Commentary on "The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration" by Luiz Pessoa - "On theory integration: Toward developing affective components within cognitive architectures"

In The Cognitive-Emotional Brain, Pessoa (2013) suggests that cognition and emotion should not be considered separately. We agree with this and argue that cognitive architectures can provide steady ground for this kind of theory integration and for investigating interactions among underlying cognitive processes. We briefly explore how affective components can be implemented and how neuroimaging measures can help validate models and influence theory development.

Emotional intelligence compensates for low IQ and boosts low emotionality individuals in a self-presentation task

The research on emotional intelligence (EI) has focused mainly on testing the incremental validity of EI with respect to general intelligence and personality; less attention has been devoted to investigating the potential interaction effects. In a self-presentation task that required participants to obtain positive evaluations from others, individuals low in IQ but high in EI performed as well as the high IQ individuals. In addition, the low emotionality individuals performed significantly higher when also high in EI. The results extend the previous findings on the compensatory effect of EI on low IQ to the domain of interpersonal effectiveness and shed light on the effective functioning of personality traits when interpreted with the interaction of EI. Overall this study suggests that the role of EI in predicting performance might have been overlooked by checking solely for main effects and illustrates new venues for understanding the contribution of EI in explaining emotion-laden performance.

The down-regulation of disgust by implementation intentions: experiential and physiological concomitants

Emotion regulation plays a key role in mental health and psychopathology. Therefore, it seems important to develop effective forms of emotion regulation. Implementation intentions are if-then plans that help people attain their self-regulatory goals. Perspective-taking and response-focused implementation intentions have been shown to reduce feelings of unpleasantness and arousal, respectively, in response to briefly presented disgusting pictures. The present study addressed the open research questions whether forming these types of implementation intentions is effective in regulating affect during prolonged presentation of disgusting pictures, and whether it is associated with changes in physiological arousal. Eighty-one participants viewed disgusting, neutral, and pleasant pictures of 6 s duration under four instructions: the goal intention to not get disgusted, this goal intention furnished with a perspective-taking or a response-focused implementation intention, and no emotion regulation instructions. The dependent variables were ratings of disgust, valence, arousal, and electrodermal activity. Only perspective-taking implementation intention participants significantly reduced their disgust and unpleasantness as compared to goal-intention and control participants. Arousal and skin conductance did not significantly differ between conditions. The effectiveness of response-focused but not perspective-taking implementation intentions seems to be substantially reduced during sustained exposure duration.

The vertical dimension of social relations and accurate interpersonal perception: A meta-analysis (Publishd online: 24 Oct. 2014)

There is little consensus regarding how verticality (social power, dominance, and status) is related to accurate interpersonal perception. The relation could be either positive or negative, and there could be many causal processes at play. The present article discusses the theoretical possibilities and presents a meta-analysis of this question. In studies using a standard test of interpersonal accuracy, higher socioeconomic status (SES) predicted higher accuracy defined as accurate inference about the meanings of cues; also, higher experimentally manipulated vertical position predicted higher accuracy defined as accurate recall of others' words. In addition, although personality dominance did not predict accurate inference overall, the type of personality dominance did, such that empathic/responsible dominance had a positive relation and egoistic/aggressive dominance had a negative relation to accuracy. In studies involving live interaction, higher experimentally manipulated vertical position produced lower accuracy defined as accurate inference about cues; however, methodological problems place this result in doubt.

Tracing the associations between sex, the atypical and the combined atypical-melancholic depression subtypes: A path analysis.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have examined determinants leading to preponderance of women in major depressive disorder (MDD), which is particularly accentuated for the atypical depression subtype. It is thus of interest to explore the specific indirect effects influencing the association between sex and established depression subtypes. METHODS: The data of 1624 subjects with a lifetime diagnosis of MDD derived from the population-based PsyCoLaus data were used. An atypical (n=256), a melancholic (n=422), a combined atypical and melancholic features subtype (n=198), and an unspecified MDD group (n=748) were constructed according to the DSM-IV specifiers. Path models with direct and indirect effects were applied to the data. RESULTS: Partial mediation of the female-related atypical and combined atypical-melancholic depression subtypes was found. Early anxiety disorders and high emotion-orientated coping acted as mediating variables between sex and the atypical depression subtype. In contrast, high Body Mass Index (BMI) served as a suppression variable, also concerning the association between sex and the combined atypical-melancholic subtype. The latter association was additionally mediated by an early age of MDD onset and early/late anxiety disorders. LIMITATIONS: The use of cross-sectional data does not allow causal conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study that provides evidence for a differentiation of the general mechanisms explaining sex differences of overall MDD by depression subtypes. Determinants affecting the pathways begin early in life. Since some of them are primarily of behavioral nature, the present findings could be a valuable target in mental health care.

Chaos in human behavior: the case of work motivation

This study considers the complex dynamics of work motivation. Forty-eight employees completed a work-motivation diary several times per day over a period of four weeks. The obtained time series were analysed using different methodologies derived from chaos theory (i.e. recurrence plots, Lyapunov exponents, correlation dimension and surrogate data). Results showed chaotic dynamics in 75% of cases. The findings confirm the universality of chaotic behavior within human behavior, challenge some of the underlying assumptions on which work motivation theories are based, and suggest that chaos theory may offer useful and relevant information on how this process is managed within organizations.

Psykologia

Psykologian pääkokoelma sijaitsee pääkirjastossa (Linnassa), jossa painettu yleis- ja käsikirjastokokoelma koostuu noin 7200 nimekkeestä monografioita (painettujen monografiasarjojen osat mukaan lukien). Psykologia-kokoelmasta noin 2/3 käsitteli psykologian erikoisaloja ja 1/3 yleistä psykologiaa. Molemmista ryhmistä kartoitettiin kaksi osa-aluetta. Kehitys- ja lapsipsykologiaa käsitteli noin 1/5 kirjoista (1445 nimekettä), joten se oli selvin painopisteala. Kognitiivista & oppimisen psykologiaa käsitteli 14,6 % kirjoista (1050 nimekettä). Persoonallisuuden psykologian (9,5 % / 683 nimekettä) sekä tunteiden & emootioiden (5,6 % / 400 nimekettä) osuudet kirjakokoelmasta olivat pienehköjä. Käsikirjaston karsitussa noin 100 nimekkeen kokoelmassa on hakuteoksia, sanastoja, bibliografioita jne. Painettuja lehtiä oli 11 nimekettä (Behavior Analyst, Cognition and Emotion, Mielenterveys, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Perheterapia, Psychological Reports, Psychotherapy Research, Psykologi, Psykologia, Ryhmätyö ja Voltti). Sähkökirjoja kokoelmassa oli 22 nimekettä NetLibrary-tietokannassa, noin 487 nimekettä Ebrary-tietokannassa sekä 3 nimekettä sähköisinä hakuteoksina (Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences ja A Dictionary of Psychology). Verkkolehtiä kokoelmassa oli noin 450 nimekettä. Tietokantoja oli 4 kokotekstitietokantaa (PsycArticles, EbscoHost Academic Search Premier, Elsevier ScienceDirect ja Annual Reviews: Social Sciences) sekä 3 viitetietokantaa (PsycINFO, PsiTri ja Social Sciences Citation Index).

Temporal Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Related Road Accidents in Young Swiss Men: Seasonal, Weekday and Public Holiday Effects.

AIMS: To assess seasonal, weekday, and public holiday effects on alcohol-related road accidents and drinking diaries among young Swiss men. METHODS: Federal road accident data (35,485 accidents) from Switzerland and drinking diary data from a large cohort of young Swiss men (11,930 subjects) were analysed for temporal effects by calendar week, weekday and public holiday (Christmas, New Years, National Day). Alcohol-related accidents were analysed using rate ratios for observed versus expected numbers of accidents and proportions of alcohol-related accidents relative to the total number. Drinking diaries were analysed for the proportion of drinkers, median number of drinks consumed, and the 90th percentile's number of drinks consumed. RESULTS: Several parallel peaks were identified in alcohol-related accidents and drinking diaries. These included increases on Fridays and Saturdays, with Saturday drinking extending until early Sunday morning, an increase during the summer on workdays but not weekends, an increase at the end of the year, and increases on public holidays and the evening before. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest specific time-windows that are associated with increases in drinking and alcohol-related harm. Established prevention measures should be enforced during these time-windows to reduce associated peaks.

Los beneficios de la Terapia con animales y naturaleza sobre las personas con diversidad funcional

El objetivo del proceso de investigación de mi Trabajo de Fin de Grado recae en los beneficios que tienen la naturaleza y los animales sobre las personas con diversidad funcional y más precisamente sobre las personas con trastorno mental. Lo que me motivó en esta investigación fue en primer lugar mi pasión por estos ámbitos y en segundo lugar porque conocía la existencia de dos proyectos magníficos. Uno en el Zoo de Barcelona (Proyecto de voluntariado de personas con Trastorno Mental grave con el Zoo de Barcelona) y otro en la protectora de perros y gatos (CCAAS : Centro Comarcal de Atención a animales de compañía). Para eso me he sumergido en estos proyectos para poder comprender el impacto que tenía la naturaleza y los animales sobre los usuarios. Han participado directamente cinco usuarios. He usado varias metodologías como la observación, el diario de campo, la fotografía y la entrevista semi-estructurada. Los resultados extraídos de la investigación muestran como existen beneficios y tienen un impacto positivo hacia las dimensiones bio-psico-social de las personas con trastorno mental. Las limitaciones del proyecto dependen de la voluntad de participación de cada usuario y a la naturaleza del estudio.

L’educació emocional a través de la música per afavorir la convivencia l’aula en l’Educació Primària

L’educació emocional cada dia guanya més rellevància en l’àmbit educatiu. S’està comprovant que les emocions estan molt lligades al desenvolupament intel·lectual i social de les persones. La pràctica inclosa en aquest treball pretén afirmar la hipòtesi de que l’educació emocional a través de la música afavoreix la convivència a l’aula. Grans teòrics, al llarg de la història, han destinat part de la seva carrera a l’estudi de l’evolució del concepte d’emoció i les diferents vessants relacionades amb aquesta, com la intel·ligència emocional i/o l’educació emocional. L’ús de la musica com a recurs per treballar l’educació emocional ha permès un progrés en la convivència a l’aula, gràcies al seu efecte socialitzador.

Un estudi de cas: inclusió d'un infant amb paràlisi cerebral

En aquesta investigació qualitativa s’ha fet un estudi sobre la possibilitat d’incloure a un infant amb paràlisi cerebral en una escola ordinària. Per fer-ho, s’ha treballat a partir de l’estudi de cas d’un infant concret escolaritzat en un centre d’educació espacial. S’ha realitzat un anàlisi de la realitat d’aquest centre, l’Arboç, i de dos centres on les investigadores han realitzat l’estada de pràctiques, a l’escola Camí del Mig i a la Llàntia. Els instruments utilitzats al llarg del procés de recerca han estat les entrevistes, les graelles d’observació, el diari de camp i l’anàlisi de documents dels centres. Aquests s’han complementat amb una observació directa i participant a les escoles esmentades. La conclusió obtinguda després d’haver realitzat tot el procés d’investigació, és que la inclusió d’aquest infant no seria possible en els dos centres ordinaris estudiats, ja que seria necessari introduir un seguit de canvis a nivell d’infraestructures, metodologia, organització i de recursos humans i materials.

Cognició i emoció: Sobre les relacions entre memòria i emoció i la congruència del record amb l'estat afectiu

El següent treball tracta sobre les principals relacions existents entre la memòria i les emocions. Una vegada revisats els dos conceptes de manera separada, el nostre objectiu serà vincular els dos conceptes, per tal de saber com influeixen les emocions en el processos mnèmics com són la codificació, la consolidació i el record. Per assolir aquest objectiu, també realitzarem una part empírica en la qual prendrem com a referent la teoria de la Memòria Dependent de l'Estat d'Ànim proposada per Bower (1981). En la línia d'aquesta teoria, la hipòtesi general que ens plantegem a la part empírica és que si induïm a un subjecte a un estat d'ànim determinat i li fem aprendre un llistat de paraules amb diferent valència emocional, recordarà millor les paraules que coincideixin amb l'estat afectiu del subjecte en el moment de l'aprenentatge. Per a resoldre aquesta hipòtesi prendrem com a referent el disseny experimental de Meilan, Carro, Guerrero, Carpi, Gómez & Palmero (2012). Els nostres resultats recolzen les hipòtesis basades en la teoria de congruència afectiva de Bower (1981) i, parcialment el disseny d'investigació de Meilan et. al (2012).