Effects of acceptance-oriented versus evaluative emotional processing on heart rate recovery and habituation

The effects of emotional processing on stress response trajectories may depend on the nature of processing, as evaluative rumination about emotions can prolong distress. In contrast, observing negative emotions in an accepting manner may promote efficient recovery from stressful situations. The present study examined the effect of acceptance-oriented versus evaluative emotional processing on cardiovascular habituation and recovery. Across two experimental sessions, 81 participants were randomly assigned to write about an ongoing stressful experience while either (1) evaluating the appropriateness of their emotional response (EVAL), (2) attending to their emotions in an accepting way (ACC), or (3) describing the objective details of the experience (CTL). Heart rate was assessed continuously throughout baseline, writing, and recovery. Results suggest that writing about emotions in an evaluative way leads to less efficient heart rate habituation and recovery than processing emotions in an accepting manner. These findings highlight a potential mechanism of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions' effects on health outcomes and further suggest that habitually evaluating the appropriateness of one's emotional responses rather than accepting them as they unfold may have consequences for cardiovascular health.     

Gratitude when it is needed most: social functions of gratitude in women with metastatic breast cancer

Theory and evidence suggest that everyday positive emotions may be potent factors in resilience during periods of chronic stress, yet the body of evidence is scant. Even less research focuses on the adaptive functions of specific positive emotions in this critical context. In the current research, 54 women with metastatic breast cancer provided information about their emotional responses to benefits received to test hypotheses regarding the social functions of gratitude. One set of analyses provide support for the hypothesized role of ego-transcendence in feeling gratitude upon receipt of a benefit from another person. As predicted, in a second set of analyses, grateful responding to received benefits predicted an increase in perceived social support over three months only for women low in ambivalence over emotional expression. These findings add to evidence regarding the social causes and consequences of gratitude, supporting a view of gratitude as an other-focused positive emotion that functions to promote high-quality relationships. Discussion focuses on the chronically stressful context as an important testing ground for theory on gratitude and other positive emotions.     

Comparisons between exemplar similarity and mixed prototype models using a linearly separable category structure

Nosofsky and Zaki (2002) found that an exemplar similarity model provided better accounts of individual subject classification and generalization performance than did a mixed prototype model proposed by Smith and Minda (1998; Minda & Smith, 2001). However, these previous tests used a nonlinearly separable category structure. In the present work, the authors extend the previous findings by demonstrating a superiority for the exemplar generalization model over the mixed prototype model in a case involving a linearly separable structure. Because this structure has numerous features that Minda and Smith argued should be conducive to prototype-based processing, the results pose a significant challenge to the mixed prototype view.     

Variation in reversal learning by three generalist mesocarnivores

Animal Cognition - Urbanization imposes novel challenges for wildlife, but also provides new opportunities for exploitation. Generalist species are commonly found in urban habitats, but the...     

Expectancy-value constructs and expectancy violation as predictors of exercise adherence in previously sedentary women.

This prospective study examined effects of expectancy of exercise benefits, value of benefits, expectancy violation, and self-efficacy (SE) on exercise behavior and study dropout in sedentary women (n=86). SE predicted exercise for study completers but did not predict study dropout. After 6 and 12 weeks, participants evidenced expectancy violations, particularly for fitness and weight. Initial value, expectancy, and Expectancy X Value did not predict exercise for study completers, but dropouts had higher initial positive expectancies than did completers. Expectancy violations produced in Weeks 1-6 did not predict exercise in Weeks 7-12 in study completers, but dropouts in Weeks 7-12 had higher expectancy violations for weight in Weeks 1-6 than did completers. Follow-up revealed that study dropouts stopped exercising. Identifying individuals with high initial expectancies and expectancy violations may improve health behavior intervention and research.     

Effects of video-game play on information processing: A meta-analytic investigation

Do video games enhance cognitive functioning? We conducted two meta-analyses based on different research designs to investigate how video games impact information-processing skills (auditory processing, executive functions, motor skills, spatial imagery, and visual processing). Quasi-experimental studies (72 studies, 318 comparisons) compare habitual gamers with controls; true experiments (46 studies, 251 comparisons) use commercial video games in training. Using random-effects models, video games led to improved information processing in both the quasi-experimental studies, d = 0.61, 95 % CI [0.50, 0.73], and the true experiments, d = 0.48, 95 % CI [0.35, 0.60]. Whereas the quasi-experimental studies yielded small to large effect sizes across domains, the true experiments yielded negligible effects for executive functions, which contrasted with the small to medium effect sizes in other domains. The quasi-experimental studies appeared more susceptible to bias than were the true experiments, with larger effects being reported in higher-tier than in lower-tier journals, and larger effects reported by the most active research groups in comparison with other labs. The results are further discussed with respect to other moderators and limitations in the extant literature.     

Alcohol and group formation: a multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding

We integrated research on emotion and on small groups to address a fundamental and enduring question facing alcohol researchers: What are the specific mechanisms that underlie the reinforcing effects of drinking? In one of the largest alcohol-administration studies yet conducted, we employed a novel group-formation paradigm to evaluate the socioemotional effects of alcohol. Seven hundred twenty social drinkers (360 male, 360 female) were assembled into groups of 3 unacquainted persons each and given a moderate dose of an alcoholic, placebo, or control beverage, which they consumed over 36 min. These groups' social interactions were video recorded, and the duration and sequence of interaction partners' facial and speech behaviors were systematically coded (e.g., using the Facial Action Coding System). Alcohol consumption enhanced individual- and group-level behaviors associated with positive affect, reduced individual-level behaviors associated with negative affect, and elevated self-reported bonding. Our results indicate that alcohol facilitates bonding during group formation. Assessing nonverbal responses in social contexts offers new directions for evaluating the effects of alcohol.     

Fostering ethical willingness: integrating emotional and contextual awareness with rational analysis

Ethical dilemmas are inherently challenging. By definition, clinicians decide between conflicting principles of welfare and naturally confront competing pulls and inclinations. This investigation of students' responses to an ethical scenario highlights how emotions and concerns can interfere with willingness to implement ethical knowledge. Clear-cut rules are the exception in psychotherapy, and clinicians must judge ethical issues on the basis of the unique context of each case. As such, subjectivity and emotional involvement are essential tools for determining ethical action, but they must be integrated with rational analysis. Strategies for attending to influential emotions and contextual factors in order to mobilize ethical commitment are described.     

Evaluation of subclinical depression in children using self-, peer-, and teacher-report measures

This study reports on several classification issues utilizing the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher Form (CBCL-T), and the Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression (PNID). The first sample contained 752 public school children in grades 5, 6, and 9. A second sample of 142 fifth-graders was included to have an additional PNID comparison group. Results revealed moderate correlations between the CDI and the CBCL-T and PNID. Use of multiple criteria for selecting children as depressed was discussed, and selection rates using multiple measures with either strict or lenient cutoff scores were given. Normative data on the PNID were evaluated, and it was suggested that norms for the PNID may not be generalizable to other samples. Finally, race and gender analyses showed that CDI scores for females were significantly higher than for males, whereas CDI scores for Hispanics were significantly higher than for non-Hispanic whites. However, Omega-squared analyses for these two variables showed this to be of little practical significance.