Suppression of negative and expression of positive emotions: Divergent effects of emotional display rules in a hostile service interaction

Cross-sectional studies have found that demands to express positive emotions have more desirable associations with service providers' well-being and service quality than demands to suppress negative emotions. Despite their potential importance, emotional labour research has not clarified the nature of these differences yet. The present experimental study aimed to investigate the causal effects of demands to suppress negative emotions, demands to express positive emotions, and their interaction in a simulated service interaction. In total, 101 participants were instructed to play the role of a service employee, who had to interact with a dissatisfied and uncivil customer. Participants were randomly given information that the organization expected them to (1) express genuinely felt emotions, (2) suppress negative emotions, (3) express positive emotions, or (4) suppress negative emotions and express positive emotions. Results confirmed that demands to suppress negative emotions decreased well-being, whereas demands to express positive emotions led to a better service quality. Moreover, service quality was only increased if demands to express positive emotions were not supplemented by demands to suppress negative emotions. These findings suggest that not only demands to express positive emotions can reduce the cost/benefit ratio of emotional labour, but also organizations should avoid imposing demands to suppress negative emotions.     

Intact emotion-induced recognition bias in neuropsychological patients with executive control deficits

In recognition memory tasks, emotionally negative words are judged more often as "old" relative to emotionally neutral words, suggesting a shift in response bias. We wondered whether this bias shift was due to the flexible regulation of executive control during memory retrieval. To address this question, we investigated individuals with high variability in executive control functions. As expected, we observed that emotional word meaning did indeed have a strong influence on the bias toward responding "old," independent of recognition accuracy and overall response bias. However, these effects were uncorrelated with executive control, as measured by the Trail Making Test, and were fully intact, even in a sample of hospitalized neurological patients with severe executive dysfunctions, some of whom had marked damage in fronto-thalamo-striatal networks. Having concluded that the emotion-induced bias must develop on different grounds, we went on to discuss alternative explanations.     

Effects of pointing direction and direction predictability on event-related lateralizations of the EEG

In two experiments, we investigated hemispheric electroencephalography (EEG) differences in 9(12) healthy volunteers during pointing to lateral and central targets. The questions addressed were whether horizontal pointing direction and the predictability of pointing direction modulated hemispheric differences (event-related lateralizations of the EEG = ERLs). To vary pointing direction predictability, targets were displayed either randomly at one of nine different positions on a screen (random) or at the same horizontal position in five subsequent trials (sequenced) while vertical positions varied randomly. Event-related lateralizations (ERLs) varied with pointing direction. This was true across changes in target eccentricity and pointing distance. Foci of the ERLs were in premotor and posterior parietal cortex, which might reflect the critical involvement of these areas in the control of visually guided reaching. Direction predictability reduced the parietal and premotor ERL before pointing onset, probably reflecting a lesser effort in visuomotor transformation. Predictability also added an overlying N2pc component to the early ERL after target onset and increased direction effects during movement.     

Cortical plasticity associated with stuttering therapy

Neuroimaging studies have indicated that persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) may be associated both with an abnormality in white matter of left-hemispheric speech areas and a right-hemispheric hyperactivity. The latter may compensate for the deficient structural connectivity in the left hemisphere. To investigate the effects of stuttering therapy on brain activity nine male adults with PDS underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and within 12 weeks after fluency shaping therapy. Brain response differences during overt sentence reading before and after therapy were assessed by utilizing random effects analyses. After therapy, a more widespread activation was observed in frontal speech and language regions and temporal areas of both hemispheres, particularly and more pronounced on the left side. Interestingly, distinct posttreatment left-sided activation increases were located directly adjacent to a recently detected area of white matter anomaly [M. Sommer, M.A. Koch, W. Paulus, C. Weiller, C. Buchel (2002). Disconnection of speech-relevant brain areas in persistent developmental stuttering. The Lancet, 360, 380-383] suggesting that fluency shaping techniques reorganize neuronal communication between left-sided speech motor planning, motor execution, and temporal areas. Hence, a therapeutic mechanism can be assumed to remodel brain circuitry close to the source of the dysfunction instead of reinforcing compensation via homologous contralateral brain networks. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn about and be able to: (1) describe brain activation changes detected shortly after fluency-shaping therapy; (2) identify left-hemispheric regions where a (re)functionalization after fluency-shaping therapy seems to occur adjacent to a recently described abnormal white matter region in PDS subjects; and (3) discuss how an effective cerebral compensation mechanism for stuttering could work.     

Possible-Worlds Semantics for Modal Notions Conceived as Predicates

If is conceived as an operator, i.e., an expression that gives applied to a formula another formula, the expressive power of the language is severely restricted when compared to a language where is conceived as a predicate, i.e., an expression that yields a formula if it is applied to a term. This consideration favours the predicate approach. The predicate view, however, is threatened mainly by two problems: Some obvious predicate systems are inconsistent, and possible-worlds semantics for predicates of sentences has not been developed very far. By introducing possible-worlds semantics for the language of arithmetic plus the unary predicate , we tackle both problems. Given a frame <W,R> consisting of a set W of worlds and a binary relation R on W, we investigate whether we can interpret at every world in such a way that A holds at a world wW if and only if A holds at every world vW such that wRv. The arithmetical vocabulary is interpreted by the standard model at every world. Several paradoxes (like Montague's Theorem, Gödel's Second Incompleteness Theorem, McGee's Theorem on the -inconsistency of certain truth theories, etc.) show that many frames, e.g., reflexive frames, do not allow for such an interpretation. We present sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of a suitable interpretation of at any world. Sound and complete semi-formal systems, corresponding to the modal systems K and K4, for the class of all possible-worlds models for predicates and all transitive possible-worlds models are presented. We apply our account also to nonstandard models of arithmetic and other languages than the language of arithmetic.     

Sex behavior of epileptic patients

Fifty female epileptic patients were questioned as to sexual behavior and attitude to pregnancy, and related matters. This investigation too confirmed a tendency towards lessened sexual activity among epileptic patients. As a group, the patients showed no deviation from nationwide average values in respect of attitudes and expecter behavior concerning pregnancy, sexuality, and desire for children. The demonstrable interdependence of clinical progress and social background is discussed for its value in counselind.     

Evaluation of psychological performance parameters in the use of Finlepsin and Convulsofin

The psychomotorial tempo was investigated in a particular case study of seven patients during the introduction of Convulsofin respectively Finlepsin. For this end the reaction rate was registered at the same moment as the EEG. The valuation of the psychological parameters referred to optimal courses of the introduction. Three months after the beginning of introduction the examined criterions (psychological, clinical, pharmacological, EEG) showed a equally positive tendency. An observation period for the prognosis valuation of at least three months is recommended. Negative deviations can be involved by drugs or by disturbances of the compliance.     

Self-motion sensation influenced by visual fixation

Subjects were exposed to angular decelerations of between 1 and 50 deg/sec’ (1) in total darkness, (2) in view of a dim subject-stationary fixation light, or (3) inside an illuminated subject-stationary striped cylinder (conflict stimulation). Vestibularly induced eye movements led to the oculogyral illusion of object motion. This phenomenon can be distinguished from that of the sensation of self-rotation. At the end of deceleration, the initial velocity of self-rotation sensation is similar during all three stimulus conditions, but is reduced in duration with the conflict stimulus. Differences of interpretation in the literature concerning these phenomena can be explained on the basis of the failure to distinguish between the oculogyral illusion and sensation of self-motion and the inability to fully suppress vestibular eye movements.     

Social-consensual conceptions concerning the progress of aggressive interactions

The present study investigated social consensual conceptions concerning the appropriateness relation between an initiative aggressive action and the reaction to it. To this end subjects were asked to choose between four configurations of mediatory information between B's initial act and A's reaction (i.e. ‘A's offence at B's behaviour’, ‘inappropriateness of B's behaviour’, ‘A's personal standards’, ‘A's fear of negative consequences’), so as to combine identical initial acts with incompatible reactions (i.e. ‘escalation’, ‘breaking’ of, and ‘compensation’) into meaningful episodes. The statistical procedure used, configural frequency analysis, shows that as compared with the number of theoretically possible configurations, very few were selected by subjects (with a high degree of unanimaty) as being specific to a particular type of reaction. Apparently subjects have definite and uniform conceptions about the appropriateness of incompatible reactions to certain aggressive actions in interpersonal conflicts.