The neural correlates of happiness: A review of PET and fMRI studies using autobiographical recall methods

Although very difficult to define, happiness is becoming a core concept within contemporary psychology and affective neuroscience. In the last two decades, the increased use of neuroimaging techniques has facilitated empirical study of the neural correlates of happiness. This area of research utilizes procedures that induce positive emotion and mood, and autobiographical recall is one of the most widely used and effective approaches. In this article, we review eight positron emission tomography and seven functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that have investigated happiness by using autobiographical recall to induce emotion. Regardless of the neuroimaging technique used, the studies conducted so far have shown that remembering happy events is primarily associated with the activation of many areas, including anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and insula. Importantly, these areas are also found to be connected with other basic emotions, such as sadness and anger. In the conclusion, we integrate these findings, discussing important limitations of the extant literature and suggesting new research directions.     

Liking and memory for musical stimuli as a function of exposure

Three experiments examined changes in liking and memory for music as a function of number of previous exposures, the ecological validity of the music, and whether the exposure phase required focused or incidental listening. After incidental listening, liking ratings were higher for music heard more often in the exposure phase and this association was stronger as ecological validity increased. After focused listening, liking ratings followed an inverted U-shaped function of exposure for the most ecologically valid stimuli (initial increases followed by decreases), but this curvilinear function was attenuated or nonexistent for less valid stimuli. In general, recognition improved as a function of previous exposure for focused listeners, but the effect was attenuated or absent for incidental listeners.     

Emotional intelligence, personality, and task-induced stress

Emotional intelligence (EI) may predict stress responses and coping strategies in a variety of applied settings. This study compares EI and the personality factors of the Five Factor Model (FFM) as predictors of task-induced stress responses. Participants (N = 200) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 task conditions, 3 of which were designed to be stressful. Results confirmed that low EI was related to worry states and avoidance coping, even with the FFM statistically controlled. However, EI was not specifically related to task-induced changes in stress state. Results also confirmed that Neuroticism related to distress, worry, and emotion-focused coping, and Conscientiousness predicted use of task-focused coping. The applied utility of EI and personality measures is discussed.     

Inter- and intra-group variability in perceptions of behavior among Asian Americans and European Americans

Between-group and within-group differences in perceptions of behavior were examined among 74 Asian Americans and 111 European Americans. Participants rated videotaped interactions of Asian American mothers and daughters. Asian Americans, and a more homogeneous sample of Chinese Americans, perceived less maternal control and more reciprocity than did European Americans. Intra-cultural variations in perceptions were also evident, as within-group analyses revealed differences in perceptions based on the generational status of Asian Americans and the degree of multicultural experience of European Americans. Overall, findings suggest that perceptions of behavior are shaped as much by within-group differences in familiarity and experience with the target culture as by between-group differences in ethnicity. Implications for theories of child socialization, multicultural counseling, and observational research are discussed.     

Constructionist career counseling of undergraduate students: An experimental evaluation

This study used a pretest–posttest control group design to examine the effectiveness of a six-session constructionist career counseling intervention (Savickas, 2011). It was hypothesized that relative to pre-intervention scores, the participants would demonstrate decreases in their indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity about their career choices. Participants consisted of 50 undergraduates ranging in age from 19 to 25. They completed the Undergraduate Career Choice Survey (UCCS) and then were evenly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received six sessions of constructionist career counseling. Each session was approximately 45 min with a total of 4 h, 30 min approximately for the six sessions. Both groups then took the UCCS again. Analyses of the data using t-tests revealed significant reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity for the intervention group but not for the control group. The intervention group took the UCCS again eight weeks later. An ANOVA indicated that the reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity were slightly yet significantly greater. Limitations and directions for further research were pointed out.     

Text Comprehension Training for Disabled Readers: An Evaluation of Reciprocal Teaching and Text Analysis Training Programs

Forty-six reading disabled adolescents were randomly assigned to one of three 25-hr instructional programs. Two programs provided training in expository text comprehension, and a third offered training in academic problem solving and organizational and study skills (an alternative treatment control). One reading comprehension program was designed to remediate a deficient knowledge base, forcing disabled readers to elaborate and further process new text knowledge, focusing on both specific informational content in a text and knowledge of text structure per se. The second program was patterned after the Palincsar and Brown (1984) reciprocal teaching techniques and focused on training four text comprehension strategies used by skilled comprehenders. Both the “knowledge-base” and the “strategy” training approaches were associated with significant improvement in disabled readers' comprehension skills, although training effects did not generalize across all aspects of reading comprehension performance. Strategy-trained readers applied the trained strategies with equal success on instructed and uninstructed text materials, providing strong evidence of transfer of learning. Knowledge-base readers also demonstrated successful transfer of specifically trained procedures (semantic mapping, text analysis) to unfamiliar text. In both programs, the best outcomes were obtained when specific strategies and operations were targeted for training.     

Black male client, white female counsellor: Making positive use of transference phenomena

The content and process of transference issues over a 9-month period of counselling contact between a white, female counsellor and a black, male client are examined. An attempt is made to show the positive effects that may come about through a non-ethnic- and non-gender-matched counsellor-client dyad, and to explore the benefits to the client of counsellor similarity and difference.