Feeling good: autonomic nervous system responding in five positive emotions

Although dozens of studies have examined the autonomic nervous system (ANS) aspects of negative emotions, less is known about ANS responding in positive emotion. An evolutionary framework was used to define five positive emotions in terms of fitness-enhancing function, and to guide hypotheses regarding autonomic responding. In a repeated measures design, participants viewed sets of visual images eliciting these positive emotions (anticipatory enthusiasm, attachment love, nurturant love, amusement, and awe) plus an emotionally neutral state. Peripheral measures of sympathetic and vagal parasympathetic activation were assessed. Results indicated that the emotion conditions were characterized by qualitatively distinct profiles of autonomic activation, suggesting the existence of multiple, physiologically distinct positive emotions.     

Dissociation of acquisition and expression of fear conditioned responses under working memory load

Previously, it has been suggested that high working memory load (WML) prevents associative learning and, thus, conditioned responses (CRs) during differential-delay fear conditioning. However, previous studies did not distinguish between the effects of WML on the acquisition versus the expression of the CRs. In the present study, we reinvestigated this issue by manipulating WML during either acquisition or postconditioning and showed that the absence of a differential CR under high WML does not indicate the absence of the acquisition of this CR. Thus, a significant CR was observed during a task-free postconditioning phase, and there was no CR during the preceding acquisition phase with high WML. Conversely, a normally acquired CR was impaired by high WML during the postconditioning phase. The results suggest that high WML affects the expression of the CR. If they are not experimentally separated, the effects of WML on the acquisition and expression of the CR may occur together, and the findings may be erroneously interpreted as indicating a lack of associative learning.     

The impact of weight, sex, and race/ethnicity on body dissatisfaction among urban children

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relative contributions of weight status, race/ethnicity, sex, and age on body dissatisfaction in a large group of diverse children. Participants were 4th–6th graders (N = 1212) in ten inner-city schools who participated in an obesity prevention study previously published. Children completed the body dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and weight status was assessed by measured weights and heights. Multiple regression analyses were conducted. Relative weight status was the strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction, followed by race/ethnicity, and sex. Body dissatisfaction was greatest in obese, Asian, and female children. Overall, results indicated that children's body dissatisfaction varies based on relative weight status, as well as race/ethnicity and sex among urban children. Results highlight the strong need for additional research so that more definitive conclusions may be drawn regarding the development of body image among diverse groups of children.     

Highlighting media modifications: can a television commercial mitigate the effects of music videos on female appearance satisfaction?

Exposure to idealized media portrayals of women induces appearance dissatisfaction in females, in the short term. Interventions that highlight the artificial nature of media portrayals can mitigate this effect. The present research investigated whether a 75 second television commercial, that demonstrates behind-the-scenes techniques used to artificially enhance media models, could be similarly effective. Eighty-seven Caucasian female undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. The first group viewed music videos and ordinary television commercials. A second group viewed the same music videos and the "intervention" commercial. A final, control, group viewed television and commercials featuring no people. Viewing music videos resulted in significantly lower levels of self-reported appearance satisfaction compared to viewing control television, p<.05, d=-.67. However, exposure to the intervention commercial counter-acted this effect. Demonstrating the extent to which media portrayals of women are artificially enhanced can mitigate detrimental effects on female appearance satisfaction.     

Self‐Fulfilling Prophecies: Mechanisms,Power, and Links to Social Problems

A core theme of social psychology is that perceivers can shape targets’ future behaviors through self‐fulfilling prophecies. Self‐fulfilling prophecies occur when perceivers’ false beliefs about targets initiate a sequence of events that ultimately cause targets to exhibit expectancy‐consistent behaviors, thereby causing perceivers’ initially false beliefs to become true. This article reviews theory and research relevant to self‐fulfilling prophecies with particular foci on the underlying mechanisms that produce self‐fulfilling prophecies, the power of self‐fulfilling prophecies to alter behavior, and the extent to which self‐fulfilling prophecies contribute to social problems.     

The Content of Older Adults’ Autobiographical Memories Predicts the Beneficial Outcomes of Reminiscence Group Participation

Much research has investigated the beneficial outcomes of reminiscence groups, like guided autobiography groups. Few have assessed whether the content of the autobiographical memories shared during these groups, however, predicts beneficial outcomes. This is the main goal of the current study. Sixteen participants responded to questionnaires about depression, death attitudes, and psychological well-being before and after an 8-week reminiscence group. Results indicated that group participation decreased depression, lowered fear and avoidance of death, and improved death acceptance. The 41 memory narratives collected from group participants were content analyzed for affective, cognitive, and sensory processes. Analyses revealed that memory content predicted levels of depression after group participation. Specifically, memories with more positive affective words (e.g., happy) predicted less depressive symptoms, and memories with negative cognitive process words (e.g., perhaps) predicted more depressive symptoms. The implications for remembering life events in old age are discussed.     

Continuous dynamics of color categorization

In order to assess whether color categorization is sensitive to within-category differences in hue, we monitored mouse trajectories in a modified categorization task. Participants saw color swatches from a blue-green continuum and categorized them with a computer mouse by selecting one of two colored regions at the top of a monitor. An analysis of the mouse trajectories showed that the deviation toward the competing category was a function of hue: As hues approached the category boundary, they increasingly deviated to the competitor. This work presents evidence for parallel activation on the level of hue and category processing for color, as well as simultaneous activation of perceptually adjacent categories. Thus, a dynamic process sensitive to fine-grained within-category detail best characterizes color categorization.     

The Relation Between Eating- and Weight-Related Disturbances and Depression in Adolescence: A Review

Depression often emerges during adolescence and persists into adulthood. Thus, it is critical to study risk factors that contribute to the development of depression in adolescence. One set of risk factors that has been recently studied in adolescent depression research is eating- and weight-related disturbances (EWRDs). EWRDs encompass negative cognitions related to one’s body or physical appearance, negative attitudes toward eating, and unhealthy weight control behaviors. However, there have been no comprehensive reviews of EWRDs and depression research that are contextualized within developmental frameworks of adolescent depression. Thus, this review will summarize research findings on the relation between EWRDs and depression in adolescence using a cognitive vulnerability developmental framework. First, a brief overview of epidemiological findings on depression is provided in order to highlight the importance of examining depression in adolescence. Second, a cognitive vulnerability developmental framework that can be used to conceptualize depression in adolescence is described. Next, theories and findings on EWRDs and depression in adolescence are summarized within this framework. Research limitations and suggestions for future research are provided. Finally, implications of this review related to the assessment, intervention, and prevention of depression in adolescence are provided.     

The matching relation and situation-specific bias modulation in professional football play selection

The utility of a quantitative model depends on the extent to which its fitted parameters vary systematically with environmental events of interest. Professional football statistics were analyzed to determine whether play selection (passing versus rushing plays) could be accounted for with the generalized matching equation, and in particular whether variations in play selection across game situations would manifest as changes in the equation's fitted parameters. Statistically significant changes in bias were found for each of five types of game situations; no systematic changes in sensitivity were observed. Further analyses suggested relationships between play selection bias and both turnover probability (which can be described in terms of punishment) and yards-gained variance (which can be described in terms of variable-magnitude reinforcement schedules). The present investigation provides a useful demonstration of association between face-valid, situation-specific effects in a domain of everyday interest, and a theoretically important term of a quantitative model of behavior. Such associations, we argue, are an essential focus in translational extensions of quantitative models.     

Relational Aggression and Hostile Attribution Biases: Testing Multiple Statistical Methods and Models

The present study used both categorical and dimensional approaches to test the association between relational and physical aggression and hostile intent attributions for both relational and instrumental provocation situations using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development longitudinal Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (M = 8.3 years-old, SD = 0.19, N = 840). A one standard deviation threshold was used to create categorical aggression status groups. In categorical analyses, children who were both relationally and physically aggressive were found to attribute more hostile intent attributions in relationally provocative situations. Results from the dimensional analyses indicated that female gender, physical aggression, and hostile attribution biases for instrumental provocations each predicted increases in relational aggression over time. Further, relational aggression was not predictive of hostile attribution biases for relational provocations, and instead physical aggression was predictive. Implications for the fields of developmental psychology and psychopathology are discussed.