An examination of the roles of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder on emotion regulation strategies of Operation Iraqi Freedom,Operation Enduring Freedom,and Operation New Dawn veterans

Theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) implicate emotional processes, including difficulties utilizing adaptive emotion regulation strategies, as critical to the etiology and maintenance of PTSD. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OIF/OEF/OND) veterans report high levels of combat exposure and PTSD. We aimed to extend findings suggesting that emotion regulation difficulties are a function of PTSD, rather than combat trauma exposure or common comorbidities, to OIF/OEF/OND veterans, in order to inform models of PTSD risk and recovery that can be applied to returning veterans. We tested differences in emotion regulation, measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, among trauma-exposed veterans with (n = 24) or without PTSD (n = 22) and healthy civilian comparison participants (n = 27) using multivariate analyses of covariance, adjusting for major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and demographic variables (age, sex, and ethnicity). Veterans with PTSD reported more use of expressive suppression and more difficulties with emotion regulation than veterans without PTSD and healthy comparison participants. Groups did not differ on cognitive reappraisal. Findings suggest the key role of PTSD above and beyond trauma exposure, depression, and anxiety in specific aspects of emotion dysregulation among OIF/OEF/OND veterans. Interventions that help veterans expand and diversify their emotion regulation skills may serve as helpful adjunctive treatments for PTSD among OIF/OEF/OND veterans.     

The neural bases of sport fan reactions to teams: Evidence from a neuroimaging study

This study uses neuroimaging methods to identify patterns of brain activation among sport fans in reaction to team stimuli. In a whole-brain analysis without selected regions in advance, the purposes were to identify the structures involved when fans are exposed to positive, neutral, and negative events and to learn what events activate more limbic networks. A total of 53 individuals participated in and functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment involving the presentation of videos in various situations. Findings indicate the activation of the cingulate gyrus and other structures of the limbic system, as the hippocampus and parahippocampus. We also found involvement of the ventral tegmental area of the reward system. Additionally, brain activity in emotional regulation and memory areas were more influenced by positive than neutral and negative videos. It was also found the involvement of other areas not directly included in the limbic or reward systems. This study provides the neural basis of fan reactions to team-related stimuli. Sport clubs should be aware that negative content seems to be suppressed from emotional memory and positive videos trigger more emotion and memory areas than neutral and negative videos.     

Analyticity,Balance and Non-admissibility of $$\varvec{Cut}$$ Cut in Stoic Logic

Studia Logica - This paper shows that, for the Hertz–Gentzen Systems of 1933 (without Thinning), extended by a classical rule T1 (from the Stoics) and using certain axioms (also from the...     

Motivated gratitude and the need to belong: Social exclusion increases gratitude for people low in trait entitlement

Motivation and Emotion - Three studies examined effects of social exclusion on reactions to receiving an unexpected gift. Trait Psychological Entitlement was also measured as a potential moderator...     

Smartfounding: Four Grades of Resistance to Thought Experiments

Smartfounding is the opposite of “dumbfounding” introduced by Jonathan Haidt’s research on disgust. Dumbfounders have general competence at thought experiment (in contrast to people who lack formal education). However, they are flustered by thought experiments that support repugnant conclusions. Instead of following the supposition wherever it leads, they avoid unsettling implications by adding extraneous information or ignoring stipulated conditions. The dumbfounded commit performance errors, often seeming to regress to the answers of people who lack formal schooling. Smartfounders retain their composure. They practice subversive compliance, obeying the instructions in a way that spoils the aim of the thought experiment. Smartfounders offer a more sophisticated grade of resistance to thought experiment. Whereas the lower grades of resistance are merely fallacious, smartfounding often constitutes a penetrating internal critique of the thought experiment and sometimes of thought experiments in general.