Showing papers on "Valence (psychology) published in 2007"

The world of emotions is not two-dimensional.

Abstract: For more than half a century, emotion researchers have attempted to establish the dimensional space that most economically accounts for similarities and differences in emotional experience. Today, many researchers focus exclusively on two-dimensional models involving valence and arousal. Adopting a theoretically based approach, we show for three languages that four dimensions are needed to satisfactorily represent similarities and differences in the meaning of emotion words. In order of importance, these dimensions are evaluation-pleasantness, potency-control, activation-arousal, and unpredictability. They were identified on the basis of the applicability of 144 features representing the six components of emotions: (a) appraisals of events, (b) psychophysiological changes, (c) motor expressions, (d) action tendencies, (e) subjective experiences, and (f) emotion regulation.

SemEval-2007 Task 14: Affective Text

Abstract: The "Affective Text" task focuses on the classification of emotions and valence (positive/negative polarity) in news headlines, and is meant as an exploration of the connection between emotions and lexical semantics. In this paper, we describe the data set used in the evaluation and the results obtained by the participating systems.

A fuzzy physiological approach for continuously modeling emotion during interaction with play technologies

Abstract: The popularity of computer games has exploded in recent years, yet methods of evaluating user emotional state during play experiences lag far behind. There are few methods of assessing emotional state, and even fewer methods of quantifying emotion during play. This paper presents a novel method for continuously modeling emotion using physiological data. A fuzzy logic model transformed four physiological signals into arousal and valence. A second fuzzy logic model transformed arousal and valence into five emotional states relevant to computer game play: boredom, challenge, excitement, frustration, and fun. Modeled emotions compared favorably with a manual approach, and the means were also evaluated with subjective self-reports, exhibiting the same trends as reported emotions for fun, boredom, and excitement. This approach provides a method for quantifying emotional states continuously during a play experience.

Music and emotion: electrophysiological correlates of the processing of pleasant and unpleasant music.

Abstract: Human emotion and its electrophysiological correlates are still poorly understood. The present study examined whether the valence of perceived emotions would differentially influence EEG power spectra and heart rate (HR). Pleasant and unpleasant emotions were induced by consonant and dissonant music. Unpleasant (compared to pleasant) music evoked a significant decrease of HR, replicating the pattern of HR responses previously described for the processing of emotional pictures, sounds, and films. In the EEG, pleasant (contrasted to unpleasant) music was associated with an increase of frontal midline (Fm) theta power. This effect is taken to reflect emotional processing in close interaction with attentional functions. These findings show that Fm theta is modulated by emotion more strongly than previously believed.

Predicting Odor Pleasantness from Odorant Structure: Pleasantness as a Reflection of the Physical World

Abstract: Although it is agreed that physicochemical features of molecules determine their perceived odor, the rules governing this relationship remain unknown. A significant obstacle to such understanding is the high dimensionality of features describing both percepts and molecules. We applied a statistical method to reduce dimensionality in both odor percepts and physicochemical descriptors for a large set of molecules. We found that the primary axis of perception was odor pleasantness, and critically, that the primary axis of physicochemical properties reflected the primary axis of olfactory perception. This allowed us to predict the pleasantness of novel molecules by their physicochemical properties alone. Olfactory perception is strongly shaped by experience and learning. However, our findings suggest that olfactory pleasantness is also partially innate, corresponding to a natural axis of maximal discriminability among biologically relevant molecules.

Relationships between musical structure and psychophysiological measures of emotion.

Abstract: Psychophysiological studies with music have not examined what exactly in the music might be responsible for the observed physiological phenomena. The authors explored the relationships between 11 structural features of 16 musical excerpts and both self-reports of felt pleasantness and arousal and different physiological measures (respiration, skin conductance, heart rate). Overall, the relationships between musical features and experienced emotions corresponded well with those known between musical structure and perceived emotions. This suggests that the internal structure of the music played a primary role in the induction of the emotions in comparison to extramusical factors. Mode, harmonic complexity, and rhythmic articulation best differentiated between negative and positive valence, whereas tempo, accentuation, and rhythmic articulation best discriminated high arousal from low arousal. Tempo, accentuation, and rhythmic articulation were the features that most strongly correlated with physiological measures. Music that induced faster breathing and higher minute ventilation, skin conductance, and heart rate was fast, accentuated, and staccato. This finding corroborates the contention that rhythmic aspects are the major determinants of physiological responses to music.

Expressing emotion in text-based communication

Abstract: Our ability to express and accurately assess emotional states is central to human life. The present study examines how people express and detect emotions during text-based communication, an environment that eliminates the nonverbal cues typically associated with emotion. The results from 40 dyadic interactions suggest that users relied on four strategies to express happiness versus sadness, including disagreement, negative affect terms, punctuation, and verbosity. Contrary to conventional wisdom, communication partners readily distinguished between positive and negative valence emotional communicators in this text-based context. The results are discussed with respect to the Social Information Processing model of strategic relational adaptation in mediated communication.

The Role of Affect in Student Learning. A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Considering the Interaction of Affect, Motivation, and Engagement.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the theoretical models of affect in students' learning. Circumplex models of affect differ from other current perspectives on affect in education. For instance, the control-value theory of emotions in education focuses specifically on emotions and does not consider more general mood states. In addition, rather than differentiating emotional states based on valence and activation, it categorizes emotions based on appraisal processes and highlights the dimensions of object focus and valence. Other research on students' affect in educational settings focuses on specific affective states, such as test anxiety, interest as an affective state, and shame rather than general models of affect. In contrast to these other approaches, the circumplex model presents a more comprehensive model that can be used to integrate a variety of affective states, including moods and emotions, in educational settings. Using a circumplex model of affect integrates research on achievement goal theory, affective states, and school engagement.

Do emotional stimuli interfere with response inhibition? Evidence from the stop signal paradigm

Abstract: Participants performed a stop signal task in which an emotional picture preceded a neutral stimulus. They were asked to respond on the basis of the identity of the neutral stimulus unless an auditory tone was presented, in which case participants should try to withhold their response. In Experiment 1, we used positive, neutral and negative pictures. Results demonstrated that the presentation of an emotional stimulus prolonged both response and stopping latencies regardless of the valence of the emotional stimulus. This suggested that the degree of arousal could modulate the interference effect. In Experiment 2, high- and low-arousing pictures with a positive or negative valence were used. In line with the arousal hypothesis, high-arousal pictures interfered more with responding and stopping than low-arousing pictures whereas the valence of the pictures had little or no effect. These findings support the hypothesis that emotional stimuli interrupt ongoing cognitively controlled activities because they attr...

Emotion Induction After Direct Intracerebral Stimulations of Human Amygdala

Abstract: Very few studies in humans have quantified the effect obtained after direct electrical stimulation of the amygdala, in terms of both emotional and physiological responses. We tested patients with drug-resistant partial epilepsies who were explored with intracerebral electrodes in the setting of presurgical evaluation. We assessed the effects of direct electric stimulations in either the right or the left amygdala on verbally self-reported emotions (Izard scale) and on psychophysiological markers of emotions by recording skin conductance responses (SCRs) and by measuring the electromyographic responses of the corrugator supercilii (EMGc). According to responses on Izard scales, electrical stimulations of the right amygdala induced negative emotions, especially fear and sadness. In contrast, stimulations of the left amygdala were able to induce either pleasant (happiness) or unpleasant (fear, anxiety, sadness) emotions. Unpleasant states induced by electrical stimulations were accompanied by an increase in EMGc activity. In addition, when emotional changes were reported after electrical stimulation, SCR amplitude for the positively valenced emotions was larger than for the negative ones. These findings provide direct in vivo evidence that the human amygdala is involved in emotional experiences and strengthen the hypothesis of a functional asymmetry of the amygdala for valence and arousal processing.

Stability and variability of affective experience and interpersonal behavior in borderline personality disorder.

Abstract: This study examined both mean levels and intraindividual variability in the mood and interpersonal behavior of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and nonclinical control participants over a 20-day event-contingent recording period. Individuals in the BPD group experienced more unpleasantly valenced affect and were less dominant, more submissive, more quarrelsome, and more extreme in overall levels of behavior than control participants. In addition to these mean-level differences, individuals with BPD also reported more intraindividual variability in overall affect valence and in pleasantly valenced affect; displayed greater variability in dominant, quarrelsome, and agreeable behaviors; and exhibited an increased tendency to "spin" among interpersonal behaviors relative to nonclinical control participants. The findings document behavioral and affective manifestations of BPD in the context of naturally occurring interpersonal situations.

How emotional auditory stimuli modulate time perception.

Abstract: Emotional and neutral sounds rated for valence and arousal were used to investigate the influence of emotions on timing in reproduction and verbal estimation tasks with durations from 2 s to 6 s. Results revealed an effect of emotion on temporal judgment, with emotional stimuli judged to be longer than neutral ones for a similar arousal level. Within scalar expectancy theory (J. Gibbon, R. Church, & W. Meck, 1984), this suggests that emotion-induced activation generates an increase in pacemaker rate, leading to a longer perceived duration. A further exploration of self-assessed emotional dimensions showed an effect of valence and arousal. Negative sounds were judged to be longer than positive ones, indicating that negative stimuli generate a greater increase of activation. High-arousing stimuli were perceived to be shorter than low-arousing ones. Consistent with attentional models of timing, this seems to reflect a decrease of attention devoted to time, leading to a shorter perceived duration. These effects, robust across the 2 tasks, are limited to short intervals and overall suggest that both activation and attentional processes modulate the timing of emotional events.

Prepared to eat: How immediate affective and motivational responses to food cues are influenced by food deprivation.

Abstract: Three studies examined how food deprivation influences the immediate valence of food stimuli as well as spontaneous motivational tendencies toward them. We assumed that immediate reactions towards food stimuli should be tuned to the basic needs of the organism. In Study 1, the immediate valence of food names as a function of need state was assessed using an Implicit Association Test (IAT) in a quasi-experimental design. Food deprivation led to a more positive immediate valence of food items. In Study 2, these results were replicated using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task. In Study 3, immediate motivational reactions toward pictorial food stimuli were assessed. As hypothesized, approach reactions were facilitated for participants tested before as compared to after lunch, even in a sample with eating disorders. We thus conclude that the immediate valence of edible objects partially reflects regulation in the service of need fulfillment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Individual differences in core affect variability and their relationship to personality and psychological adjustment

Abstract: How people's feelings change across time can be represented as trajectories in a core affect space defined by the dimensions of valence and activation. In this article, the authors analyzed individual differences in within-person affective variability defined as characteristics of core affect trajectories, introducing new ways to conceptualize affective variability. In 2 studies, participants provided multiple reports across time describing how they were feeling in terms of core affect. From these data, characteristics of participants' core affect trajectories were derived. Across both studies, core affect variability was negatively related to average valence, self-esteem, and agreeableness, and it was positively related to neuroticism and depression. Moreover, spin, a measure of how much people experienced qualitatively different feelings within the core affect space, was related more consistently to trait measures of adjustment and personality than other measures of within-person variability, including widely used measures of within-person single-dimension standard deviations.

Emotion simulation during language comprehension

Abstract: We report a novel finding on the relation of emotion and language. Covert manipulation of emotional facial posture interacts with sentence valence when measuring the amount of time to judge valence (Experiment 1) and sensibility (Experiment 2) of the sentence. In each case, an emotion-sentence compatibility effect is found: Judgment times are faster when facial posture and sentence valence match than when they mismatch. We interpret the finding using a simulation account; that is, emotional systems contribute to language comprehension much as they do in social interaction. Because the effect was not observed on a lexical decision task using emotion-laden words (Experiment 3), we suggest that the emotion simulation affects comprehension processes beyond initial lexical access.

The right-hemisphere and valence hypotheses: could they both be right (and sometimes left)?

Abstract: The two halves of the brain are believed to play different roles in emotional processing, but the specific contribution of each hemisphere continues to be debated. The right-hemisphere hypothesis suggests that the right cerebrum is dominant for processing all emotions regardless of affective valence, whereas the valence specific hypothesis posits that the left hemisphere is specialized for processing positive affect while the right hemisphere is specialized for negative affect. Here, healthy participants viewed two split visual-field facial affect perception tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging, one presenting chimeric happy faces (i.e. half happy/half neutral) and the other presenting identical sad chimera (i.e. half sad/half neutral), each masked immediately by a neutral face. Results suggest that the posterior right hemisphere is generically activated during non-conscious emotional face perception regardless of affective valence, although greater activation is produced by negative facial cues. The posterior left hemisphere was generally less activated by emotional faces, but also appeared to recruit bilateral anterior brain regions in a valence-specific manner. Findings suggest simultaneous operation of aspects of both hypotheses, suggesting that these two rival theories may not actually be in opposition, but may instead reflect different facets of a complex distributed emotion processing system.

Characterization of the Affective Norms for English Words by discrete emotional categories

Abstract: The Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) are a commonly used set of 1,034 words characterized on the affective dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance. Traditionally, studies of affect have used stimuli characterized along either affective dimensions or discrete emotional categories, but much current research draws on both of these perspectives. As such, stimuli that have been thoroughly characterized according to both of these approaches are exceptionally useful. In an effort to provide researchers with such a characterization of stimuli, we have collected descriptive data on the ANEW to identify which discrete emotions are elicited by each word in the set. Our data, coupled with previous characterizations of the dimensional aspects of these words, will allow researchers to control for or manipulate stimulus properties in accordance with both dimensional and discrete emotional views, and provide an avenue for further integration of these two perspectives. Our data have been archived at www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

Multidimensional normative ratings for the International Affective Picture System.

Abstract: The purpose of the present investigation was to replicate and extend the International Affective Picture System norms (Ito, Cacioppo, & Lang, 1998; Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1999). These norms were developed to provide researchers with photographic slides that varied in emotional evocation, especially arousal and valence. In addition to collecting rating data on the dimensions of arousal and valence, we collected data on the dimensions of consequentiality, meaningfulness, familiarity, distinctiveness, and memorability. Furthermore, we collected ratings on the primary emotions of happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear. A total of 1,302 participants were tested in small groups. The participants in each group rated a subset of 18 slides on 14 dimensions. Ratings were obtained on 703 slides. The means and standard deviations for all of the ratings are provided. We found our valence ratings to be similar to the previous norms. In contrast, our participants were more likely to rate the slides as less arousing than in the previous norms. The mean ratings on the remaining 12 dimensions were all below the midpoint of the 9-point Likert scale. However, sufficient variability in ratings across the slides indicates that selecting slides on the basis of these variables is feasible. Overall, the present ratings should allow investigators to use these norms for research purposes, especially in research dealing with the interrelationships among emotion and cognition. The means and standard deviations for emotions may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet from www.psychonomic.org/archive.

Monitoring Affective Trajectories during Complex Learning

Abstract: Monitoring Affective Trajectories during Complex Learning Sidney D’Mello (sdmello@memphis.edu) Department of Computer Science, University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 USA Roger S. Taylor (rstaylor@memphis.edu) Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 USA Art Graesser (a-graesser@memphis.edu) Department of Psychology, University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 USA A series of studies have recently explored the affective states that occur during complex learning. Studies by Graesser and his colleagues have collected online measures of affect, such as observations by trained judges and emote- aloud protocols, as well as offline judgments of emotions by multiple judges (Craig, et al., 2004; D’Mello et al., 2006; Graesser et al., 2006). These studies have revealed that the basic emotions identified by Ekman and Friesen (1978), namely anger, fear, sadness, joy, disgust, and surprise, typically do not play a significant role in learning (see also Kort Reilly, & Picard, 2001). Instead they documented a set of affective states that typically do play a significant role in learning, at least in the case of college students learning about computer literacy with an intelligent tutoring system. These affective states were boredom, flow (engagement, Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), confusion, and frustration. They also monitored the affective states of delight and surprise, which occurred less frequently. While some of these affective states might be viewed as purely cognitive in nature, our position is that they should be classified as affective states (or emotions) because these states are accompanied by significant changes in physiological arousal compared with a “neutral” state of no apparent emotion or feeling (Barrett, 2006; Meyer & Turner, in press; Stein & Hernandez, in press). Furthermore, affective-cognitive composites are particularly relevant to higher-order learning. The aforementioned set of affective states can be situated within a broader perspective of emotion, in particular Russell’s (2003) Core Affect framework. This perspective holds that an affective state is composed of two integrated components: valence (pleasure to displeasure) and arousal (activation to deactivation). These components can be depicted graphically with valence represented on the X-axis and arousal on the Y-axis. Moving from left to right along the X-axis (valence) would correspond to increasing feelings of pleasure. Moving upward along the Y-axis (arousal) would correspond to increasing feelings of activation and energy (see Figure 1). The affective states of boredom, flow, confusion, and frustration will be the primary focus of this paper. These affective states have been previously correlated with learning Abstract This study investigated the transitions between affective states (i.e., boredom, flow, confusion, frustration, delight, and surprise) during learning while college students were tutored in computer literacy by AutoTutor, an automated tutoring system with natural language dialogue. Videos of participants’ faces and the interaction histories were recorded and then played back for the participants to judge their own affective states. We developed a metric to measure the relative likelihood of transitioning from an affective state at time t i to a subsequent affective state at time t i+1 . Several significant trajectories between affective states were identified. Instructional implications are discussed in the context of an expanded version of a cognitive disequilibrium model. Keywords: Affective states; emotions; affect trajectories, affect sequencing; emotion dynamics; AutoTutor; learning; instruction. Introduction There is ample empirical evidence in the psychological literature that emotions (or affective states) are systematically influenced by the knowledge and goals of the learner, and vice versa (Mandler, 1984; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988; Russell, 2003; Stein & Levine, 1991). As individuals interact in the social and physical world, they attempt to assimilate new information with existing knowledge schemas. When new or discrepant information is detected, a mismatch between input and knowledge occurs. Attention shifts to discrepant information, the autonomic nervous system increases in arousal, and the new information may modify the individual’s goals and knowledge. The learner experiences a variety of possible emotions, depending on the context, the amount of change, and whether important goals are blocked. However, this type of affective arousal that accompanies learning is still not well understood. For example, researchers have yet to narrow down the emotions that accompany deep level learning of conceptual material. The consequential impact of the emotions on knowledge acquisition and transfer is still not well understood.

True to our feelings: What our emotions are really telling us.

Abstract: PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION PART I: EMOTIONAL STRATEGIES: AN EXISTENTIALIST PERSPECTIVE 1. Anger as a Way of Engaging the World 2. Why It Is Good to Be Afraid 3. Varieties of Fear and Anger: Emotions and Moods 4. Lessons of Love (and Platos Symposium) 5. We Are Not Alone: Compassion and Sympathy 6. Extremes of Emotion: Grief, Laughter, and Happiness 7. Self-Reproach in Guilt, Shame, and Pride 8. Nasty Emotions: Envy, Spite, Jealousy, Resentment, and Vengeance PART II: TOWARD A GENERAL THEORY: MYTHS ABOUT EMOTIONS 9. What an Emotion Theory Should Do 10. Myth 1: Emotions Are Ineffable 11. Myth 2: Emotions Are Feelings 12. Myth 3: The Hydraulic Model 13. Myth 4: Emotions Are in the Mind 14. Myth 5: Emotions Are Stupid (They Have No Intelligence) 15. Myth 6: Two Flavors of Emotion, Positive and Negative 16. Myth 7: Emotions Are Irrational 17. Myth 8: Emotions Happen to Us (They Are Passions) PART III: THE ETHICS OF EMOTION: A QUEST FOR EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY 18. Emotions as Evaluative Judgments 19. Emotions, Self, and Consciousness 20. Emotional Experience (Feelings) 21. The Universality of Emotions: Evolution and the Human Condition 22. Emotions Across Cultures 23. Happiness, Spirituality, and Emotional Integrity ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

Affect and action: Towards an event-coding account

Abstract: Viewing emotion from an evolutionary perspective, researchers have argued that simple responses to affective stimuli can be triggered without mediation of cognitive processes. Indeed, findings suggest that positively and negatively valenced stimuli trigger approach and avoidance movements automatically. However, affective stimulus–response compatibility phenomena share so many central characteristics with nonaffective stimulus–response compatibility phenomena that one may doubt whether the underlying mechanisms differ. We suggest an “affectively enriched” version of the theory of event coding (TEC) that is able to account for both affective and nonaffective compatibility, and that can account for the observation that both types of compatibility seem to be modulated by goals and intentions. Predictions from the model are tested in an experiment where participants carried out approach and avoidance responses to either the valence or the orientation of emotionally charged pictures. Under affective instructio...

Emotions and False Memories Valence or Arousal

Abstract: The effects of mood on false memories have not been studied systematically until recently. Some results seem to indicate that negative mood may reduce false recall and thus suggest an influence of emotional valence on false memory. The present research tested the effects of both valence and arousal on recall and recognition and indicates that the effect is actually due to arousal. In fact, whether participants∗ mood is positive, negative, or neutral, false memories are significantly more frequent under conditions of high arousal than under conditions of low arousal.

Multiple roles for source credibility under high elaboration: it's all in the timing

Abstract: Past research suggests that under high elaboration conditions, source credibility can play more than one role in persuasion. In particular, source credibility can affect the valence of people's thoughts generated in response to persuasive messages or it can affect the confidence with which people hold those thoughts. In the present research, two experiments explore the conditions under which these conceptually distinct effects occur. It is demonstrated that the effect of source credibility on thought confidence is dominant when source information follows, rather than precedes, a persuasive message. When source information precedes a message, it affects the valence of issue–relevant thinking.

The Facial Expression Coding System (FACES): Development, validation, and utility.

Abstract: This article presents information on the development and validation of the Facial Expression Coding System (FACES; A. M. Kring & D. Sloan, 1991). Grounded in a dimensional model of emotion, FACES provides information on the valence (positive, negative) of facial expressive behavior. In 5 studies, reliability and validity data from 13 diverse samples, including students, psychiatric patients, and community adults, are presented, and results indicate that raters can reliably agree on instances of positive and negative expressive behavior. Validity studies indicate that FACES ratings are related in predictable ways to another observational coding system, facial muscle activity, individual-difference measures of expressiveness and personality, skin conductance, heart rate, and reports of experienced emotion. FACES can be a useful tool for assessing expressive behavior in a variety of contexts.