从赌博游戏中的损失厌恶行为看情感预测与体验在决策中的作用

In Kermer, Driver-Linn, Wilson and Gilbert’s (2006) study on affective forecast, they found that people have a tendency to overestimate affective reactions in gains and losses, and people expect losses to have greater hedonic impact than gains of equal magnitude. Because of thus affective forecasting error, people prefer to irrationally avoid losses. Loss aversion is then seen as both a wealth-maximizing error and an affect-maximizing error. The present study examined the relationships among affective forecast, affective experience and loss aversion, and tested Kermer et al.’s (2006) conclusion that people’s loss aversion is an affective forecasting error. In experiment 1, we examined the relationship between affective forecast and loss aversion. Kermer et al.’s (2006) hypothesized that when people expect losses to have greater hedonic impact than gains, they will accept the gambling task, and when people expect gains to have greater hedonic impact than losses, they will refuse the gambling task. We found that (1) individuals with lower loss aversion had a greater tendency to accept a gambling task than those with higher loss aversion; (2) individuals with lower loss aversion expected losses and gains to have smaller affective impacts than those with higher loss aversion. Thus, people never exactly calculated their forecasting affective. In experiment 2, we examined the relationship between affective forecast and affective experience. Consistent with Kermer et al.’s (2006) finding, we found that our participants tended to overestimate affective reactions in gains as well as losses. More interestingly, Kermer et al.’s (2006) found that participants’ predictions for a loss were significantly more distant from experienced emotions than were their predictions for a win, we, however, found the opposite —participants’ predictions for a win were significantly more distant from the experienced emotions than were their predictions for a loss. These experiments further validated the relations between affection and decision making, and contributed to our understanding on the affective reactions to future events. Our study imply that it was not the exact calculation of affective forecast on decision outcomes, but rather the magnitude of affection on outcomes, that influenced people’s affective decision making. It indicated that those with lower magnitude of affection would less like to avoid losses, and thus more like to accept a gambling task.

负性情绪对分泌型免疫球蛋白A的影响以及事件相关电位的关联变化

Although the influence of emotional states on immune function has been generally recognized, researches on the effects of negative emotion on individual SIgA levels have reported mixed findings. Our study aimed to elucidate the relationship between changes in EEG activity and cognitive and psychological mechanisms to the immune changes induced by negative emotion. In experiment one, we investigated how the negative emotional arousal that was induced by watching a number of unpleasant pictures altered the concentration of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA). Although our results found discrepancies in the changing tendency of SIgA concentration among participants (some participants’ SIgA decreased after watching unpleasant pictures, whereas others increased), further analysis revealed a coherency among the changing of SIgA concentration, participants’ general coping styles and their actual emotion regulation strategies in perceiving unpleasant pictures, and the event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with the watching of unpleasant pictures. The participants whose SIgA increased after watching unpleasant pictures (the increasers) had higher positive coping scores in the Trait Coping Styles Questionnaire (TCSQ) than those whose SIgA decreased (the decreasers). Also, relative to the decreasers, the increasers tended to use more emotion regulation strategies especially when the presented pictures were extremely negative and exhibited a reverse dissociation pattern between the extremely negative pictures and the moderately negative ones in the amplitude of late positive potential (LPP) that was related to the cognitive evaluation of stimuli’s meaning. On this basis, Event-related potentials were recorded first while participants passively viewed unpleasant pictures, and then during an emotion regulation block in which participants were instructed to reappraise unpleasant pictures in the experiment two. We also collected the immune index before and after the passive viewing block and the emotion regulation block. Our study proved that participants felt a less intense emotional response to unpleasant pictures that followed a reappraisal instruction. The decreasing emotional responding to unpleasant pictures decreased the amplitude of the LPP. But larger N2 was induced in the emotion regulation block, because the participants needed to obtained more attentional resources to detect and integrate more stimulus features to use the cognitive reappraisal strategy effectively. The present study has important theoretic and practical significance. For the theoretic significance, our study elucidated the relationship between changes in EEG activity and cognitive and psychological mechanisms to the immune changes induced by negative emotion by using the technologies of ERP, experimental interview and psychological measurement. Meanwhile, our study also provided an explanation for the different changing tendencies of SIgA induced by negative emotions, and it plays an important role in further studying the cognitive neural mechanisms of immune level in response to emotion. As to the practical significance, our study suggests that individuals who use active emotion regulation in the face of negative emotion stimuli may experience significantly increases in immune system function, subsequently lowering the possibility of infection.

情绪对创造力影响的发展性特点

Although robust findings have been that positive mood leads to greater creativity, several other literatures have found that negative mood sometimes results in more creative performance than positive or neutral mood. Several possible explanations for this emotion–creativity link have been proposed by researchers, but there has not yet been definitive research identifying the mechanism(s) behind this relationship. This research represents an initial step in this direction, examining the possibility that Intelligence Current may be a contributing mechanism in the emotion–creativity link from the perspective of development. The object of the present study was to do the followings 1) the effects and mechanism(s) of emotions on creativity development from adolescence to young adulthood by Unusual Uses Test; 2) the possibility that Intelligence Current may be a contributing mechanism in the emotion–creativity link. The participants were 849 adolescents in high schools and 267 undergraduates in the university aged from 11 to 22 years old. The mechanism(s) for emotion-creativity link was explored by cognitive flexibility (assessed using Abstract Match Task), tolerance (inclusive) ratings (assessed using Categorization of Analogy Task), uses originality ratings, and confidence ratings. Results indicated that: 1) The level of creativity varied with age. It increased from 11 years on, but decreased at about 14 to improve again from 15 to 22 years. 2) The different effects of emotions on creativity development among adolescents and undergraduates emerged, but the effects of positive and negative emotions on creativity didn’t differ from each other for the whole participants. Furthermore, compared with positive and negative emotions, the neutral emotions produced the lowest creativity for 11.00-13.99 years old group, but produced the highest creativity for 14.00-14.99 and 17.00-21.99years old. 3) Positive emotions have been shown to enable individuals to higher level of cognitive flexibility and better performance than negative emotions by Abstract Match Task, which could be considered that the Intelligence Current may be a contributing mechanism in the emotion–creativity link. 4) Positive emotions have been shown to enable individuals to own higher confidence, to categorize items with more flexibility, to see more potential relatedness among unusual and atypical members of categories, to evaluate items more originality than negative emotions among most of participants, especially the group of 14.00-14.99 years old. In sum, the present study helps us to further understand that the term ‘Intelligence Current’ is further explained and the problems found in relationships between creativity and emotions. However, further research is required to explore and confirm the conclusions of the present study.

中学生抑郁和素质、压力、环境因素的关系及其整合模型研究

As a kind of mood, depression is one of the emotions which people experienced usually. Depressive disorder is one of the common mental diseases. There are about 100 million people in the world be disturbed by depression every year. So it is long history that depression is investigated widely in medicine, psychology, and sociology. There are many theorial problems remain to be solved. Viewed from latest vocuments, the development of depression theory is tending to become more complicated. Most of the prior depression theory focused on relation between one factor and depression. Because depressed individuls have various characteristics and factors that cause depression are different, and each factor can explain only part of depression variance, these prior depression theories are defected. As the knowledge about depression accumulated, the view that depression be caused by multifactor is clearer. There is tendency to integrate these cooperational factor into a model while developing a depression theory. In the present study, depression status of 1625 middle school students from junior 1 to senior 3 are measured using Depression Scale of Middle-school Student which is developed by ourselves. From approach of depressive mood, the present study explored depressive diathesis including attributional style, personality, coping style, and self. The relation among depressive diathesis, stress and depression is analysed. The relation between depression and school life adaptation, depression and cohesion, adaptation in family are also analysed from environmental view. At last, relation among environment, stress, depressive diathesis is examined by using covariance structure modelling. Synthesizing the results from the present study, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) There is grade-characteristics in development of depression in middle school students. Depression degree increased with grade. The main reason may be that the stress middle-school students experience increase and self-acceptance decrease with grade; (2) High depressive diathesis is different from low depressive diathesis. the features of high depressive diathesis are that attributing failure to ability or background, low capacity for status, low sociability, low independence, low self-blame, more illusion. The features of low depressive diathesis are that not attributing failure to ability or background, high capacity for status, high sociability, high independence, high self-acceptance, while facing difficulties, using problem-resolving coping strategy, less self-blame, less illusion. Individuals who have high depressive diathesis showed serious depression, and individuals who have low depressive diathesis showed light depression; (3) Depressive diathesis had accumulative effect on depression. More low depressive diathesis, more light is depression. More high depressive diathesis, more serious is depression; (4) Depressive diathesis can predict present depression and future depression. Predicting present depression is more effective than predicting future depression; (5) Individual who has different depressive diathesis experiences different level of stress. Higher the depressive diathesis individual has, higher stress he will experience. Lower the depressive diathesis individual has, lower stress will he experience; (6) There is correlation between life event pressure and depression. Life event pressure can predict a part of variance of depression. Life event pressure has accumulative effect on depression. More life event and higher life event pressure, more serious depression individual will experience; (7) There exits high correlation between depression and school life adaptation which can predict depression; (8) There is high correlative relation between depression and cohesion, adaptation in family which can predict depression; and (9) Environment have more effect on diathesis than on stress. Diathesis has more effect on depression than stress does. The past depression can predict future depression. This study had enlarged the domain of depressive diathesis such as attributional style, personality, coping style, and self, which are analysed wholly. This study had also enriched the connotation of diathesis=stress theory. Above two aspects are theoretical significance of the study. This study provide a framework of mental health educational curriculum in high school and provide the guideline for prevention and cure of depression. It is the practical significance of this study.

O perfil de personalidade dos estudantes de engenharia informática

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa, como parte dos requisitos necessários para a obtenção do grau Mestre em Psicologia, ramo de Psicologia do Trabalho e das Organizações

An investigation of post-primary students' images of mathematics

This research study investigates the image of mathematics held by 5th-year post-primary students in Ireland. For this study, “image of mathematics” is conceptualized as a mental representation or view of mathematics, presumably constructed as a result of past experiences, mediated through school, parents, peers or society. It is also understood to include attitudes, beliefs, emotions, self-concept and motivation in relation to mathematics. This study explores the image of mathematics held by a sample of 356 5th-year students studying ordinary level mathematics. Students were aged between 15 and 18 years. In addition, this study examines the factors influencing students‟ images of mathematics and the possible reasons for students choosing not to study higher level mathematics for the Leaving Certificate. The design for this study is chiefly explorative. A questionnaire survey was created containing both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the research interest. The quantitative aspect incorporated eight pre-established scales to examine students‟ attitudes, beliefs, emotions, self-concept and motivation regarding mathematics. The qualitative element explored students‟ past experiences of mathematics, their causal attributions for success or failure in mathematics and their influences in mathematics. The quantitative and qualitative data was analysed for all students and also for students grouped by gender, prior achievement, type of post-primary school attending, co-educational status of the post-primary school and the attendance of a Project Maths pilot school. Students‟ images of mathematics were seen to be strongly indicated by their attitudes (enjoyment and value), beliefs, motivation, self-concept and anxiety, with each of these elements strongly correlated with each other, particularly self-concept and anxiety. Students‟ current images of mathematics were found to be influenced by their past experiences of mathematics, by their mathematics teachers, parents and peers, and by their prior mathematical achievement. Gender differences occur for students in their images of mathematics, with males having more positive images of mathematics than females and this is most noticeable with regards to anxiety about mathematics. Mathematics anxiety was identified as a possible reason for the low number of students continuing with higher level mathematics for the Leaving Certificate. Some students also expressed low mathematical self-concept with regards to higher level mathematics specifically. Students with low prior achievement in mathematics tended to believe that mathematics requires a natural ability which they do not possess. Rote-learning was found to be common among many students in the sample. The most positive image of mathematics held by students was the “problem-solving image”, with resulting implications for the new Project Maths syllabus in post-primary education. Findings from this research study provide important insights into the image of mathematics held by the sample of Irish post-primary students and make an innovative contribution to mathematics education research. In particular, findings contribute to the current national interest in Ireland in post-primary mathematics education, highlighting issues regarding the low uptake of higher level mathematics for the Leaving Certificate and also making a preliminary comparison between students who took part in the piloting of Project Maths and students who were more recently introduced to the new syllabus. This research study also holds implications for mathematics teachers, parents and the mathematics education community in Ireland, with some suggestions made on improving students‟ images of mathematics.

A study of the Zhiqing identity

More than seventeen million Chinese urban youth (Zhiqing in Chinese) went to the countryside, lived and engaged in agricultural work there during the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside (UMDC) Movement (1967-1981). Although this movement was officially terminated in 1981, it has left an imprint on these people – the Zhiqing identity by which they are still characterized as a unique group in Chinese society and a special generation in Chinese history. Historical and sociological perspectives are combined in this study. By applying Glen H. Elder’s life course approach, the study reveals how Zhiqing’s life trajectories are embedded in the social history and identifies a series of interrelated factors that made Zhiqing into a unique generation. With the guidance of Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory, the study uncovers the emergence of the Zhiqing group and the Zhiqing identity, explains individuals’ acquisitions of the Zhiqing identity and analyzes how it has kept influencing individuals’ lives during and after the UMDC Movement. Using Zhiqing’s life stories allowed the researcher to combine the historical and sociological aspects in her examination of Zhiqing’s identity issues. In each life story, the narrator reviewed his/her life experience, reflected on socio-historical changes and expressed his/her emotions and ideas about identity issues. Utilizing methods of in-depth interview and thematic analysis, the researcher completed the study and presents this thesis as one interpretation on the Zhiqing identity, which, as according the researcher’s hermeneutic stance, is open to further discussion and future research.

Investigations into the cellular and molecular changes in the amygdala in models of temporal lobe epilepsy and maternal immune activation

The amygdala is a limbic structure that is involved in many of our emotions and processing of these emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure. Conditions such as anxiety, autism, and also epilepsy, have been linked to abnormal functioning of the amygdala, owing to improper neurodevelopment or damage. This thesis investigated the cellular and molecular changes in the amygdala in models of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and maternal immune activation (MIA). The kainic acid (KA) model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was used to induce Ammon’s-horn sclerosis (AHS) and to investigate behavioural and cytoarchitectural changes that occur in the amygdala related to Neuropeptide Y1 receptor expression. Results showed that KA-injected animals showed increased anxiety-like behaviours and displayed histopathological hallmarks of AHS including CA1 ablation, granule cell dispersion, volume reduction and astrogliosis. Amygdalar volume and neuronal loss was observed in the ipsilateral nuclei which was accompanied by astrogliosis. In addition, a decrease in Y1 receptor expressing cells in the ipsilateral CA1 and CA3 sectors of the hippocampus, ipsi- and contralateral granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus and ipsilateral central nucleus of the amygdala was found, consistent with a reduction in Y1 receptor protein levels. The results suggest that plastic changes in hippocampal and/or amygdalar Y1 receptor expression may negatively impact anxiety levels. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and tight regulation and appropriate control of GABA is vital for neurochemical homeostasis. GABA transporter-1 (GAT-1) is abundantly expressed by neurones and astrocytes and plays a key role in GABA reuptake and regulation. Imbalance in GABA homeostasis has been implicated in epilepsy with GAT-1 being an attractive pharmacological target. Electron microscopy was used to examine the distribution, expression and morphology of GAT-1 expressing structures in the amygdala of the TLE model. Results suggest that GAT-1 was preferentially expressed on putative axon terminals over astrocytic processes in this TLE model. Myelin integrity was examined and results suggested that in the TLE model myelinated fibres were damaged in comparison to controls. Synaptic morphology was studied and results suggested that asymmetric (excitatory) synapses occurred more frequently than symmetric (inhibitory) synapses in the TLE model in comparison to controls. This study illustrated that the amygdala undergoes ultrastructural alterations in this TLE model. Maternal immune activation (MIA) is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and also epilepsy. MIA was induced at a critical window of amygdalar development at E12 using bacterial mimetic lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Results showed that MIA activates cytokine, toll-like receptor and chemokine expression in the fetal brain that is prolonged in the postnatal amygdala. Inflammation elicited by MIA may prime the fetal brain for alterations seen in the glial environment and this in turn have deleterious effects on neuronal populations as seen in the amygdala at P14. These findings may suggest that MIA induced during amygdalar development may predispose offspring to amygdalar related disorders such as heightened anxiety, fear impairment and also neurodevelopmental disorders.

Communication practices in physician decision-making for an unstable critically ill patient with end-stage cancer.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making has become the standard of care for most medical treatments. However, little is known about physician communication practices in the decision making for unstable critically ill patients with known end-stage disease. OBJECTIVE: To describe communication practices of physicians making treatment decisions for unstable critically ill patients with end-stage cancer, using the framework of shared decision-making. DESIGN: Analysis of audiotaped encounters between physicians and a standardized patient, in a high-fidelity simulation scenario, to identify best practice communication behaviors. The simulation depicted a 78-year-old man with metastatic gastric cancer, life-threatening hypoxia, and stable preferences to avoid intensive care unit (ICU) admission and intubation. Blinded coders assessed the encounters for verbal communication behaviors associated with handling emotions and discussion of end-of-life goals. We calculated a score for skill at handling emotions (0-6) and at discussing end of life goals (0-16). SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven hospital-based physicians. RESULTS: Independent variables included physician demographics and communication behaviors. We used treatment decisions (ICU admission and initiation of palliation) as a proxy for accurate identification of patient preferences. Eight physicians admitted the patient to the ICU, and 16 initiated palliation. Physicians varied, but on average demonstrated low skill at handling emotions (mean, 0.7) and moderate skill at discussing end-of-life goals (mean, 7.4). We found that skill at discussing end-of-life goals was associated with initiation of palliation (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to analyze the decision making of physicians managing unstable critically ill patients with end-stage cancer using the framework of shared decision-making.

Major and minor music compared to excited and subdued speech.

The affective impact of music arises from a variety of factors, including intensity, tempo, rhythm, and tonal relationships. The emotional coloring evoked by intensity, tempo, and rhythm appears to arise from association with the characteristics of human behavior in the corresponding condition; however, how and why particular tonal relationships in music convey distinct emotional effects are not clear. The hypothesis examined here is that major and minor tone collections elicit different affective reactions because their spectra are similar to the spectra of voiced speech uttered in different emotional states. To evaluate this possibility the spectra of the intervals that distinguish major and minor music were compared to the spectra of voiced segments in excited and subdued speech using fundamental frequency and frequency ratios as measures. Consistent with the hypothesis, the spectra of major intervals are more similar to spectra found in excited speech, whereas the spectra of particular minor intervals are more similar to the spectra of subdued speech. These results suggest that the characteristic affective impact of major and minor tone collections arises from associations routinely made between particular musical intervals and voiced speech.

The impact of anxiety-inducing distraction on cognitive performance: a combined brain imaging and personality investigation.

BACKGROUND: Previous investigations revealed that the impact of task-irrelevant emotional distraction on ongoing goal-oriented cognitive processing is linked to opposite patterns of activation in emotional and perceptual vs. cognitive control/executive brain regions. However, little is known about the role of individual variations in these responses. The present study investigated the effect of trait anxiety on the neural responses mediating the impact of transient anxiety-inducing task-irrelevant distraction on cognitive performance, and on the neural correlates of coping with such distraction. We investigated whether activity in the brain regions sensitive to emotional distraction would show dissociable patterns of co-variation with measures indexing individual variations in trait anxiety and cognitive performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Event-related fMRI data, recorded while healthy female participants performed a delayed-response working memory (WM) task with distraction, were investigated in conjunction with behavioural measures that assessed individual variations in both trait anxiety and WM performance. Consistent with increased sensitivity to emotional cues in high anxiety, specific perceptual areas (fusiform gyrus--FG) exhibited increased activity that was positively correlated with trait anxiety and negatively correlated with WM performance, whereas specific executive regions (right lateral prefrontal cortex--PFC) exhibited decreased activity that was negatively correlated with trait anxiety. The study also identified a role of the medial and left lateral PFC in coping with distraction, as opposed to reflecting a detrimental impact of emotional distraction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide initial evidence concerning the neural mechanisms sensitive to individual variations in trait anxiety and WM performance, which dissociate the detrimental impact of emotion distraction and the engagement of mechanisms to cope with distracting emotions. Our study sheds light on the neural correlates of emotion-cognition interactions in normal behaviour, which has implications for understanding factors that may influence susceptibility to affective disorders, in general, and to anxiety disorders, in particular.

Doubt, for narrator and orchestra

Doubt is a single-movement composition of roughly twelve minutes for narrator and orchestra (woodwinds, horns, and trumpets in pairs, timpani, percussion, strings). The piece explores the controversial issue of capital punishment. The text was compiled from resources found on the websites of Death Penalty Information Center (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org) and Anti-Death Penalty Information (http://www.antideathpenalty.org), as well as excerpts from the Bible. Doubt was conceived of as a dramatic work in which a narrator recites factual information in a direct and unemotional manner and the orchestra provides a response to the mixed emotions elicited by the text. The list of dates and case summaries presented in the middle section of the piece seemed most powerful and effective when recited in a natural speaking voice, which is why I chose not to set the text as song. Also, I chose the orchestral medium rather than a chamber setting because the nature of the topic demanded a larger range of colors and combinations, as well as a louder, fuller sound. Much of the music was composed while deciding which texts to include. Thus the music influenced the choice of text as much as the text suggested the musical setting. The four formal divisions of the piece are delineated primarily by the text. The first section is an orchestral introduction representing various emotional perspectives suggested by the texts. The narrator begins the second section with a Biblical verse over sparse orchestration. The third and main section of the piece begins with a new melody in the low strings that is closely related to the harmonic organization of the piece. The narrator lists dates of convictions, executions, exonerations and facts related to doubtful cases. The third section and the narration conclude with another brief passage from the Bible. The fourth section is a dramatic orchestral coda, bringing back the opening harmonies of juxtaposed perfect fifths. The final chord is full of tension and discord, reflecting the oppositions inherent in the topic of capital punishment: life vs. death, sympathy vs. reproach, pain vs. hope, but above all, doubt about guilt vs. innocence.

Moral masochism: on the connection between guilt and self-punishment.

Do people sometimes seek to atone for their transgressions by harming themselves physically? The current results suggest that they do. People who wrote about a past guilt-inducing event inflicted more intense electric shocks on themselves than did those who wrote about feeling sad or about a neutral event. Moreover, the stronger the shocks that guilty participants administered to themselves, the more their feelings of guilt were alleviated. We discuss how this method of atonement relates to other methods examined in previous research.

Emotion-attention network interactions during a visual oddball task.

Emotional and attentional functions are known to be distributed along ventral and dorsal networks in the brain, respectively. However, the interactions between these systems remain to be specified. The present study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how attentional focus can modulate the neural activity elicited by scenes that vary in emotional content. In a visual oddball task, aversive and neutral scenes were presented intermittently among circles and squares. The squares were frequent standard events, whereas the other novel stimulus categories occurred rarely. One experimental group [N=10] was instructed to count the circles, whereas another group [N=12] counted the emotional scenes. A main effect of emotion was found in the amygdala (AMG) and ventral frontotemporal cortices. In these regions, activation was significantly greater for emotional than neutral stimuli but was invariant to attentional focus. A main effect of attentional focus was found in dorsal frontoparietal cortices, whose activity signaled task-relevant target events irrespective of emotional content. The only brain region that was sensitive to both emotion and attentional focus was the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). When circles were task-relevant, the ACG responded equally to circle targets and distracting emotional scenes. The ACG response to emotional scenes increased when they were task-relevant, and the response to circles concomitantly decreased. These findings support and extend prominent network theories of emotion-attention interactions that highlight the integrative role played by the anterior cingulate.