慈悲冥想对利他行为的影响及其认知神经机制

慈悲冥想是一类旨在培养对自己和他人无条件的善意与同情的冥想练习方法, 主要包括慈心禅和怜悯禅修。诸多研究表明, 慈悲冥想可以促进练习者的利他行为。就影响机制而言, 慈悲冥想可能是通过增强对他人不幸的共情反应, 促进情绪的有效调控和提高亲社会动机来影响练习者的利他行为。未来的研究需选择更具生态效度的利他行为测量方法, 深入挖掘慈悲冥想影响利他行为的动态神经加工过程, 并尝试将慈悲冥想应用于临床群体。     

隐藏情绪分析与识别方法

隐藏情绪识别对公共安全防范与预警具有重要的意义。微表情是揭示隐藏情绪的一条重要通道。但目前隐藏情绪研究较少且微表情因其细微幅度与快速出现等特性难以识别, 其研究尚未在实际中广泛应用。因为, 隐藏情绪的认知与表达机理亟需系统的研究,采集实际场景中的微表情数据, 并以脑电信号辅助微表情的精确标注是提高微表情标注效率的有效途径。深入研究微表情识别方法, 并辅以人脸颜色、注视估计和非接触生理信号等多通道数据, 以检测与识别隐藏情绪。社会公共安全是隐藏情绪分析和识别的典型场景。面向精神疾病患者两害行为(即危害自身或他人的危险行为)风险评估和服刑人员会见场景隐藏情绪检测, 可以有效地对相应系统和方法进行验证和修正。     

时间任务需求对无关情绪面孔注意捕获的影响

注意捕获是指与任务无关的刺激能够不自觉地吸引注意的现象。实验一采用视觉搜索任务,考察与主任务无关的情绪面孔的注意捕获水平及其机制,实验二进一步探究时间任务需求对无关情绪面孔注意捕获的影响。结果发现:与其他情绪面孔相比,愤怒的情绪面孔捕获了更多的注意,且受到整体情绪加工的影响;时间任务需求影响了目标刺激的注意选择,但愤怒优势效应不受到时间任务需求的影响,因此可能是一种较为自动化的加工过程。     

情绪的相容性对创造性思维的影响

为探讨具身内隐情绪和外显情绪之间的相容性和不相容性对创造性思维的影响,实验采用情绪视频启动范式诱发被试的积极情绪或消极情绪,同时采用面部表情操纵技术诱导其具身积极情绪或具身消极情绪,然后要求被试完成创造性思维测验中的替代使用任务（AUT）与顿悟字谜测验。结果发现：在积极情绪下,情绪相容组的AUT流畅性得分显著高于情绪不相容组;而在消极情绪下,情绪相容组的AUT原创性得分与顿悟字谜得分显著高于情绪不相容组;灵活性在两种情绪条件下的差异均不显著。结果表明,面部表情和外显情绪的相容性有利于创造性思维的表现,积极情绪和消极情绪下的情绪相容性分别影响着创造性思维的不同成分。     

Toward a social psychophysiology of vagally mediated heart rate variability: Concepts and methods in self‐regulation,emotion, and interpersonal processes

Theory and research on self‐regulation, emotional adjustment, and interpersonal processes focus increasingly on parasympathetic functioning, using measures of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This review describes models of vmHRV in these areas, and issues in measurement and analysis. We propose a framework organizing theory and research as examining (a) vmHRV as an individual difference or a situational response, and (b) resting, reactive, or recovery levels. Evidence supports interpretation of individual differences in resting vmHRV as a broad biomarker for adaptive functioning, but its specificity and underlying mechanisms require elaboration. Individual differences in vagal reactivity (i.e., trait‐like differences in vmHRV decreases during challenge or stress) are less commonly studied in adults and results are mixed. Many stressors and challenges evoke temporary decreases in vmHRV, and in some research self‐regulatory effort evokes increases. In a smaller literature, positive interpersonal experiences and some restorative processes increase resting vmHRV, whereas depletion of self‐regulatory capacity through related effort decreases it. Greater attention to conceptual distinctions regarding vmHRV constructs and several methodological issues will strengthen future research. Importantly, researchers should exercise caution in equating vmHRV with specific psychosocial constructs, especially in the absence of converging assessments and precise experimental manipulations.     

How (and where) does moral judgment work?

Moral psychology has long focused on reasoning, but recent evidence suggests that moral judgment is more a matter of emotion and affective intuition than deliberate reasoning. Here we discuss recent findings in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including several studies that specifically investigate moral judgment. These findings indicate the importance of affect, although they allow that reasoning can play a restricted but significant role in moral judgment. They also point towards a preliminary account of the functional neuroanatomy of moral judgment, according to which many brain areas make important contributions to moral judgment although none is devoted specifically to it.     

Emotion Socialization in Families of Children With an Anxiety Disorder

Compared emotion socialization in 26 children with anxiety disorders ages 8–12 years and their mothers to 26 nonclinical counterparts without psychopathology. Children and their mothers participated in an emotion interaction task in which they discussed occasions when the child felt worry, sadness, and anger. Responses were coded for length of discussion, proportion of words spoken by child vs. mother, frequency of positive and negative emotion words, explanatory discussion of emotion, and maternal facilitation of emotion discussion. Children and their mothers also completed the Expressiveness and Control scales of the Family Environment Scale. Results indicated that mothers of children with an anxiety disorder spoke less frequently than their child, used significantly fewer positive emotion words, and discouraged their childrens emotion discussions more than did mothers of nonclinical children. Nonclinical children and their mothers indicated significantly more emotional expressiveness in their families than did children with an anxiety disorder and their mothers. These results highlight the potential role of truncated family emotional expressivity in the emotional development and functioning of children with an anxiety disorder.     

Emotional effects of startling background music during reading news reports: The moderating influence of dispositional BIS and BAS sensitivities

We examined the moderating influence of dispositional behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivities on the relationship of startling background music with emotion-related subjective and physiological responses elicited during reading news reports, and with memory performance among 26 adult men and women. Physiological parameters measured were respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), electrodermal activity (EDA), and facial electromyography (EMG). The results showed that, among high BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as more interesting and elicited higher zygomatic EMG activity and RSA than news stories with non-startling music. Among low BAS individuals, news stories with startling background music were rated as less pleasant and more arousing and prompted higher EDA. No BIS-related effects or effects on memory were found. Startling background music may have adverse (e.g., negative arousal) or beneficial effects (e.g., a positive emotional state and stronger positive engagement) depending on dispositional BAS sensitivity of an individual. Actual or potential applications of this research include the personalization of media presentations when using modern media and communications technologies.     

A contribution towards an analytic theory of violence

Abstract This paper considers some of the clinical and theoretical problems contingent upon the imprecision and lack of clarity with which the word and concept 'violence' is used. A definition of violence is proposed, which separates the concept of violence from the related concept of aggression and sees the former as a particular form of the latter. This definition also proposes that violence must always have a psychological component aspect. It is contended that clarity is important clinically so that analysts can distinguish psychologically destructive from psychologically creative elements in their patients, in their own psychological functioning and in the countertransference. The phenomenon of violence is considered in the light of Fordham's model of development, in particular that violence may be viewed as a consequence of a failure to integrate normal, aggressive aspects of the personality. Violence is seen as uncontained, split-off aggression, subjected to psychological projection. It is proposed that a particular quality of the experience that is being projected is an uncontained sense of violation. The notion of 'mindless violence' is considered.