Manipulating affective state influences conditioned appetitive responses

Affective states influence how individuals process information and behave. Some theories predict emotional congruency effects (e.g. preferential processing of negative information in negative affective states). Emotional congruency should theoretically obstruct the learning of reward associations (appetitive learning) and their ability to guide behaviour under negative mood. Two studies tested the effects of the induction of a negative affective state on appetitive Pavlovian learning, in which neutral stimuli were associated with chocolate (Experiment 1) or alcohol (Experiment 2) rewards. In both experiments, participants showed enhanced approach tendencies towards predictors of reward after a negative relative to a positive performance feedback manipulation. This increase was related to a reduction in positive affect in Experiment 1 only. No effects of the manipulation on conditioned reward expectancies, craving, or consumption were observed. Overall, our findings support the idea of counter-regulation, rather than emotional congruency effects. Negative affective states might therefore serve as a vulnerability factor for addiction, through increasing conditioned approach tendencies.     

Impact of Low Social Preference on the Development of Depressive and Aggressive Symptoms: Buffering by Children’s Prosocial Behavior

Holding a low social position among peers has been widely demonstrated to be associated with the development of depressive and aggressive symptoms in children. However, little is known about potential protective factors in this association. The present study examined whether increases in children’s prosocial behavior can buffer the association between their low social preference among peers and the development of depressive and aggressive symptoms in the first few school years. We followed 324 children over 1.5 years with three assessments across kindergarten and first grade elementary school. Children rated the (dis)likability of each of their classroom peers and teachers rated each child’s prosocial behavior, depressive and aggressive symptoms. Results showed that low social preference at the start of kindergarten predicted persistent low social preference at the start of first grade in elementary school, which in turn predicted increases in both depressive and aggressive symptoms at the end of first grade. However, the indirect pathways were moderated by change in prosocial behavior. Specifically, for children whose prosocial behavior increased during kindergarten, low social preference in first grade elementary school no longer predicted increases in depressive and aggressive symptoms. In contrast, for children whose prosocial behavior did not increase, their low social preference in first grade elementary school continued to predict increases in both depressive and aggressive symptoms. These results suggest that improving prosocial behavior in children with low social preference as early as kindergarten may reduce subsequent risk of developing depressive and aggressive symptom.     

Modelling non‐normal data: The relationship between the skew‐normal factor model and the quadratic factor model

Maximum likelihood estimation of the linear factor model for continuous items assumes normally distributed item scores. We consider deviations from normality by means of a skew‐normally distributed factor model or a quadratic factor model. We show that the item distributions under a skew‐normal factor are equivalent to those under a quadratic model up to third‐order moments. The reverse only holds if the quadratic loadings are equal to each other and within certain bounds. We illustrate that observed data which follow any skew‐normal factor model can be so well approximated with the quadratic factor model that the models are empirically indistinguishable, and that the reverse does not hold in general. The choice between the two models to account for deviations of normality is illustrated by an empirical example from clinical psychology.     

More Precise Estimation of Lower-Level Interaction Effects in Multilevel Models

In hierarchical data, the effect of a lower-level predictor on a lower-level outcome may often be confounded by an (un)measured upper-level factor. When such confounding is left unaddressed, the effect of the lower-level predictor is estimated with bias. Separating this effect into a within- and between-component removes such bias in a linear random intercept model under a specific set of assumptions for the confounder. When the effect of the lower-level predictor is additionally moderated by another lower-level predictor, an interaction between both lower-level predictors is included into the model. To address unmeasured upper-level confounding, this interaction term ought to be decomposed into a within- and between-component as well. This can be achieved by first multiplying both predictors and centering that product term next, or vice versa. We show that while both approaches, on average, yield the same estimates of the interaction effect in linear models, the former decomposition is much more precise and robust against misspecification of the effects of cross-level and upper-level terms, compared to the latter.     

"Instant success": turning temptations into cues for goal-directed behavior

Contrary to lay intuition, counteractive control theory posits that tempting food cues can help individuals to act in accordance with their long-term dieting goal. However, studies have shown that temptations trigger goal-directed behavior only in successful but not in unsuccessful self-regulators. The aim of the present study was to test whether it is possible to create facilitated temptation-goal associations in unsuccessful dieters using implementation intentions (e.g., "If I see or smell chocolate then I will follow my goal to diet") and whether this indeed stimulates more successful self-regulation. It was found that implementation intentions linking a temptation to a dieting goal lead to self-perceived improved resistance to (Study 1) as well as reduced consumption (Study 2) of tempting snacks compared to a control condition. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that the reduced snack consumption was indeed related to facilitated temptation-goal associations in participants who had formed implementation intentions.     

Tolerance of Justice Violations: The Effects of Need on Emotional Reactions After Violating Equality in Social Dilemmas1

Equality is an important coordination rule in social dilemmas. Studies have shown that a violation of equality elicits strong negative emotions. This research addresses whether these emotional reactions occur when another group member is in need of social support. Results showed that participants reacted less negatively if equality was violated and the other person was in need. Moreover, it was shown that there are individual differences in the extent to which people are influenced by fairness violations in their emotional reactions. In particular, Conscientiousness was important for people's emotional reactions, and people low rather than high in Conscientiousness reacted more negatively. These findings are discussed in light of coordination rules and emotions in social dilemmas and individual differences.     

Are smokers interested in genetic testing for smoking addiction? A socio-cognitive approach

Genetic advances have made genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments possible. In this study, we examined whether smokers are interested in undergoing a genetic test to identify their genetic susceptibility to nicotine addiction. In addition, we aimed to identify socio-cognitive determinants of smokers' intention to undergo genetic testing. Following the protection motivation theory (PMT), we assessed the following constructs using an online survey among 587 smokers: threat appraisal (i.e. susceptibility and severity), fear, coping appraisal (i.e. response efficacy and self-efficacy), response costs and intention. In addition, knowledge, social norms and information-seeking behaviour were measured. Mean intention rates were 2.57 on a 5-point scale. Intention was significantly associated with threat appraisal and coping appraisal, as predicted by the PMT. Fear of the outcome was negatively associated with the intention to undergo genetic testing, but response costs, knowledge and social influence were not. Intention to undergo genetic testing in turn was positively related to seeking information about genetic testing and genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments. Smokers seem ambivalent or 'on the fence' with regard to undergoing a genetic test for smoking addiction. Socio-cognitive concepts such as susceptibility, severity, response efficacy and self-efficacy may be used to inform or educate smokers about the value of genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments.     

Disrupting reconsolidation: pharmacological and behavioral manipulations

We previously demonstrated that disrupting reconsolidation by pharmacological manipulations "deleted" the emotional expression of a fear memory in humans. If we are to target reconsolidation in patients with anxiety disorders, the disruption of reconsolidation should produce content-limited modifications. At the same time, the fear-erasing effects should not be restricted to the feared cue itself considering that fear generalization is a main characteristic of anxiety disorders. In Experiment I and Experiment I(b), we addressed these issues using a within-subject differential startle fear conditioning paradigm and a test of fear generalization. In Experiment II, we tested whether a behavioral approach targeting the reconsolidation through extinction learning was also effective in weakening the original fear memory. A behavioral procedure is evidently preferred over drug manipulations provided that similar effects can be obtained. Here, the extinction procedure subsequent to retrieval did not "erase" the emotional expression of the fear memory as the retrieval techniques (i.e., reminder shocks and reacquisition) unveiled a return of the startle fear response to the fear-relevant stimuli. In contrast, β-adrenergic receptor blockade during reconsolidation selectively deleted the fear-arousing aspects of the memory (i.e., startle fear response) along with its category-related information. The pharmacological manipulation rendered the core memory trace too weak to observe fear generalization after successful reacquisition. Hence, relearning following the disruption of reconsolidation seems to be qualitatively different from initial learning. Our findings demonstrate that disrupting reconsolidation by pharmacological manipulations, although selective, undermines the generalization of fear, a key feature of anxiety disorders.     

Noradrenergic enhancement of associative fear memory in humans

Ample evidence in animals and humans supports the noradrenergic modulation in the formation of emotional memory. However, in humans the effects of stress on emotional memory are traditionally investigated by declarative memory tests (e.g., recall, recognition) for non-associative emotional stimuli (e.g., stories, pictures). Given that anxiety disorders are thought to originate from associative learning processes and are characterized by distressing emotional responses, the existing literature seems to be inconclusive for the understanding of these disorders. Here, we tested whether noradrenaline strengthens the emotional expression of associative fear memory by using a differential fear conditioning procedure in humans. Stimulation of the noradrenergic system by the administration of yohimbine HCl (20 mg) during memory formation did not directly augment the differential startle fear response 48 h later. Yet, the other retention tests uncovered that the administration of yohimbine HCl contrary to placebo pill extensively delayed the process of extinction learning and generated a superior recovery of fear (i.e., reinstatement and reacquisition). Conversely, the yohimbine HCl manipulation did not affect the skin conductance responding and the US expectancy ratings, emphasizing the concept of multiple memory systems. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration in humans that increased noradrenaline release during or shortly after a stressful event strengthens the formation of associative fear memory traces. The present findings suggest that noradrenaline may play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders.