as anger , fear , sadness , and so on, or dimensions such as approach and avoidance . Resolving this debate will identify the basic building blocks of emotional life that are the most appropriate targets of scientific inquiry. In this paper, we briefly review meta-analytic work on the neuroimaging of emotion and examine its potential for identifying "natural kinds" of emotion in the brain. We outline criteria for identifying such natural kinds, summarize the evidence to date on category and dimensional approaches, and suggest ways in which neuroimaging studies could more directly address fundamental questions about the nature of emotion.     

The influence of speed and force on bimanual finger tapping patterns.

The current study investigated factors that affect the stability of anti-phase bimanual finger tapping. Past research employing the order parameter and control parameter concepts, has identified frequency of movement as a control parameter that affects the stability of finger movement patterns (the order parameter). The present study investigated the hypothesis that multiple movement related variables can interact to influence the stability of an order parameter. Specifically, the combined effect of the rate of movement and movement force on the stability of bimanual finger tapping was examined. Participants were required to initiate an anti-phase tapping pattern under three different movement rate conditions (600, 400, and 200 ms), and were required to increase the force of one finger at the onset of a randomly presented stimulus. The results indicate that an increase in the force parameter at lower tapping rates (600 ms) did not affect the phase relation of the fingers, however at higher rates (200 and 400 ms), the introduction of a force parameter resulted in fluctuations of the phase relation of the fingers, which were followed by pattern shifts from anti-phase to in-phase tapping. The results indicate that movement force and rate of movement interact to influence the outcome of the tapping pattern. Further research is required to investigate force as a control parameter.     

Swing phase mechanics of healthy young and elderly men.

This study examined the effect of ageing on the swing phase mechanics of young and elderly gait. Sagittal plane marker trajectories and force plate data were collected while 10 young (24.9+/-0.9 years) and eight elderly (68.9+/-0.4 years) subjects walked at their preferred walking speeds. Comparison between young and elderly gait was made for a range of spatial-temporal, kinematic and kinetic variables with emphasis given to identifying possible differences at toe-off, minimum metatarsal-phalangeal joint clearance and heel contact. In order to control for the confounding effect of gait velocity on the dependent variables, a multivariate analysis of covariance was used to identify differences between the young and elderly subjects due to age. In contrast to studies that have reported lower preferred walking speeds in the elderly compared to the young [J.O. Judge, R.B. Davis III, S. Ounpuu, Step length reductions in advanced age: the role of ankle and hip kinetics, Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 51 (1996) M303-312; D.C. Kerrigan, M.K. Todd, U. Della Croce, L.A. Lipsitz, J.J. Collins, Biomechanical gait alterations independent of speed in the healthy elderly: evidence for specific limiting impairments, Archives of Physical and Medical Rehabilitation 79 (1998) 317-322], no differences in walking speed nor in the spatial-temporal variables that determine walking speed were detected. The elderly were however, found to have a greater hip extension moment at the time of minimum metatarsal-phalangeal joint clearance, and a significantly higher anterior-posterior velocity heel contact velocity that was linked to a significantly higher shank and foot angular velocity at heel contact. Since many gait variables are highly correlated with walking speed [C. Kirtley, M.W. Whittle, R.J. Jefferson, Influence of walking speed on gait parameters, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 7 (1985) 282-288; D.A. Winter, Biomechanical motor patterns in normal walking, Journal of Motor Behaviour 15 (1983) 302-330], differences between young and elderly gait found in the present study may therefore be attributed to ageing, rather than a secondary effect of differences in gait velocity.     

The Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale: initial examination of its factor structure and correlates among Brazilian adults

The present study conducted a preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of a recently developed Portuguese translation of the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005). A total of 311 Brazilian adults completed the ACSS along with Portuguese translations of measures of actual-ideal body weight discrepancy, body appreciation, sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, and demographics. Results showed that the Portuguese ACSS reduced to a three-factor solution consisting of the Intrapersonal, Social, and Consider factors uncovered in the original work using the ACSS. Moreover, there were only small sex differences on these subscales. In addition, the Portuguese ACSS showed a good pattern of convergent validity. The availability of the Portuguese ACSS is expected to stimulate more in-depth, quantitative research on attitudes toward cosmetic surgery within the Brazilian context.     

Growing Up in Violent Communities: Do Family Conflict and Gender Moderate Impacts on Adolescents’ Psychosocial Development?

This study examined the moderating effects of family conflict and gender on the relationship between community violence and psychosocial development at age 18. The study sample consisted of 728 children and families who were part of the Infant Health and Development Program study of low-birth-weight, pre-term infants. In this sample, adolescent psychosocial outcomes were predicted by community violence differently for male and female children and based on their experiences of conflict at home. For male children, being in a high conflict family as a child exacerbated the negative effects of community violence such that internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) and risk-taking behaviors increased as community violence increased, while being in a low conflict family protected the child against the negative impacts of the community. For female adolescents, there were no moderating effects of family conflict on the relationship between community violence and externalizing problems. Moderating effects for internalizing problems demonstrated that being in low conflict families did not serve as protection against community violence for girls as was demonstrated for boys. These findings demonstrate the long-term effects of community violence on child development, highlighting the importance of gender and family context in the development of internalizing and externalizing problems.     

The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review

Researchers have wondered how the brain creates emotions since the early days of psychological science. With a surge of studies in affective neuroscience in recent decades, scientists are poised to answer this question. In this target article, we present a meta-analytic summary of the neuroimaging literature on human emotion. We compare the locationist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories consistently and specifically correspond to distinct brain regions) with the psychological constructionist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories are constructed of more general brain networks not specific to those categories) to better understand the brain basis of emotion. We review both locationist and psychological constructionist hypotheses of brain-emotion correspondence and report meta-analytic findings bearing on these hypotheses. Overall, we found little evidence that discrete emotion categories can be consistently and specifically localized to distinct brain regions. Instead, we found evidence that is consistent with a psychological constructionist approach to the mind: A set of interacting brain regions commonly involved in basic psychological operations of both an emotional and non-emotional nature are active during emotion experience and perception across a range of discrete emotion categories.     

Examining Attachment to God and Health Risk-Taking Behaviors in College Students

Drawing on insights from attachment theory, this study examined whether three types of attachment to God—secure, avoidant, and anxious—were associated with health-risk behaviors, over and above the effects of religious attendance, peer support, and demographic covariates, in a sample of 328 undergraduate college students. Contrary to prior theory, secure attachment to God is not inversely associated with recent alcohol or marijuana use, or substance use prior to last sexual intercourse. Instead, avoidant and anxious attachment to God are associated with higher levels of drinking; anxious attachment to God is associated with marijuana use; and avoidant attachment to God is associated with substance use prior to last sexual intercourse. These patterns are gender-specific; problematic attachment to God is linked with negative outcomes solely among men.     

Religion and Attitudes Toward Family Planning Issues Among US Adults

Although religion is an important influence on a variety of social attitudes, the relationship between religion and views on family planning remains underexplored, especially in terms of attitudes relating to public policy. Using data from a nationally-representative survey (N = 1,500) fielded in 1998, we examine the influence of religious affiliation, subcultural identification, and attendance on three aspects of attitudes toward contraception in the public sphere. Specifically, we explore opinions regarding the public consequences of contraception and the responsibility for making contraception available as part of health care services in the United States. More frequent religious attendance is linked to less-approving opinions about contraception and less support for its provision by the US government and health insurers. Catholic affiliation is not consistently associated with the examined opinions, and we find mixed results for conservative Protestants. Including religious subcultural identities yields additional information, with born-again Christians reporting less positive opinions about the consequences of contraceptive availability, while evangelical identity is linked to negative views on policy aimed at increasing access to family planning services. These findings contribute to knowledge about the relationship between religion and attitudes toward policy-relevant aspects of contraception, as well as the broader social influences of religious subcultural identification.