High Arousal Words Research Articles

The role of valence and arousal for phonological iconicity in the lexicon of German: a cross-validation study using pseudoword ratings

ABSTRACT The notion of sound symbolism receives increasing interest in psycholinguistics. Recent research – including empirical effects of affective phonological iconicity on language processing (Adelman et al., 2018; Conrad et al., 2022) – suggested language codes affective meaning at a basic phonological level using specific phonemes as sublexical markers of emotion. Here, in a series of 8 rating-experiments, we investigate the sensitivity of language users to assumed affectively-iconic systematic distribution patterns of phonemes across the German vocabulary: After computing sublexical-affective-values (SAV) concerning valence and arousal for the entire German phoneme inventory according to occurrences of syllabic onsets, nuclei and codas in a large-scale affective normative lexical database, we constructed pseudoword material differing in SAV to test for subjective affective impressions. Results support affective iconicity as affective ratings mirrored sound-to-meaning correspondences in the lexical database. Varying SAV of otherwise semantically meaningless pseudowords altered affective impressions: Higher arousal was consistently assigned to pseudowords made of syllabic constituents more often used in high-arousal words – contrasted by less straightforward effects of valence SAV. Further disentangling specific differential effects of the two highly-related affective dimensions valence and arousal, our data clearly suggest arousal, rather than valence, as the relevant dimension driving affective iconicity effects.

Emotional vocabulary in immigrants’ L2 written discourse: is linguistic distance a proxy for L2 emotionality?

ABSTRACT Emotional vocabulary is an important element in daily conversations, and knowledge and teaching of this vocabulary in a second language (L2) should be a primary goal in migration contexts. This study aimed to identify the emotional words used in the written productions of 288 adult immigrants from different countries of origin who were beginner-level learners of Spanish and to analyse the affective dimensions of valence and arousal of these words. The study also investigated whether the linguistic distance between the first language (L1) of these immigrants and their L2 (Spanish) – as assessed with the normalised and divided Levenshtein distance – constituted a proxy for emotionality in L2 written discourse. Multiple regression models and mediation analysis revealed that the effect of linguistic distance on the number of high-arousal words was mediated by L2 proficiency level, and that L2 proficiency level had a positive influence on the number of emotional (positive/negative) words. The results also revealed that these immigrants used a greater number of positive words in their L2 written productions.

Emotional Prototypicality Ratings for 636 Chinese Words: A Database of Chinese Words with Affective Information

Exemplars of concepts vary in their degree of prototypicality. This is also true for emotion concepts. This study presents prototypicality ratings for a large set of Chinese words. The database contains 636 potential Chinese emotion words (i.e., words that directly express particular emotions, like “高兴 happy” and “哀愁 sad”), from different grammatical categories. Native Chinese speakers rated the words in terms of emotional prototypicality. The database also contains values for valence, arousal, and emotionality. The analyses of the ratings revealed that 502 out of 636 words had a high prototypicality value (value equal to or above three on a 1-to-5 scale), the most prototypical words being negative and high-arousal words. The analyses also indicated that the emotional prototypicality of a word was positively related to both arousal and emotionality, and negatively related to valence. Among these variables, arousal was the most important contributor. Similar results have been found in studies conducted in other languages. This will be a useful resource for researchers interested in studying emotion words in the Chinese language and for those interested in cross-linguistic comparisons.

Age-related positivity effect: Distinct mechanisms for lexical access and episodic memory of emotional words.

The age-related positivity effect is the tendency of older adults to preferentially process positive information over negative information when compared to younger adults (e.g., Reed & Carstensen, 2012). The aim of the study was to determine whether common and/or distinct mechanisms underlie the age-related positivity effect in lexical access and episodic memory. Fifty young and 50 older adults successively performed a progressive demasking task incorporating memory instructions, an immediate free recall task, a memory recognition task, and delayed free recalls at 20 min and 7 days. The materials included 60 words that varied in emotional valence (positive, neutral, negative) and arousal (low, high). The results revealed that distinct processes underlie the age-related positivity effect in lexical access and episodic memory. In progressive demasking, this effect emerged for both low- and high-arousal words, suggesting that it depends on automatic processes. In immediate and delayed free recall and recognition, this effect emerged for low-arousal words only, suggesting that it depends on more controlled processes. Moreover, in older adults, positivity scores correlated with well-being scores for episodic memory. These results are discussed in relation to affective aging theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Arousal affects short-term serial recall.

Arousal affects our lives in a variety of ways; it can direct our attention to what is important in our environment and help us remember it more clearly. However, it remains unclear how arousal impacts short-term memory. Here we addressed this gap in our knowledge by contrasting four hypotheses: the Arousal Hypothesis, the Priority-Binding Hypothesis, the Rehearsal Hypothesis, and the Rapid-Processing Hypothesis. To distinguish between these competing accounts, we conducted two immediate serial recall experiments in which we manipulated arousal (low-arousal words vs. high-arousal words), list composition (pure vs. mixed), and presentation rate (200 ms vs. 1,000 ms). Overall, participants were better at recalling arousing information, regardless of list type or presentation rate. Our results provide clear evidence in favor of the arousal hypothesis which suggests that arousing information benefits from biologically induced enhancements at encoding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Does emotional valence modulate word recognition? A behavioral study manipulating frequency and arousal

Effects of emotional valence have been observed in lexical decision tasks, suggesting that valence information modulates early word recognition. However, is still unclear the processing advantage of the different valence categories, and how these advantages might be modulated by word frequency and arousal. To clarify this question, a lexical decision task was designed using emotional words as stimuli. Emotional words were divided into three categories: 60 positive, 60 negative, and 60 neutral words. Word frequency was manipulated into low and high conditions and arousal was controlled among experimental conditions (word valence and frequency). In the first experiment, 54 participants performed the task with a maximum stimuli exposure time of 2000 ms. In a follow-up experiment, 42 participants performed the same task with two shorter fixed time exposures (150 ms and 300 ms). The results were similar between experiments: positive words were recognized faster and negative words were recognized slower than neutral ones. Furthermore, this valence effect was modulated by word frequency, affecting only words that take longer to be recognized (low-frequency words). However, the valence by frequency interaction was attenuated for high-arousal words when the pressure to respond was high (short exposure time - 150 ms). Overall, the results confirm that the emotional status of a word can affect word processing at early stages when automatic processes are taking place.

Effects of affective priming through music on the use of emotion words.

Understanding how music can evoke emotions and in turn affect language use has significant implications not only in clinical settings but also in the emotional development of children. The relationship between music and emotion is an intricate one that has been closely studied. However, how the use of emotion words can be influenced by auditory priming is a question which is still not known. The main interest in this study was to examine how manipulation of mode and tempo in music affects the emotions induced and the subsequent effects on the use of emotion words. Fifty university students in Singapore were asked to select emotion words after exposure to various music excerpts. The results showed that major modes and faster tempos elicited greater responses for positive words and high arousal words respectively, while minor modes elicited more high arousal words and original tempos resulted in more positive words being selected. In the Major-Fast, Major-Slow and Minor-Slow conditions, positive correlations were found between the number of high arousal words and their rated intensities. Upon further analysis, categorization of emotion words differed from the circumplex model. Taken together, the findings highlight the prominence of affective auditory priming and allow us to better understand our emotive responses to music.

RTMS on left prefrontal cortex contributes to memories for positive emotional cues: A comparison between pictures and words

The present research explored the cortical correlates of emotional memories in response to words and pictures. Subjects’ performance (Accuracy Index, AI; response times, RTs; RTs/AI) was considered when a repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) was applied on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC). Specifically, the role of LDLPFC was tested by performing a memory task, in which old (previously encoded targets) and new (previously not encoded distractors) emotional pictures/words had to be recognized. Valence (positive vs. negative) and arousing power (high vs. low) of stimuli were also modulated. Moreover, subjective evaluation of emotional stimuli in terms of valence/arousal was explored. We found significant performance improving (higher AI, reduced RTs, improved general performance) in response to rTMS. This “better recognition effect” was only related to specific emotional features, that is positive high arousal pictures or words. Moreover no significant differences were found between stimulus categories. A direct relationship was also observed between subjective evaluation of emotional cues and memory performance when rTMS was applied to LDLPFC. Supported by valence and approach model of emotions, we supposed that a left lateralized prefrontal system may induce a better recognition of positive high arousal words, and that evaluation of emotional cue is related to prefrontal activation, affecting the recognition memories of emotions.

Incidental self-processing modulates the interaction of emotional valence and arousal

The middle insula has been associated with incidental self-processing of negative information elicited by individual's handwriting. However, emotional valence and arousal have been proved to work in an interactive way and located in middle insula. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study used participant's handwritings as material to explore how incidental self-processing affected the interaction of valence and arousal and its neural basis. Each participant was asked to read silently emotional and neutral words written by himself/herself or the other person. The right middle insula as well as the left putamen showed greater activations in response to emotional stimuli evoking conflicting approach-withdrawal tendencies (i.e., positive high-arousal and negative low-arousal words) relative to stimuli evoking congruent approach versus withdrawal tendencies (i.e., positive low-arousal and negative high-arousal words), whereas a reverse activation pattern in these two regions was observed during processing other-handwriting. The current study indicated that incidental self-processing modulates the interaction of emotional valence and arousal.

Arousal and emotional valence interact in written word recognition

Behavioural and neurophysiological studies reveal a prioritisation for emotional material during different cognitive tasks. Although emotion comprises two dimensions, i.e., valence and arousal, previous research has mostly focused on the former. This study aimed to investigate the effects of valence and arousal on lexical decision (LD) by manipulating both dimensions, while controlling correlated psycholinguistic variables (e.g., word length, frequency, imageability). Results showed that valence and arousal affect word recognition in an interactive way: LD latencies are slower for positive high-arousal and negative low-arousal words compared to positive low-arousal and negative high-arousal words, in line with an approach-withdrawal tendency model. Furthermore, principal component and regression analyses revealed a unique contribution of a cluster of emotion variables, independent of lexico-semantic variables, to explaining LD latencies. We conclude that emotional valence and arousal both need to be taken into account in studies of word processing as they show an interactive relationship.

Emotional valence and arousal affect reading in an interactive way: Neuroimaging evidence for an approach-withdrawal framework

A growing body of literature shows that the emotional content of verbal material affects reading, wherein emotional words are given processing priority compared to neutral words. Human emotions can be conceptualised within a two-dimensional model comprised of emotional valence and arousal (intensity). These variables are at least in part distinct, but recent studies report interactive effects during implicit emotion processing and relate these to stimulus-evoked approach-withdrawal tendencies.The aim of the present study was to explore how valence and arousal interact at the neural level, during implicit emotion word processing. The emotional attributes of written word stimuli were orthogonally manipulated based on behavioural ratings from a corpus of emotion words. Stimuli were presented during an fMRI experiment while 16 participants performed a lexical decision task, which did not require explicit evaluation of a word′s emotional content.Results showed greater neural activation within right insular cortex in response to stimuli evoking conflicting approach-withdrawal tendencies (i.e., positive high-arousal and negative low-arousal words) compared to stimuli evoking congruent approach vs. withdrawal tendencies (i.e., positive low-arousal and negative high-arousal words). Further, a significant cluster of activation in the left extra-striate cortex was found in response to emotional than neutral words, suggesting enhanced perceptual processing of emotionally salient stimuli.These findings support an interactive two-dimensional approach to the study of emotion word recognition and suggest that the integration of valence and arousal dimensions recruits a brain region associated with interoception, emotional awareness and sympathetic functions.

Emotional Nouns Affect Attachment Decisions in Sentence Completion Tasks

We report three sentence completion experiments in which we manipulate the emotional dimension of the nouns in a complex noun phrase (NP) that precedes a relative clause (RC), as in the classic ambiguity in Someone shot the servant of the actress who was on the balcony. The aim was to see whether nouns such as orgy or genocide affect the well-established preference of Spanish to adjoin the relative clause high in the tree (to servant instead of actress in the example above). We manipulated the valence and arousal of the lexical entities residing in the NP. Our results indicate that (a) the inclusion of either pleasant or unpleasant words induces changes in the usual NP1 preference found in Spanish; (b) the effects of high-arousal words are especially clear, in that they pull RC adjunction towards the NP where they are located, be it the NP1 or the NP2; and (c) in the context of sentence production, these kinds of words seem intense enough to promote changes in (and even reverse) a solid syntactic bias. We discuss these findings in the light of existing theories of syntactic ambiguity resolution.

High arousal words influence subsequent processing of neutral information: Evidence from event-related potentials

Recent data suggest that word valence modulates subsequent cognitive processing. However, the contribution of word arousal is less understood. In this study, behavioral and electrophysiological measures to neutral nouns and pseudowords that were preceded by either a high-arousal or a low-arousal word were recorded during a lexical decision task. Effects were found at an electrophysiological level. Target words and pseudowords elicited enhanced N100 amplitudes when they were preceded by high- compared to low-arousing words. This effect may reflect perceptual potentiation during the allocation of attentional resources when the new stimulus is processed. Enhanced amplitudes in a late positivity when target words and pseudowords followed high-arousal primes were also observed, which could be related to sustained attention during supplementary analyses at a post-lexical level.

Reading emotional words within sentences: The impact of arousal and valence on event-related potentials

Effects of emotional word meaning have been studied exclusively for words in isolation but not in the context of sentences. We addressed this question within the framework of two-dimensional models of affect, conceiving emotion as a function of valence and arousal. Negative and neutral target verbs, embedded within sentences, were presented while event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and the activity of the Corrugator muscle were recorded. Twenty-one participants performed a semantic decision task on the target verbs. In contrast to single word studies no early posterior negativity was present. However, emotion effects in ERPs were evident in a late positive complex (LPC) for negative, high-arousal words in comparison to neutral words. Interestingly, the LPC was unaffected by pure arousal variation when valence was controlled for, indicating the importance of valence for this emotion-related ERP effect.

Immediate and delayed retention, arousal, and the orienting and defensive reflexes

Contrary to implications of previous paired-associate learning studies and Walker’s theory, high arousal words showed superior immediate as well as delayed retention. GSRs were reliably greater for the high than the low arousal words. High arousal words also evoked reliably greater cephalic vasoconstriction, defensive reflexes, than low arousal words.

Word arousal and verbal mediation

Four high and four low arousal words served as the common (B) elements in a chaining mediation paradigm (A-B, B-C, A-C or A-Cr). The A and C items were two-digit numbers. Lists were aurally presented using the recall procedure. High arousal words significantly facilitated learning during the first two stages. The Mediation group differed only slightly from the Nonmediation group on Stage 3. Effects of the arousal condition were not found to be significant in this last stage.