Emotional Arousal Research Articles

Research on the restorative benefits of sky gardens in high-rise buildings based on wearable biosensors and subjective evaluations

BackgroundThe design of sky gardens in high-rise buildings to promote health has recently attracted increased attention. However, little is known about the specific physiologically and psychologically restorative benefits of sky gardens. MethodThis article defined sky garden types according to five indicators in three dimensions based on the characteristics of the high-rise buildings where sky gardens are located: plaza-park, rest-stay and move-pass sky gardens. Typical sky gardens of each type were selected for the subsequent experiment. Thirty-six participants experienced 12 typical case scenarios (432 pictures), and data were collected on physiological responses (skin conductance resistance, SCR; heart rate variability, HRV; electroencephalogram, EEG; and eye movement) and psychological evaluations (emotional valence & arousal self-esteem scale, perceived restrictiveness scale) during the sky garden spatial experience. ResultsThere are significant differences in plaza-park, rest-stay and move-pass type sky gardens, especially in the internal spatial characteristics (size scale, shape index, and elementary richness). The plaza-park sky gardens had better restorative outcomes in visual-physiological (average pupil diameter, average blink count), emotional valence and restrictiveness components of being away, fascination, and coherence. The rest-stay sky gardens had better restorative effects on SCR, HRV, emotional arousal, and compatibility. The move-pass sky gardens had the greatest restorative benefits in the average saccade count. ConclusionsSky gardens in high-rises impact people's physical and psychosocial well-being. The restorative qualities of the three types of sky gardens differ based on their spatial heterogeneity, with large-scale sky gardens, diverse natural landscapes, public facilities, and high void-to-solid ratios having greater restorative potential.

Do pictures' emotional valence and arousal affect younger and older adults' narratives?

Emotional content, specifically negative valence, can differentially influence speech production in younger and older adults' autobiographical narratives, which have been interpreted as reflecting age differences in emotion regulation. However, age differences in emotional reactivity are another possible explanation, as younger and older adults frequently differ in their affective responses to negative and positive pictures. The present experiment investigated whether a picture's valence (pleasantness) and arousal (intensity) influenced older adults' production of narratives about those pictures. Thirty younger and 30 older participants produced narratives about pictures that varied in valence (positive, negative, and neutral) and arousal (high, low). Narratives were recorded via Zoom, transcribed, and analyzed with Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count-22 to get measures of emotional word use, disfluencies, and linguistic distance. Results showed that negative valence increased age differences in speech production independent of picture arousal: Relative to younger adults, older adults used more positive words, fewer negative words, and had more silent pauses when telling narratives about negative pictures. In contrast, high arousal decreased age differences such that older adults used fewer positive words in narratives about positive pictures and more linguistically distant words evidenced by fewer present-tense verbs, relative to narratives about low-arousal pictures. Contrary to an explanation of enhanced regulation or control over emotions in older adulthood, these findings support the idea that older adults' speech production is influenced by their reactivity or affective response to emotional stimuli even when the task is not to communicate one's emotions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Multimodal Physiological Analysis of Impact of Emotion on Cognitive Control in VR.

Cognitive control is often perplexing to elucidate and can be easily influenced by emotions. Understanding the individual cognitive control level is crucial for enhancing VR interaction and designing adaptive and self-correcting VR/AR applications. Emotions can reallocate processing resources and influence cognitive control performance. However, current research has primarily emphasized the impact of emotional valence on cognitive control tasks, neglecting emotional arousal. In this study, we comprehensively investigate the influence of emotions on cognitive control based on the arousal-valence model. A total of 26 participants are recruited, inducing emotions through VR videos with high ecological validity and then performing related cognitive control tasks. Leveraging physiological data including EEG, HRV, and EDA, we employ classification techniques such as SVM, KNN, and deep learning to categorize cognitive control levels. The experiment results demonstrate that high-arousal emotions significantly enhance users' cognitive control abilities. Utilizing complementary information among multi-modal physiological signal features, we achieve an accuracy of 84.52% in distinguishing between high and low cognitive control. Additionally, time-frequency analysis results confirm the existence of neural patterns related to cognitive control, contributing to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control in VR. Our research indicates that physiological signals measured from both the central and autonomic nervous systems can be employed for cognitive control classification, paving the way for novel approaches to improve VR/AR interactions.

Self-assessment of emotional arousal in adolescents and young adults

Introduction. The deep level of integration of cognitive and emotional processes must be taken into account in the modern education system and in the training of teaching staff. Adolescence is characterized by intense changes in the emotional sphere. At the same time, the data on emotional processes changes in adolescents are quite contradictory. In addition, most studies of emotions in this age period were carried out in Western culture and the problem of cross-cultural comparisons of emotional development patterns rarely attract the attention of researchers. To correctly measure a person’s emotional sphere, methods that have passed the validation procedure in the country where the work is planned are needed. One way to study emotional reactions is the IAPS database of emotionally evocative photographs. The aim of the study was to compare emotional performance at different stages of adolescence and early adulthood in as part of testing emotionally charged IAPS stimuli on a Russian adolescent sample. Materials and methods. The study involved 436 adolescents and young adults. Four groups were compared: 10-12 years old (49 boys and 51 girls), 13-14 years old (48 boys, 48 girls), 15-17 years old (45 boys, 75 girls) and 18-25 years old (24 men and 96 women). Participants in the study were required to evaluate the emotions that arose in response to the presentation of IAPS pictures on the screen on the scales of valence (feeling of pleasure - displeasure), arousal (strength of excitation) and dominance (feeling of control over the situation). Results. The valence, arousal and dominance scores were obtained for Russian samples 10-12 years old, 13-14 years old, 15-17 years old, 18-25 years old, with a high level of reliability. In addition, cross-cultural differences from American norms were demonstrated, emphasizing the necessity to use scores developed on representatives of the culture where the study is planned to be carry out. The study also showed that in adolescence there is a change in the affective space formed by the scale of valence and arousal, which indicates a crucial change in the emotional sphere during this period. The comparison showed significant differences on emotional scales for both positive and negative emotions between different age groups, indicating the dynamics of emotional development. The complex pattern of differences in valence, arousal and dominance scales between different age groups suggests non-linear changes. Conclusion. The standards for the valence, arousal and dominance scales of the IAPS database for Russian adolescents and young adults, which can be used to measure the emotional variables are presented in a study.

MMD-MSD: A Multimodal Multisensory Dataset in Support of Research and Technology Development for Musculoskeletal Disorders

Improper sitting positions are known as the primary reason for back pain and the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among individuals who spend prolonged time working with computer screens, keyboards, and mice. At the same time, it is well understood that automated technological tools can play an important role in the process of unhealthy habit alteration, so plenty of research efforts are focused on research and technology development (RTD) activities that aim to provide support for the prevention of back pain or the development of MSDs. Here, we report on creating a new resource in support of RTD activities aiming at the automated detection of improper sitting positions. It consists of multimodal multisensory recordings of 100 persons, made with a video recorder, camera, and wrist-attached sensors that capture physiological signals (PPG, EDA, skin temperature), as well as motion sensors (three-axis accelerometer). Our multimodal multisensory dataset (MMD-MSD) opens new opportunities for modeling the body stance (sitting posture and movements), physiological state (stress level, attention, emotional arousal and valence), and performance (success rate on the Stroop test) of people working with a computer. Finally, we demonstrate two use cases: improper neck posture detection from pictures, and task-specific cognitive load detection from physiological signals.

INFLUENCE OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS ON LEARNING CULTURAL AWARENESS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN UYO, NIGERIA

The study explores the influence of documentary films on learning, awareness, and cultural consciousness of undergraduate University students in Uyo Akwa Ibom State Nigeria. Documentaries, portraying real-life scenarios, serve to educate, inform, and entertain audiences. Six focus group discussions with undergraduate students at the University were conducted and interview questions were guided by review of literature and Priming Theory to facilitate discussions. Data from the focus group discussions were tape recoded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and thematically analyzed. Findings from the study revealed that students gain new knowledge, experience emotional arousal, and develop empathy through exposure to documentary films. Furthermore, documentaries serve as platforms for information dissemination, behavior shaping, and reinforcement of viewers' beliefs. Globalization and technological advancement have led to the wide spread of Western cultural values, while Nigerian indigenous cultural heritage faces decline, particularly among the youth. Documentaries emerge as essential tools for raising awareness and fostering cultural consciousness and countering the erosion of local traditions and values. On the premise of dominance of western culture, social polarization, and declining cultural values among youth, documentaries can help reignite interest in societal norms and help to preserve the culture and traditional heritage of the people in Akwa Ibom State.

Family Emotional Decorative Paintings: Interaction Design for Communication

This paper describes an approach applied to decorative home paintings: an emotional interaction approach. The study utilizes the theory of constructed emotion and the Wizard of Oz research methodology to extend the user's emotional experience in home scenarios with emotional self-reflection and regulation. Family Emotion Decorative Painting uses the family-shared photo library as the image base data, obtains the emotion type through facial expression and voice emotion recognition, and correlates the moment's emotion with the emotion reacted in the picture. Through qualitative research, we found that family emotional decorative painting can bring emotional arousal and soothing to participants. Family Emotional Decorative Paintings also provoked reflection on technology in and around the home. These findings suggest several opportunities, such as designing for anticipation, better supporting reflection on the past. The study also allowed the team to question the traditional interaction design view that more frequent and prolonged human-computer interactions are a measure of good design. The team will next focus on ways for users to engage in novel and meaningful ways outside of the application.

3D scanning a crime scene to enhance juror understanding of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis evidence

There are numerous crime scene investigation applications of 3D scanning that have been previously documented. This paper documents the application of a 3D point cloud in the presentation of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis evidence to mock jurors. 150 mock jurors viewed a presentation of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis evidence from a murder trial in the UK. After viewing the evidence, the participants were tested on their knowledge of the evidence and repeated the test again 2 weeks later; to simulate criminal trial conditions; whereby there is a time lapse between the initial viewing of evidential material and deliberation. This paper found that the mock jurors who additionally viewed a 3D flythrough of a point cloud of the crime scene, better retained knowledge of the evidence over time, reported a greater ability to visualise the crime scene and had higher levels of interest in the evidence. Crucially, the 3D flythrough group did not report different levels of confidence in the accuracy of their memories of the evidence, nor different levels of emotional arousal to the group that viewed the evidence without the 3D presentation. Together, these findings suggest that 3D scanning of crime scenes, and the resultant point cloud’s presentation to jurors, could add further value to the justice system when spatial information, such as Bloodstain Pattern Analysis evidence, is presented.

Depression Analysis Using Face Recognition System

Stress is a part of life it is an unpleasant state of emotional arousal that people experience in situations like working for long hours in front of a computer. Computers have become a way of life, much life is spent on computers and hence we are therefore more affected by the ups and downs that they cause us. One cannot just completely avoid their work on computers but one can at least control his/her usage when being alarmed about him being stressed at a certain point of time. Monitoring the emotional status of a person who is working in front of a computer for a longer duration is crucial for the safety of a person. In this work, a real-time non-intrusive videos are captured, which detects the emotional status of a person by analyzing the facial expression. In each frame of the video, we identify a distinct emotion and assess stress levels over consecutive hours of captured footage. Our approach involves employing a methodology enabling model training and analysis of predictive variances. Utilizing Theano, a Python framework, we enhance both execution and development times for the linear regression model, serving as the deep learning algorithm in this context. Experimental findings indicate that our system effectively performs across diverse age groups with a generic model.

Chinese Version of the Short Geneva Emotional Music Scale: Cross-cultural Adaptation and Psychological Measurement

In this study we developed the Chinese Geneva Emotion Music Scale (GEMS-C) and a simplified version (S-GEMS-C) verified by Chinese native speakers. As the GEMS is a one-word-item scale without context, we performed an expert revision process after forward-backward translation. The results were optimized through structured interviews to obtain the final Chinese GEMS (GEMS-C). We reduced the number of GEMS items to form a short version (S-GEMS-C). The GEMS-C and the S-GEMS-C were shown to have high reliability, construct validity, sensitivity, concurrent validity, and discriminant validity. Additionally, this study found a high correlation between the GEMS-C, S-GEMS-C, and OMES-M, and the difference between familiarity with the music and the degree of emotional arousal.

Art perception is affected by negative knowledge about famous and unknown artists.

The biographies of some celebrated artists are marked by accounts that paint a far from beautiful portrait. Does this negative-social knowledge influence the aesthetic experience of an artwork? Does an artist's fame protect their paintings from such an influence? We present two preregistered experiments examining the effect of social-emotional biographical knowledge about famous and unknown artists on the reception and perception of their paintings, using aesthetic ratings and neurocognitive measures. In Experiment 1, paintings attributed to artists characterised by negative biographical information were liked less, evoked greater feelings of arousal and were judged lower in terms of quality, than paintings by artists associated with neutral information. No modulation of artist renown was found. Experiment 2 fully replicated these behavioural results and revealed that paintings by artists associated with negative social-emotional knowledge also elicited enhanced early brain activity related to visual perception (P1) and early emotional arousal (early posterior negativity; EPN). Together, the findings suggest that negative knowledge about famous artists can shape not only explicit aesthetic evaluations, but may also penetrate the perception of the artwork itself.

The impact of live background visual complexity on consumer purchase intention: an eye-tracking study

PurposeBased on sensory marketing theory and cognitive appraisal theory, this study investigates whether and how the background visual complexity of live-streaming affects consumers' purchase intention and reveals the underlying mechanisms through which background visual complexity influences consumers' purchase decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe experiment was conducted with 180 college students, using eye-tracking technology to explore the impact mechanism of live background visual complexity on consumers' purchase intention, considering three types of background visual complexity (high vs medium vs low) and two levels of need for cognitive closure (high vs low).FindingsFirstly, the background visual complexity of live-streaming positively influences consumers' purchase intention by eliciting positive emotions (pleasure and arousal), and the relationship between consumer emotions and purchase intention is nonlinear. Secondly, need for cognitive closure to significantly moderate the influence of background visual complexity on purchase intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited sample size makes it difficult to generalize to other consumer groups. Also, the study only focuses on one visual factor, lacking comprehensive analysis from multiple perspectives.Practical implicationsIt is recommended that live e-commerce companies optimize the visual design of live-streaming backgrounds and identify consumer traits to match the visual complexity with consumers' level of need for cognitive closure, thereby stimulating positive emotions and facilitating more satisfactory shopping decisions.Originality/valueThis paper addresses an interesting and practical issue related to the effects of live background visual complexity on consumers' purchase intention.

Effects of a color gradient and emoji in AR-HUD warning interfaces in autonomous vehicles on takeover performance and driver emotions

Objective This study examined the effects of color gradients and emojis in an augmented reality-head-up display (AR-HUD) warning interface on driver emotions and takeover performance. Methods A total of 48 participants were grouped into four different warning interfaces for a simulated self-driving takeover experiment. Two-way analysis of variance and the Kruskal–Wallis test was used to analyze takeover time, mood, task load, and system availability. Results Takeover efficiency and task load did not significantly differ among the interfaces, but the interfaces with a color gradient and emoji positively affected drivers’ emotions. Emojis also positively affected emotional valence, and the color gradient had a high emotional arousal effect. Both the color gradient and the emoji interfaces had an inhibitory effect on negative emotions. The emoji interface was easier to learn, reducing driver learning costs. Conclusions These findings offer valuable insights for designing safer and more user-friendly AR-HUD interfaces for self-driving cars.

Уголовно-релевантный аффект и реакция самовзвинчивания

<p style="text-align: justify;">The relevance of the study is determined by the difficulties of differential diagnosis of criminally relevant affect and emotional reactions, in the genesis of which self-excitation plays an essential role. The purpose of the study is to identify the essential signs of self-excitation, to analyze the psychological mechanisms of its occurrence and development. The phenomenon of self-excitation in individuals with personality disorders has been analyzed in the context of cognitive theories of emotions, neuropsychic homeostasis, affective complexes, dominance and aggression. It is concluded that self-excitation can be defined as a multicomponent mental process that causes the intensification of emotional arousal through autostimulation, which can be carried out both internally and with the mutual influence of both internal processes and external influences. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that in the differential diagnosis of affect and mental states associated with self-excitation, with a similar phenomenology of the criminal stage, it is necessary to take into account the different psychological mechanism of the emergence and development of an emotional reaction in a pre-criminal situation.</p>

Choice overload interferes with early processing and necessitates late compensation: Evidence from electroencephalogram.

Having a multitude of choices can be advantageous, yet an abundance of options can be detrimental to the decision-making process. Based on existing research, the present study combined electroencephalogram and self-reported methodologies to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of choice overload. Behavioural data suggested that an increase in the number of options led to negative evaluations and avoidance of choice tendencies, even in the absence of time pressure. Event-related potential results indicated that the large choice set interfered with the early visual process, as evidenced by the small P1 amplitude, and failed to attract more attentional resources in the early stage, as evidenced by the small amplitude of P2 and N2. However, the LPC amplitude was increased in the late stage, suggesting greater investment of attentional resources and higher emotional arousal. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that the difference between small and large choice set began at around 120 ms, and the early and late stages were characterised by opposite activation patterns. This suggested that too many options interfered with early processing and necessitate continued processing at a later stage. In summary, both behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) results confirm the choice overload effect, and it was observed that individuals tend to subjectively exaggerate the choice overload effect.

Unpacking changing emotions in multiple contexts: idiodynamic study of college students’ academic emotions

Abstract Under the guidance of complex dynamic systems theory, the present study explored four college students’ academic emotions when learning academic English in a blended language class, consisting of face-to-face classroom instruction, and asynchronous and synchronous online instructions. An idiodynamic approach was used to capture the participants’ emotional fluctuations on a per-second timescale. With reference to the bitmap exported, follow-up interviews were conducted to probe into the potential factors triggering their emotional fluctuations. The findings revealed that, although the four students’ academic emotions demonstrated distinctive fluctuations across three teaching modes, they all experienced more arousal emotions during the face-to-face class, while their emotional experiences during the online classes, especially during the synchronous online class, tended to be deactivating. And during asynchronous online class, their academic emotions oscillated between positive and negative most frequently. Three broad groups of factors related to learner agency, learning environment and teaching practice have been found to exert varied degrees of influence on their academic emotional fluctuations in different teaching modes.

Associations between social anxiety, physiological reactivity, and speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to examine possible associations of social anxiety (SA) and speaking-related physiological reactivity with the frequencies of a) total disfluencies, b) typical disfluencies, and c) stuttering-like disfluencies, as well as d) stuttering-severity in autistic young adults and controls. MethodsThirty-two autistic young adults and 35 controls participated in this study. Participants were presented with video clips (viewing condition) and were then asked to talk about the videos (narrating condition). SA was measured by the self-report Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI). Speaking-related physiological reactivity was measured by the electrodermal activity (EDA), an index of emotional arousal. The speech samples from the narrating condition were analyzed for type and frequency of speech disfluencies and used for determining the stuttering severity. SA and speaking-related physiological reactivity were compared between the groups. Correlation between SA, physiological reactivity, disfluency frequencies, and stuttering severity were tested separately for both groups. ResultsNo between-group differences were found in the overall SA, yet differences were found in SPAI subscales of social interaction, group interaction, and avoidance, as well as in agoraphobia. Both groups had higher physiological arousal in narrating condition in comparison to the video viewing condition, yet there was no between-group difference in the reactivity. No associations were found between SPAI measures, physiological reactivity, disfluency frequencies, and stuttering severity in the autistic group. In the control group, a negative association was found between physiological reactivity and total and typical disfluency frequencies. ConclusionsSA or speaking-related physiological reactivity were not associated with disfluency frequencies or stuttering severity in autistic persons. Negative association between physiological reactivity and disfluency frequencies found in the control group may indicate that the physiological arousal may impact the speech production process by reducing the overt disfluencies.

Cognitive Conflict as an Underlying Mechanism in the Arousal of Epistemic Emotions

Abstract The present study aimed to test the assumption that cognitive conflict constitutes part of the mechanism underlying the arousal of epistemic emotions. Specifically, the study investigated potential activation of epistemic emotions (surprise, confusion, curiosity, and wonder) due to cognitive conflict. One hundred fifty-two undergraduate students participated in the study. The tasks were 12 decision-making scenarios depicting dilemmas faced by autonomous (self-driving) cars, such as crossing over or avoiding an obstacle, that may have implications for pedestrians crossing a road. The tasks differed in the implications of the conflicting alternatives. Participants were asked to choose 1 of 2 response options in each scenario and then report, on a 4-point Likert-type scale, their feelings of difficulty and confidence regarding their response and their epistemic emotions. Scenarios posing high cognitive conflict resulted in increased levels of epistemic emotions compared with easily resolved conflicting scenarios. However, the various epistemic emotions followed different patterns of arousal, with confusion being the most affected emotion and surprise being the least affected one.

Mother-child dyadic responses to children facing challenges: An examination across ethnicities.

The current study (a) examined ethnic differences in mothers' and children's responses to children's performance in a challenging task, (b) tested the associations among children's desire for assistance, maternal control, and children's emotional responses to the challenge, and (c) explored whether these associations held across three ethnicities-Asian Americans (AA), Latinx Americans (LA), and European Americans (EA). Results showed that children's emotional arousal significantly increased and emotional valence became significantly less positive over the course of children experiencing repeated challenges in front of their mothers. In terms of ethnic differences, LA mothers exhibited more control than EA mothers, but LA children responded less negatively to the challenging task than EA children. AA dyads did not significantly differ from LA or EA dyads on any maternal or child responses. However, regardless of ethnicity, stronger child desire for assistance was associated with greater maternal control and greater maternal control was associated with less emotional arousal and more positive child emotional valence. These findings suggest that, in a challenging context, maternal control is likely experienced by children as guidance that mitigates decreases in positive emotion. Our work has implications for interventions to encourage more emotionally responsive parental involvement with children in late childhood and early adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Problem focused coping strategies and high self-compassion can be seen as protective factors to lower stress, negative emotional reactions to job and anxiety

IntroductionPrevious research has shown that:-problem focused coping strategies aim to change the reaction to the stressful situations-self-compassion may reduce anxiety and depression. It is associated with happiness, it increases with age, it is negatively correlated with perceived stress and in older adults seems to be associated with higher levels of wisdom, integration, acceptance of one’s past life experiences and higher levels of meaning in life.-job related low LPLA (Low pleasurable Low arousal emotions) and high LPHA (Low pleasurable High arousal emotions) levels corelate to depression, anxiety, and stress. ObjectivesCase report of 60 years old computer scientistMethodsPsychiatric interview and scales:Self-reported questionnaires: The Brief-COPE, The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-SF), The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10), The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-10), The Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS), The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ)Results60 years old male computer scientist, single, without children, multiple times a week in recreative activities and physical activities. He is not satisfied with close friendships, he sleeps 6 hours in day, he didn’t have traumatic experiences in life. He is not religious. He works 45 hours per week, from that 5-10 hours weekly works at the site of primary employment.The Brief-COPE: High score for using problem focused coping strategies-acceptance, planning, positive reframing, and informational support. Maladaptive coping strategies used in lower grade: self-blame and self-distraction.SCS-SF: Much higher levels of self-compassion than the norms established by previous research.DASS-10: low.SHS: lower happiness level than the norms established by previous research.JAWS: High negative emotional reactions to job and low level of overall job-related affective wellbeing together with lower HPHA, higher LPHA, and lower LPLA in comparison to previous research. According to previous research this person is not satisfied with his job and have a lot of negative emotions regarding his job.PSS 10: Levels of perceived stress are lower than the norms established by previous research.MLQ: this person scored below 24 on the scale- presence of meaning and below 24 on the scale search for meaning. According to previous research person with this score do not feel their life has a valued meaning and purpose and they do not not actively explore that meaning or seeking meaning.ConclusionsProblem focused coping strategies and high self-compassion can be seen as protective factors to lower stress, negative emotional reactions to job and anxietyDisclosure of InterestNone Declared