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Emotional states of animals influence their cognitive processes as well as their behavior. Assessing emotional states is important for animal welfare science as well as for many fields of neuroscience, behavior science, and biomedicine. This can be done in different ways, e.g. through assessing animals' physiological states or interpreting their behaviors. This paper focuses on the so-called cognitive judgment bias test, which has gained special attention in the last 2 decades and has become a highly important tool for measuring emotional states in non-human animals. However, less attention has been given to the epistemology of the cognitive judgment bias test and to disentangling the relevance of different steps in the underlying cognitive mechanisms. This paper sheds some light on both the epistemology of the methods and the architecture of the underlying cognitive abilities of the tested animals. Based on this reconstruction, we propose a scheme for classifying and assessing different cognitive abilities involved in cognitive judgment bias tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the innovative and engaging Philosophy, Literature and Understanding, Jukka Mikkonen investigates a range of developments in multiple disciplines that have complicated traditional debates between cognitivists and non-cognitivists about literature. To avoid the extremes this debate has fallen into, Mikkonen develops a middle course that grounds the cognitive value of literature in its contributions to cultural and self-understanding. As part of this argument, Mikkonen offers an account of how literature can contribute to self-understanding via its narrative form despite what he sees as deep differences between real-life and literary narratives. He concludes that literature can (obliquely) aid our understanding of emotions like grief due to their shared processual nature, and self-understanding generally through its artificiality, the awareness of which allows us to recognize and correct fictionalizing narrative tendencies in our life-narratives. While I agree with Mikkonen's conclusions, I believe they are too modest and that he provides the resources to claim even greater cognitive benefits from literature. Focusing on what it means to 'have a self-narrative' and describing narrative work as it occurs both unreflectively and through self-conscious reflection, this paper argues that that the selectivity, interpretation, and revision said to fictionalize life-narratives are in fact critical to self-understanding, which requires imaginative engagement of the sort Mikkonen sees as characteristic of the practice of literature. This suggests additional and more direct potential cognitive benefits of literature for self-understanding than Mikkonen describes, strengthening and supporting his broader position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dominant view in contemporary cognitive neuroscience is that low-level, comparator-based mechanisms of motor control produce a distinctive experience often called the feeling of agency (the FoA-hypothesis). An opposing view is that comparator-based motor control is largely non-conscious and not associated with any particular type of distinctive phenomenology (the simple hypothesis). In this paper, I critically evaluate the nature of the empirical evidence researchers commonly take to support FoA-hypothesis. The aim of this paper is not only to scrutinize the FoA-hypothesis and data supposed to support it; it is equally to argue that experimentalists supporting the FoA-hypothesis fail to establish that the experimental outcomes are more probable given the FoA-hypothesis than given the simpler hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrative approach to theorising behavioural, affective and cognitive processes in model-driven group decision support (GDS) interventions is needed to gain insight into the (micro-)processes by which outcomes are accomplished. This paper proposes that the theoretical lens of situated affectivity, grounded in recent extensions of scaffolded mind models, is suitable to understand the performativity of affective micro-processes in model-driven GDS interventions. An illustrative vignette of a humorous micro-moment in a group decision workshop is presented to reveal the performativity of extended affective scaffolding processes for group decision development. The lens of situated affectivity constitutes a novel approach for the study of interventionist practice in the context of group decision making (and negotiation). An outlook with opportunities for future research is offered to facilitate an integrated approach to the study of cognitive-affective and behavioural micro-processes in model-driven GDS interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, children are surviving pediatric cancer at unprecedented rates, making it one of modern medicine’s true success stories. However, we are increasingly becoming aware of several deleterious effects of cancer and the subsequent “cure” that extend beyond physical sequelae. Indeed, survivors of childhood cancer commonly report cognitive, emotional, and psychological difficulties, including attentional difficulties, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Cognitive late- and long-term effects have been largely attributed to neurotoxic effects of cancer treatments (e.g., chemotherapy, cranial irradiation, surgery) on brain development. The role of childhood adversity in pediatric cancer - namely, the presence of a life-threatening disease and endurance of invasive medical procedures - has been largely ignored in the existing neuroscientific literature, despite compelling research by our group and others showing that exposure to more commonly studied adverse childhood experiences (i.e., domestic and community violence, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse) strongly imprints on neural development. While these adverse childhood experiences are different in many ways from the experience of childhood cancer (e.g., context, nature, source), they do share a common element of exposure to threat (i.e., threat to life or physical integrity). Therefore, we argue that the double hit of early threat and cancer treatments likely alters neural development, and ultimately, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional outcomes. In this paper, we (1) review the existing neuroimaging research on child, adolescent, and adult survivors of childhood cancer, (2) summarize gaps in our current understanding, (3) propose a novel neurobiological framework that characterizes childhood cancer as a type of childhood adversity, particularly a form of early threat, focusing on development of the hippocampus and the salience and emotion network (SEN), and (4) outline future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permeating across societies and cultures, music is a companion to millions across the globe. Despite being an abstract art form, music affects all of us deeply, encouraging us in periods of difficulty, comforting us in moments of sadness and celebrating with us in times of joy. In recent years, neuroscientists have recognized that listening to and producing music involves a tantalizing mix of practically every human cognitive function. Thus, music has emerged as an invaluable tool to study varying aspects of the human brain such as auditory and motor perception and learning, attention, memory, and emotion. In this paper, we will discuss the different attributes of music and the neural structures associated with them. We will also highlight some recent work in our laboratory at the National Brain Research Centre in India on emotions associated with Hindustani rāga music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project Stylized Animations for Research on Autism (SARA) aims to develop a better understanding of the cognitive processes behind emotional categorization in children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with neurotypically developed peers. To this end, we combine novel real-time non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) algorithms, emotional facial animations, and eye-tracking technologies in a framework that serves as an interactive testbed for empirical research. In this paper, we focus on three experiments that: (1) validate real-time facial animations of virtual characters, (2) evaluate the NPR algorithms to create abstracted facial expressions, and (3) elucidate the relation between eye gaze behavior, ASD and alexithymia (i.e., difficulties in expressing ones emotions). The results show that our animations can be used in the proposed experiments; however, more evaluation is needed regarding the NPR abstractions, especially with individuals with ASD. Finally, even though no correlation was found between gaze behavior, ASD and alexithymia, the study opened several questions that will be addressed in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education and cognition research today generally recognize the tri-dimensional nature of reasoning processes as involving cognitive, social and emotional phenomena. However, there is so far no theoretical framework articulating these three dimensions from a descriptive perspective. This paper aims at presenting a first model of how group emotions work in collective reasoning, and specifies their social and cognitive functions. This model is inspired both from a multidisciplinary literature review and our extensive previous empirical work on an international corpus of videotaped student debates. The cognitive function of emotions is defined in reference to the process of schematization (Grize 1996, 1997) and associated emotional framing (Polo et al. 2013). On the other hand, the social function of emotions refers to recognition-oriented behaviors that correspond to engagement into specific types of group talk (e.g. Mercer 1996), implying specific politeness rules or face-preservation systems (Brown and Levinson 1988). We believe that our multi-dimensional and multi-level approach to group reasoning, which mostly employs a linguistic perspective, can be applied to a diversity of contexts. We hope it will serve as a basis for further discussion on the role of emotions in reasoning among the interdisciplinary community of argumentation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper aimed to adapt and validate the Farsi version of the Believability of Anxious Feelings and Thoughts Questionnaire (BAFT), which measures cognitive fusion/defusion, one of the six components in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The authors assessed the psychometric properties of the BAFT in a sample of undergraduate students. Exploratory Factor Analysis supported a three-factor structure with 16 items. The results from a Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed the goodness of fit of the model. The test also demonstrated a good level of internal consistency and incremental validity. Overall, the results show that the Farsi version of BAFT is a consistent and valid scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to extend prior research on the impact of working in the area of Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation by exploring ICE investigators' perceptions of and reactions to viewing child exploitation material. A diverse sample of 32 ICE investigators across all nine Australian jurisdictions individually participated in anonymous in-depth interviews. Participants were asked to discuss their subjective experience of viewing ICE material and its effect on them and to describe a case that evoked an adverse reaction, the nature of the reaction, and the characteristics of the material that contributed to it. The results revealed that ICE investigators experience salient emotional, cognitive, social and behavioural consequences due to viewing ICE material and their reactions can be short and long term. The degree of negative impact appears to vary markedly across individuals, types and content of material and viewing context, with variation based on individual, case-related and contextual factors both in and outside the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much research that shows people's mood can affect their activities. This paper argues that this also applies to programmers, especially their debugging. Literature-based framework is presented linking programming with various cognitive activities as well as linking cognitive activities with moods. Further, the effect of mood on debugging was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, programmers ( n = 72) saw short movie clips selected for their ability to provoke specific moods. Afterward, they completed a debugging test. Results showed the video clips had a significant effect on programmers' debugging performance; especially, there was a significant difference after watching low- and high-arousal-evoking video clips. In the second experiment, programmers' mood was manipulated by asking participants ( n = 19) to dry run algorithms for at least 16 min. They performed some physical exercises before continuing dry running algorithms again. The results showed a significant increase in arousal and valence that coincided with an improvement in programmers' task performance after the physical exercises. Together, this suggests that programmers' moods influence some programming tasks such as debugging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Why pains are not mental objects (1998) Guy Douglas rightly argues that pains are modes rather than objects of perceptions or sensations. In this paper I try to go a step further and argue that there are circumstances when pains can become objects even while they remain modes of experience. By analysing cases of extreme pain as presented by Scarry, Sartre, Wiesel, Grahek and Wall, I attempt to show that intense physical pain may evolve into a force that, like imagination, can make our most intense state of experience become a mental object. I shall finally argue that, though extreme pains cannot serve as paradigm cases, they do show the general importance of taking pain states to be objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative motor disorder that can associate with deficits in cognitive and emotional processing. In particular, PD has been reported to be mainly associated with defects in executive control and orienting attentional systems. The deficit in emotional processing mainly emerged in facial expression recognition. It is possible that the defects in emotional processing in PD may be secondary to other cognitive impairments, such as attentional deficits. This study was designed to systematically investigate the different weight of automatic and controlled attentional orienting mechanisms implied in emotional selective attention in PD. To address our purpose, we assessed drug-naïve PD patients and age-matched healthy controls with two dot-probe tasks that differed for stimuli duration. Automatic and controlled attentions were evaluated with stimuli lasting 100 ms and 500 ms, respectively. Furthermore, we introduced an emotion recognition task to investigate the performance in explicit emotion classification. The stimuli used in both the tasks dot-probe and emotion recognition were expressive faces displaying neutral, disgusted, fearful, and happy expressions. Our results showed that in PD patients, compared with healthy controls, there was 1) an alteration of automatic and controlled attentional orienting toward emotional faces in both the dot-probe tasks (with short and long durations), and 2) no difference in the emotion recognition task. These findings suggest that, from the early stages of the disease, PD can yield specific deficits in implicit emotion processing task (i.e., dot-probe task) despite a normal performance in explicit tasks that demand overt emotion recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research indicates that training individuals to recruit cognitive control before exposure to negative pictures can facilitate the propensity to use reappraisal and reappraisal success. Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties in cognitive control and emotion regulation, so they may especially benefit from such training. Individuals reporting high ADHD symptoms and controls were randomly assigned to one of two training conditions. In the high emotion control (H-EC) training condition, negative pictures were typically preceded by a stimulus that recruits cognitive control. In contrast, in the low emotion control (L-EC) training condition, negative pictures were typically preceded by a stimulus that does not recruit cognitive control. Participants were then asked to recall an adverse personal event and to reappraise the event. As predicted, instructed reappraisal was more effective in reducing negative mood in the H-EC training compared to the L-EC training. Furthermore, compared to controls, individuals with reported ADHD symptoms showed a greater propensity to use reappraisal after writing the event and a more considerable reduction in event significance and negativity following the instructed reappraisal assignment. We argue that employing cognitive control over emotional information has a causal role in reappraisal use and success among individuals with ADHD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is just over a decade since Vallerand et al. (J Personal Soc Psychol 85:756-767, ) introduced the dualistic model of passion. In this study, we conduct a meta-analytical review of relationships between Vallerand et al's two passions (viz. harmonious and obsessive), and intrapersonal outcomes, and test the moderating role of age, gender, domain, and culture. A systematic literature search yielded 94 studies, within which 27 criterion variables were reported. These criterion variables derived from four research areas within the intrapersonal sphere: (a) well-/ill-being, (b) motivation factors, (c) cognitive outcomes and, (d) behaviour and performance. From these areas we retrieved 1308 independent effect sizes and analysed them using random-effects models. Results showed harmonious passion positively corresponded with positive intrapersonal outcomes (e.g., positive affect, flow, performance). Obsessive passion, conversely, showed positive associations with positive and negative intrapersonal outcomes (e.g., negative affect, rumination, vitality). Correlations were largely invariant across age and gender, but certain relationships were moderated by domain and culture. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the pedagogical dimension of multichannel multimodal learning (MML) and its association with student engagement. Forty-three students from Shanghai Open University participated in the study and their behavioural, emotional, cognitive learning engagement were investigated. Although teaching in the same space, the three instructors developed different MML-integrated pedagogies and delivered different levels of MML experience (i.e., different numbers of modes and channels used and incorporated). A one-factor-three-level ANOVA with a Tukey HSD test was conducted to examine whether students' behavioural, emotional, or cognitive learning engagement on three different levels of MML experience were different. The results showed behavioural and emotional engagement was significantly positively correlated (p =.020 and.026 respectively) to different MML-integrated pedagogies, and students' perception of levels of MML experience was significantly correlated (p =.048) to the levels the present study identified. The present study pointed out the importance of instructors' integrating pedagogies into MML environments. More modes and channels used and incorporated by instructors can better teaching quality by increasing learners' behavioural and emotional engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two sources of emotions influence directed actions, namely, those associated with the environment and those that are consequences of the action. The present study examines the impact of these emotions on movement preparation. It invokes theories from psychology, i.e., ideomotor theory and motor control's cognitive approach through movement analysis. In addition to their action readiness, emotions related to the environment can interfere with actions directed towards a goal. However, intentional action involves a goal that will cause satisfaction when achieved. While most studies consider each emotion's influence separately, few studies confront them to study their respective impact. In the current study, thirty-two right-handed young adults reach for a left target with a stylus that will reduce or enlarge an emotional picture that is initially present (nontarget stimulus). Kinematic analyses show that anticipating the pointing's emotional consequences impacts the final pointing position. All other results emphasize the impact of reducing or enlarging on the preparation and control of movement depending on the direction of movement. The emotional consequences of the action is a weighting factor that is relevant to the action goal and subject's intention, but it is less important than the action's visual consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving justice could be considered a complex social decision-making scenario. Despite the relevance of social decisions for legal contexts, these processes have still not been explored for individuals who work as criminal judges dispensing justice. To bridge the gap, we used a complex social decision-making task (Ultimatum game) and tracked a heart rate variability measurement: the square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (RMSSD) at their baseline (as an implicit measurement that tracks emotion regulation behavior) for criminal judges (n = 24) and a control group (n = 27). Our results revealed that, compared to controls, judges were slower and rejected a bigger proportion of unfair offers. Moreover, the rate of rejections and the reaction times were predicted by higher RMSSD scores for the judges. This study provides evidence about the impact of legal background and expertise in complex social decision-making. Our results contribute to understanding how expertise can shape criminal judges' social behaviors and pave the way for promising new research into the cognitive and physiological factors associated with social decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presentation of humor simultaneously with a stressful event has been shown to dampen the psychological and physiological responses of stress. However, whether a relatively short humorous intervention can be utilized to prevent the subsequent stress processing is still underinvestigated. Furthermore, it is unknown, whether such a humor intervention changes stress processing at a cost of cognitive functioning. According to the broaden-and-build theory inducing positive emotions may subsequently impact cognitive performance. Here, we investigated whether humor protects against subsequent stressors by attenuating both, psychological and physiological stress levels and whether this affects cognitive performance. Participants watched either a humorous or a neutral movie, underwent stress induction and performed in a visual search task. Compared to the control group, psychological stress levels and salivary cortisol levels were lower in the humor group, yet no differences were found in response times and accuracy rates for the visual search task. Our results demonstrate that a short humorous intervention shields against subsequent psychological stress leaving cognitive performance intact, thus making it highly applicable to improve mental and physical health in everyday life situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, households throughout the world have to cope with negative shocks. Previous research has shown that negative shocks impair cognitive function and change risk, time and social preferences. In this study, we analyze the results of a longitudinal multi-country survey conducted in Italy (N = 1652), Spain (N = 1660) and the United Kingdom (N = 1578). We measure cognitive function using the Cognitive Reflection Test and preferences traits (risk, time and social preferences) using an experimentally validated set of questions to assess the differences between people exposed to a shock compared to the rest of the sample. We measure four possible types of shocks: labor market shock, health shock, occurrence of stressful events, and mental health shock. Additionally, we randomly assign participants to groups with either a recall of negative events (more specifically, a mild reinforcement of stress or of fear/anxiety), or to a control group (to recall neutral or joyful memories), in order to assess whether or not stress and negative emotions drive a change in preferences. Results show that people affected by shocks performed worse in terms of cognitive functioning, are more risk loving, and are more prone to punish others (negative reciprocity). Data do not support the hypotheses that the result is driven by stress or by negative emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion regulation is crucial for coping with stressors but in turn can also be influenced by stress. Initial studies provided mixed evidence showing either beneficial or impairing stress effects on cognitive emotion regulation depending on stress timing, sex or the regulatory strategy. Here, we investigated the impact of acute stress on different emotion regulation strategies in men and women. N = 118 healthy participants were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Test or a control condition after which they completed an emotion regulation paradigm, requiring them to regulate their emotions in response to negative pictures using reappraisal or distraction. Cortisol levels were repeatedly measured to quantify changes in HPA axis activity. Affective ratings and pupil dilation served to measure emotion regulation success and the cognitive effort to regulate emotions. Stress reduced arousal and increased valence and success ratings for reappraisal in men, whereas no significant stress effects were found in women. Moreover, stressed men displayed a significant expansion of pupil diameter during reappraisal suggesting enhanced cognitive regulatory engagement, which ultimately may have led to better emotion regulation outcomes. Cortisol secretion positively correlated with subjective reappraisal success in men, suggesting a glucocorticoid-driven mechanism that may promote emotion regulatory performance in the aftermath of stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactivity of the nociceptive system, psychoemotional behavior and cognitive abilities in female and male rats born to mothers that were exposed to chronic injection of fluoxetine, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on days 9-20 of pregnancy were studied in a battery of behavioral tests during the prepubertal period. It was found that chronic injection of physiological saline to pregnant females evoked enhanced nociceptive responses in their offspring of both sexes while fluoxetine injection neutralized the effects of such an invasive intervention, demonstrating thereby the antinociceptive effect of this agent. Negative effects of maternal fluoxetine included a weight loss in the neonate offspring of both sexes and 25-day-old males, as well as the increased anxiety level in females only as detected in the elevated plus maze test. Fluoxetine had no effect on the level of depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test in rats of both sexes. The positive prenatal effect of fluoxetine manifested itself in males as an improved spatial learning ability in the Morris water maze; the anti-nociceptive effect of chronic fluoxetine injection, as compared to the pro-nociceptive effect of chronic saline injection, can also be considered as a positive effect of fluoxetine. Sex differences in the prenatal effect of fluoxetine were revealed in the anxiety level with more anxiety behavior in females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, we showed that when participants passively read about moral transgressions (e.g., adultery), they implicitly engage in the evaluative (good-bad) categorization of incoming information, as indicated by a larger event-related brain potential (ERP) positivity to immoral than to moral scenarios (Leuthold, Kunkel, Mackenzie, & Filik in Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 10, 1021-1029, 2015). Behavioral and neuroimaging studies indicated that explicit moral tasks prioritize the semantic-cognitive analysis of incoming information but that implicit tasks, as used in Leuthold et al. (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 10, 1021-1029, 2015), favor their affective processing. Therefore, it is unclear whether an affective categorization process is also involved when participants perform explicit moral judgments. Thus, in two experiments, we used similarly constructed morality and emotion materials for which their moral and emotional content had to be inferred from the context. Target sentences from negative vs. neutral emotional scenarios and from moral vs. immoral scenarios were presented using rapid serial visual presentation. In Experiment 1, participants made moral judgments for moral materials and emotional judgments for emotion materials. Negative compared to neutral emotional scenarios elicited a larger posterior ERP positivity (LPP) about 200 ms after critical word onset, whereas immoral compared to moral scenarios elicited a larger anterior negativity (500-700 ms). In Experiment 2, where the same emotional judgment to both types of materials was required, a larger LPP was triggered for both types of materials. These results accord with the view that morality scenarios trigger a semantic-cognitive analysis when participants explicitly judge the moral content of incoming linguistic information but an affective evaluation when judging their emotional content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experimental training study examined which of three brief online cognitive reappraisal training protocols best enhances well-being and emotion regulation in response to stressful events. Participants were randomly assigned to learn positive reframing, self-distancing, or temporal distancing, and were asked to practice these techniques in their daily lives as interpersonal stressors arose naturally. The control group was instructed to continue regulating their emotions as they naturally would. Compared to the control, all training groups showed decreased negative emotional reactivity to the visualization of a recent stressful event 2 weeks post-training. They also showed a significant increase in general well-being from baseline to post-training. Participants' change in reappraisal accounted for the training groups' increased well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Depressive symptomatology in IBD patients is known to predict disease activity, which, in turn, can increase depressive symptoms in perpetuating a cycle between depression and IBD symptomatology. The mechanisms that contribute to the relationship between disease activity and depressive symptoms are not clearly investigated yet. Since emotion regulation has been considered particularly relevant to define the impact of adverse experiences on different outcomes, the current study aimed to examine the longitudinal influence of two maladaptive emotion regulation processes, cognitive fusion and brooding, on the association between disease activity and depressed mood. Methods: This study was conducted over an 18-month period, using a sample of 116 IBD patients that completed self-report validated measures in three different waves. Correlation analyses and cross-lagged panel models were performed. Results: The main result from this study discovered that the experience of IBD symptomatology at baseline, although positively linked to the manifestation of depressed mood 18 months later ( r = 0.25; p < 0.01), does not directly predict depressive symptoms. This relationship is rather indirect, as it is explained by the engagement in cognitive fusion ( p = 0.028) and brooding ( p = 0.017). These maladaptive emotion regulation processes, that were revealed to be consistent over time, link IBD symptoms with subsequent depressed mood. Conclusions: These findings indicate that clinicians should be aware of the emotion regulation processes patients tend to use to handle difficult experiences. The inclusion of psychological assessments and interventions in the healthcare of IBD patients should be seriously considered. Further implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we use the UK Millennium Cohort Study to estimate a dynamic factor model of child development. Our model follows the children from birth until 7 years of age and allows for both cognitive and noncognitive abilities in children. We find a significant self-productivity effect in both cognitive and noncognitive development, as well as some evidence of dynamic dependence across different abilities. The activities that parents carry out with children at home (parental investment) have a significant effect on children's development; we find substantial evidence of two distinct latent parental investment variables with differential effects across the two abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion that motivation influences empathic accuracy has been inferred from aspects of the task, the situation or the relationship between interaction partners or between groups. The present research assessed whether monetary reward influences cognitive and affective empathy. In Study 1, cognitive empathy was assessed for 42 participants who decoded briefly (33 ms) presented expressions of sadness and anger. For half the participants, correctly decoded expressions on male faces were rewarded, for the other half correctly decoded expressions on female faces were rewarded. The results showed that rewards increase empathic accuracy for both emotions equally. In Study 2, facial EMG was measured as well to assess emotional mimicry as an index of affective empathy. Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1 and found a moderation of affective empathy as indexed through facial mimicry for sadness. Thus, simple monetary rewards affect both cognitive and affective empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trypophobia refers to disgust for a cluster of objects, and is considered an extension of disgust for dangerous objects. Furthermore, trypophobic images possess certain spatial properties that can induce perceptually unpleasant states (i.e., visual discomfort). We examined whether trypophobia is associated with disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual discomfort. Japanese adults ( n = 126) completed four scales: the Trypophobia Questionnaire, which measures trypophobia proneness; the Disgust Scale-Revised, which measures disgust sensitivity; the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which measures empathic traits; and the Visual Discomfort Scale, which measures proneness to visual discomfort. Trypophobia proneness was found to be predicted by Core disgust sensitivity (i.e., threat of disease), Personal Distress (i.e., the empathic trait of self-oriented emotional distress), and proneness to visual discomfort. We suggest a number of potential factors relating to individual differences in trypophobia and the possible cognitive and perceptual mechanisms underlying trypophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates whether family income affects children's cognitive and noncognitive development by exploiting comprehensive information from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. We include variables that represent parental investment, parental stress, and neighborhood characteristics to examine if these factors mediate the effects of income. Using dynamic panel data, we find that family income is significantly associated with children's cognitive skills but not with noncognitive skills. Mother's education, parent's physical and mental health, parenting styles, child's own health, and presence of both biological parents are the most important factors for children's noncognitive development. For cognitive development, income as well as parents' education, child's birth weight, and number of books that children have at home are highly significant factors. We also find strong evidence to support the skill formation theory that children's previous cognitive and noncognitive outcomes are significantly related to their current outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has extensively examined the link between cognitive emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms, scant attention has been given to the relationship between dispositional use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and individuals' positive functioning. In a cross-sectional study on 470 adults, we examined whether individual differences in the use of nine cognitive strategies were associated with subjective and psychological well-being. Results show that positive reappraisal and refocus on planning are positively related to both subjective and psychological well-being. Rumination, catastrophizing and self-blame are linked to poorer well-being, while positive refocusing, putting into perspective, and acceptance show few significant associations. These results suggest that cognitive emotion regulation strategies may be differently effective in promoting individual's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cerebellum is involved in the control of motor and nonmotor functions. Refined and innovative experimental and clinical approaches, starting from anatomy and including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), have allowed researchers to store extensive information on the cerebellar contributions to motor control and also helped them to understanding cerebellar nonmotor functions. Does the cerebellum process exclusively cerebral information related to certain specificactions, or does it also process some forms of information independent of such relation? At present, researchers are close to evaluating how the cerebellum is active during resolution of cognitive tasks. Various therapy lines in perspective, from cerebellar stimulation to cerbellar grafts and artificial cerebellum, are of particular significance, as they can restore lost brain functions in animal models and repair in sufficient brain processes in patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques are a powerful approach to investigate the physiology and function of the central nervous system. Recent years have seen numerous investigations delivering transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the cerebellum to determine its role in motor, cognitive and emotional behaviours. Early studies have shown that it is possible to assess cerebellar-motor cortex (CB-M1) connectivity using a paired-pulse TMS paradigm called cerebellar inhibition (CBI), and indirectly infer the state of cerebellar excitability. Thus, it has been shown that CBI changes proportionally to the magnitude of locomotor learning and in association with reaching adaption tasks. In addition, CBI has been used to demonstrate at a physiological level the effects of applying TMS or tDCS to modulate, up or down, the excitability of cerebellar-M1 connectivity. These studies became the fundamental substrate to newer investigations showing that we can affect motor, cognitive and emotional behaviour when targeting the cerebellum with TMS or tDCS in the context of performance. Furthermore, newer investigations are starting to report the effects of cerebellar non-invasive stimulation to treat symptoms associated with neurological conditions such as stroke and dystonia. Altogether, given the scarcity of current effective therapeutic options, non-invasive cerebellar stimulation can potentially become a game changer for the management of conditions that affect the cerebellum. This brief manuscript presents some of the current evidence demonstrating the effects of cerebellar stimulation to modulate motor behaviour and its use to assess physiological processes underlying motor learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether burnout is a form of depression is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the relevance of the burnout-depression distinction by comparing attentional processing of emotional information in burnout and depression. Eye-tracking technology was employed for assessing overt attentional deployment. The gaze of 54 human services employees was monitored as they freely viewed a series of emotional images, labeled as dysphoric, positive, anxiogenic, and neutral. Similar to depression, burnout was associated with increased attention for dysphoric stimuli and decreased attention for positive stimuli. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that burnout no longer predicted these attentional alterations when depression was controlled for and vice versa, suggesting interchangeability of the two entities in this matter. To our knowledge, this study is the first to (a) investigate emotional attention in burnout and (b) address the issue of the burnout-depression overlap at both cognitive and behavioral levels using eye movement measurement. Overall, our findings point to structural similarities between burnout and depression, thus deepening concerns regarding the singularity of the burnout phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored when and how emotional difficulties and poor quality of life arise in the everyday lives of socially anxious individuals. 264 freshmen-year college students completed an online survey for 11 consecutive days. Comparing individuals high (HSA) and low in social anxiety, results revealed that irrespective of daily positive emotion differentiation ability, HSAs engaged daily emotion suppression strategies, pointing to inflexible emotion regulation. Furthermore, HSAs with poor daily negative emotion differentiation used the least daily cognitive reappraisal. Finally, both expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal showed group-specific effects on daily positive affect. Daily expressive suppression was more strongly associated with diminished daily positive affect in HSAs, and HSAs benefited less in terms of daily positive affect from daily use of cognitive reappraisal. Based on these findings, emotion differentiation ability and emotion regulation appear relevant clinical targets for individuals with social anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to control emotion is a skill which contributes to performance in the same way as cognitive and technical skills do to the successful completion of high stress operations. The interdependence between emotion, problem-solving and decision-making makes a negative emotion such as anxiety of interest in evaluating trainee performance in simulations which replicate stressful work conditions. Self-report measures of anxiety require trainees to interrupt the simulation experience to either complete psychological scales or make verbal reports of state anxiety. An uninterrupted, continuous measure of anxiety is, therefore, preferable for simulation environments. During this study, the anxiety levels of trainee pilots were tracked via electromyography, eye movements and pupillometry while undertaking required tasks in a flight simulation. Fixation duration and saccade rate corresponded reliably to pilot self-reports of anxiety, while pupil size and saccade amplitude did not show a strong comparison to changes in affective state. Large increases in muscle activation where recorded when higher anxiety was reported. The results suggest that a combination of physiological measures could provide a robust, continuous indicator of anxiety level. The implications of the current study on further development of physiological measures to support tracking anxiety as a tool for simulation training assessment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship among cardiovascular responses indicative of challenge and threat states, self-efficacy, perceived control, and emotions before an upcoming competition. Using a repeated-measures design, 48 collegiate athletes talked about an upcoming competition (sport-specific speech task) and the topic of friendship (control speech task), whilst cardiovascular responses (heart rate, preejection period, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance) were collected and self-report measures of self-efficacy, perceived control, and emotions completed. Findings showed that participants with a physiological threat response reported higher levels of self-efficacy and excitement. Further, none of the other emotions or the cognitive appraisals of challenge and threat predicted cardiovascular patterns indicative of either a challenge or threat state. Thus, cardiovascular responses and self-report measures of self-efficacy, perceived control, and emotions did not correlate in the manner predicted by the theory of challenge and threat states in athletes. This finding may reflect methodological aspects, or that perhaps highly efficacious individuals believe they can perform well and so the task itself is more threatening because failure would indicate under-performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the effects of expressive writing about emotional experiences and traumatic events has a long history in the affective and social sciences. However, very little is known about the incidence and impact of affective states when the writing activities are not explicitly emotional or are less emotionally charged. By integrating goal-appraisal and network theories of affect within cognitive process models of writing, we hypothesize that writing triggers a host of affective states, some of which are tied to the topic of the essays (topic affective states), while others are more closely related to the cognitive processes involved in writing (process affective states). We tested this hypothesis with two experiments involving fine-grained tracking of affect while participants wrote short essays on topics that varied in emotional intensity including topics used in standardized tests, to socially charged issues, and personal emotional experiences. The results indicated that (a) affect collectively accounted for a majority of the observations compared to neutral, (b) boredom, engagement/flow, anxiety, frustration, and happiness were most frequent affective states, (c) there was evidence for a proposed, but not mutually exclusive, distinction between process and topic affective states, (d) certain topic affective states were predictive of the quality of the essays, irrespective of the valence of these states, and (e) individual differences in scholastic aptitude, writing apprehension, and exposure to print correlated with affect frequency in expected directions. Implications of our findings for research focused on monitoring affect during everyday writing activities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies have reported abnormalities in brain regions involved in functions that are commonly impaired in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, little is known about brain structure anomalies in low-functioning (LF) young children with ASD. A VBM analysis was carried out to assess brain regions involved in ASD LF children, and a multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between regional volume changes and autism symptom measures. Twenty-six LF ASD children (2-10 years) were compared with 21 controls. A VBM-Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration analysis using Exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL) was used to evaluate gray matter (GM) and white matter alterations, covaried with Intelligence Quotient, age, and total brain volume. The resulting altered regions were correlated with Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI)-Revised and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)-Generic scores. GM bilateral reduction was noted in the cerebellum (Crus II and vermis) and in the hippocampi in ASD group. GM reduction was also detected in the inferior and superior frontal gyri, in the occipital medial and superior gyri, and in the inferior temporal gyrus of the left cerebral hemisphere. In the right hemisphere, GM reduction was found in the post-central cortex and in the occipital inferior gyrus. Multiple regression analysis showed a correlation between alterations in GM volume in the cerebellum (Crus II and vermis) and ADI-communication and ADOS-total (communication and interaction) scores. These findings seem to confirm that the cerebellum is involved in integrating and regulating emotional and cognitive functions which are impaired in ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on the effects of graphic warnings related to excessive gambling. It is based upon a theoretical model derived from both the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). We focus on video lottery terminal (VLT), one of the most hazardous format in the gaming industry. Our cohort consisted of 103 actual gamblers who reported previous gambling activity on VLT's on a regular basis. We assess the effectiveness of graphic warnings vs. text-only warnings and the effectiveness of two major arguments (i.e., family vs. financial disruption). A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test the direct and combined effects of two variables (i.e., warning content and presence vs. absence of a graphic). It was found that the presence of a graphic enhances both cognitive appraisal and fear, and has positive effects on the Depth of Information Processing. In addition, graphic content combined with family disruptions is more effective for changing attitudes and complying with the warning than other combinations of the manipulated variables. It is proposed that ELM and PMT complement each other to explain the effects of warnings. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schadenfreude, or pleasure in another person's misfortune, has been linked to a cognitive appraisal that other deserves the misfortune. In the present study we develop a structural model that links schadenfreude to global self-esteem, pain of inferiority, hostile and benign envy, resentment, perceived deservingness, and sympathy. We also examine the effects of ingroup/outgroup membership on schadenfreude and test for the invariance of our structural model between these two conditions. Participants ( n = 170) responded to a hypothetical scenario that manipulated ingroup/outgroup membership and perceived deservingness in relation to other's initial success and subsequent failure. Results supported a structural model that showed invariance. They also showed that more schadenfreude was reported when the outgroup member failed and more sympathy and anger when the ingroup member failed. These results provide an integrated structural approach to the analysis of schadenfreude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now widely accepted that in addition to motor coordination, the cerebellum is also involved in the modulation of cognitive and affective processes. Despite alcoholic cerebellar degeneration (ACD) being the most common form of cerebellar disorder, little systematic investigation of cerebellar-mediated cognitive and affective deficits has occurred in chronic alcoholics. Forty-nine chronic alcoholics and 29 healthy control participants underwent testing of cognitive and affective function, along with measurement of cerebellar ataxia using the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (Trouillas et al., Journal of the Neurological Sciences 145:205-11, ). The alcoholic group demonstrated significantly poorer performance as compared to the control group in a number of domains, including visuospatial and language skills, psychomotor speed, new learning and memory, executive functioning, and emotional regulation and affect processing. There were no differences between the alcoholic and control groups in immediate attention and working memory abilities. Years of heavy drinking and total period of abstinence were found to be the best predictors of cognitive and emotional function in the alcoholic group. After accounting for alcohol chronicity, there was still a relationship between the degree of clinical signs of ACD and some areas of cognitive and emotional functioning, including language, executive functioning, processing speed and affect processing. The results suggest that some of the cognitive and affective deficits observed in chronic alcoholics may be mediated, at least in part, by cerebellar dysfunction. These findings add support to the theory of disruption to bidirectional cerebro-cerebellar circuitry underlying cognitive and affective deficits in chronic alcoholics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is much support for the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating social anxiety disorder (SAD), many patients fail to respond adequately to treatment. In the present study, self-reported judgment biases (probability and cost estimates of negative social events) and emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) were measured at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment in 25 patients with SAD who completed 12 sessions of group CBT. We compared patterns of change across time in judgment biases and use of emotion regulation strategies during therapy among patients who were ultimately classified as responders ( n = 15) and nonresponders ( n = 10), and analyzed the extent to which early changes during treatment across these variables accounted for overall symptom improvement in social anxiety symptoms. Results revealed that change trajectories in social probability and cost estimates and use of cognitive reappraisal strategies differed as a function of responder status as patients moved through treatment. The early acquisition of cognitive reappraisal skills was uniquely predictive of overall social anxiety symptom reduction. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of psychiatric disorders have traditionally focused on emotional symptoms such as depression, anxiety and hallucinations. However, poorly controlled cognitive deficits are equally prominent and severely compromise quality of life, including social and professional integration. Consequently, intensive efforts are being made to characterize the cellular and cerebral circuits underpinning cognitive function, define the nature and causes of cognitive impairment in psychiatric disorders and identify more effective treatments. Successful development will depend on rigorous validation in animal models as well as in patients, including measures of real-world cognitive functioning. This article critically discusses these issues, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for improving cognition in individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the concept of self-regulated learning has broadened to include motivational, volitional, and emotional components next to (meta-)cognitive ones. In this article, we present a meta-emotion perspective as an essential component of a conceptual framework on self-regulation that fully acknowledges the role of emotions. Against this background, a study is presented that attempts to contribute to the clarification of the relevance and the functioning of students' meta-emotional knowledge and emotional regulation skills in school-related mathematical activities. It investigates the coping strategies that 393 students of the second (age 14) and fourth (age 16) year of secondary school report to use to regulate their emotions in three different mathematical school settings (i.e., a mathematics test, a difficult mathematics homework, and a difficult mathematics lesson). More specifically, it aims (1) to document the nature and frequency of the reported coping strategies, and (2) to explore-for the three different mathematical school settings-relationships between these reported coping strategies and personal characteristics (i.e., students' familiarity with the particular school settings, their track in secondary education, their achievement level, their age, and gender). The results indicate that students report to know and to make use of several coping strategies in school-related mathematical activities, and reveal that the use of these strategies is related to specific person-related characteristics. In conclusion, we elaborate on how schools and teachers can stimulate students to acquire appropriate strategies and skills to self-regulate their emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: The investigation of putative effects of early life stress (ELS) in humans on later behavior and neurobiology is a fast developing field. While epidemiological and neurobiological studies paint a somber picture of negative outcomes, relatively little attention has been devoted to integrating the breadth of findings concerning possible cognitive and emotional deficits associated with ELS. Emerging findings from longitudinal studies examining developmental trajectories of the brain in healthy samples may provide a new framework to understand mechanisms underlying ELS sequelae. Objective: The goal of this review was twofold. The first was to summarize findings from longitudinal data on normative brain development. The second was to utilize this framework of normative brain development to interpret changes in developmental trajectories associated with deficits in cognitive and affective function following ELS. Results: Five principles of normative brain development were identified and used to discuss behavioral and neural sequelae of ELS. Early adversity was found to be associated with deficits in a range of cognitive (cognitive performance, memory, and executive functioning) and affective (reward processing, processing of social and affective stimuli, and emotion regulation) functions. Conclusion: Three general conclusions emerge: (1) higher-order, complex cognitive and affective functions associated with brain regions undergoing protracted postnatal development are particularly vulnerable to the deleterious effects of ELS; (2) the amygdala is particularly sensitive to early ELS; and (3) several deficits, particularly those in the affective domain, appear to persist years after ELS has ceased and may increase risk for later psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss a research-based theoretical framework based on affect as an internal representational system. Key ideas include the concepts of meta-affect and affective structures, and the constructs of mathematical intimacy and mathematical integrity. We understand these as fundamental to powerful mathematical problem solving, and deserving of closer attention by educators. In a study of elementary school children we characterize some features of emotional states inferred from individual problem solving behavior, including interactions between affect and cognition. We describe our methodology, illustrating theoretical ideas with brief qualitative examples from a longitudinal series of task-based interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to regulate emotions is important to mental health and well-being. However, relatively little is known about the cognitive strategies people use when faced with negative affect and the extent to which these strategies reduce such affect. This may be due, in part, to the lack of a comprehensive measure of cognitive affect-regulation strategies. Three studies were conducted to develop a broad-based self-report inventory of 15 specific strategies, called the Inventory of Cognitive Affect Regulation Strategies (ICARUS). This instrument assesses strategies that are oriented toward avoidance of the feelings (e.g., mental disengagement, thoughts of suicide) or diverting attention (e.g., self-criticism/self-blame, blaming others), as well as strategies that are oriented toward approach or engagement (e.g., reframing and growth, acceptance, mindful observation). Results provide preliminary support for the internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and convergent validity of the measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulties in the cognitive processing of emotions—including difficulties identifying and describing feelings—are assumed to be an integral part of autism. We studied such difficulties via self-report in 27 high-functioning adults with autistic spectrum disorders, their biological relatives (n = 49), and normal adult controls (n = 35), using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. The individuals with autism spectrum disorders were significantly more impaired in their emotion processing and were more depressed than those in the control and relative groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]