Item Valence Research Articles

Examining and Comparing Social Perception Abilities Across Childhood-Onset Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Several neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with social processing deficits. The objective of this study was to compare patterns of social perception abilities across obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and control participants. A total of 265 children completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test-Child Version (RMET). Parents or caregivers completed established trait/symptom scales. The predicted percentage of accuracy on the RMET was compared across disorders and by item difficulty and item valence (i.e., positive/negative/neutral mental states), then analyzed for associations with trait/symptom scores. The percentage of correct RMET scores varied significantly between diagnostic groups (p < .0001). On pairwise group comparisons controlling for age and sex, children with ADHD and ASD scored lower than the other groups (p < .0001). When IQ was also controlled for in the model, participants with OCD performed better than controls (p < .001), although differences between other groups were less pronounced. Participants with ASD scored lowest on easy items. Those with ASD and ADHD scored significantly lower than other groups on items with positive valence (p < .01). Greater social communication impairment and hyperactivity/impulsivity, but not OCD traits/symptoms, were associated with lower scores on the RMET, irrespective of diagnosis. Social perception abilities in neurodevelopmental disorders exist along a continuum. Children with ASD have the greatest deficits, whereas children with OCD may be hypersensitive to social information. Social communication deficits and hyperactive/impulsive traits are associated with impaired social perception abilities; these findings highlight overlapping cognitive and behavioral manifestations across disorders.

Attentional Biases in Processing Emotional Facial Expressions: Effects of State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety and Awareness

The effect of state anxiety and trait anxiety on selective attention for threatening, neutral and happy schematic faces was investigated. A student sample was assigned to high trait anxious (HTA) or low trait anxious (LTA) groups using questionnaire scores and state anxiety was manipulated through the threat of electric shock. Stimulus materials were presented both outside (using a backward masking procedure) and within awareness. A novel version of a probe classification task was developed to assess performance when distracting information and the central task were spatially separated. For the masked trials, the LTA group were slower to identify the status of the probe on happy face trials relative to threat face trials in the shock safe condition, and slower on threat face trials relative to happy face trials in the shock threat condition. For the HTA group, performance on the probe status task was unaffected by shock condition status or item valence for the masked exposures. During the unmasked exposure trials neither trait anxiety status, item valence nor shock condition affected response latencies to the probes. Results are interpreted with respect to contemporary models of attention and anxiety.

Structural and concurrent validity of the International English Mini-Markers in an adolescent sample: Exploring analytic approaches and implications for personality assessment

Structural validity studies of Big Five measures using confirmatory factor analysis often yield mixed levels of fit. However, substantial evidence of criterion-related validity also exists for such measures. We investigated the structural and concurrent validity of a recently developed, short, trait-descriptor-based Big Five measure with a large sample of Australian adolescents. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the more recently developed exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), we investigated impacts of a range of modeling decisions, including item parceling and item valence models. The most substantial improvements in fit over CFA-based models resulted from use of ESEM and fitting of correlated uniquenesses based on item valence; effects of modeling decisions on criterion validity were modest. Implications for substantive research are discussed.

Evaluation of the Learning to Teach for Social Justice–Beliefs Scale in an Australian context

A concern for social justice pervades the espoused curriculum of many pre-service teaching programmes, but the extent to which that curriculum influences the beliefs students hold is an open question. With the goal of developing an instrument suitable for evaluating such beliefs at the degree programme level, the present study analysed responses to the Learning to Teach for Social Justice–Beliefs (LTSJ–B) Scale (Enterline, S., Cochran-Smith, M., Ludlow, J.H., & Mitescu, E. (2008). Learning to teach for social justice: Measuring change in the beliefs of teacher candidates. The New Educator, 4, 267–290. doi:10.1080/15476880802430361) from 304 Australian pre-service teachers. Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis both indicated a two-factor structure, driven by a methodological artefact of item valence. We conclude from these findings that a short, five-item version of the LTSJ–B Scale would suitably balance psychometric and pragmatic considerations, in the broader context of working within an institutionally aligned system of teaching evaluation with multiple levels.

Looking behaviour and preference for artworks: The role of emotional valence and location

The position of an item influences its evaluation, with research consistently finding that items occupying central locations are preferred and have a higher subjective value. The current study investigated whether this centre-stage effect (CSE) is a result of bottom-up gaze allocation to the central item, and whether it is affected by item valence. Participants (n=50) were presented with three images of artistic paintings in a row and asked to choose the image they preferred. Eye movements were recorded for a subset of participants (n=22). On each trial the three artworks were either similar but different, or were identical and with positive valence, or were identical and with negative valence. The results showed a centre-stage effect, with artworks in the centre of the row preferred, but only when they were identical and of positive valence. Significantly greater gaze allocation to the central and left artwork was not mirrored by equivalent increases in preference choices. Regression analyses showed that when the artworks were positive and identical the participants' last fixation predicted preference for the central art-work, whereas the fixation duration predicted preference if the images were different. Overall the result showed that item valence, rather than level of gaze allocation, influences the CSE, which is incompatible with the bottom-up gaze explanation. We propose that the centre stage heuristic, which specifies that the best items are in the middle, is able to explain these findings and the centre-stage effect.

The Validation of the Female Sexual Function Index, Male Sexual Function Index, and Profile of Female Sexual Function for Use in Healthy Young Adults.

Past research has typically used clinical samples to evaluate the validity of sexual function measures. As normal variations in sexually healthy individuals are of important research and clinical interest, evaluating the applicability of common sexual function measures to these populations is important. Factor structures of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Male Sexual Function Index (MSFI) (adapted for this investigation), and Profile of Female Sexual Function (PFSF) were examined in young, healthy men and women. We predicted the factor structures to be consistent with past evaluations. In a cross-sectional study, 1,258 participants (M age = 19.56 years; 59 % women) completed these measures. Confirmatory factor analyses did not initially support the factor structures. However, factor loadings showed marked differences between positively and negatively worded items. As such, each measure's factor structure was tested using multi-trait multi-method confirmatory factor analysis which accounted for variance due to item valence. These models supported the predicted structures of the FSFI and MSFI, whereas the PFSF's Responsiveness scale required modification, resulting in an Avoidance scale for both genders. This study was one of few to validate the FSFI in young, healthy adults and the first to examine the MSFI and PFSF in these populations. Additionally, this investigation was the first to propose a reconceptualization of the PFSF Responsiveness scale into an Avoidance scale. Lastly, our study highlights the significant impact of item valence on how individuals respond to questions regarding their sexual functioning.

Source monitoring and proneness to auditory-verbal hallucinations: A signal detection analysis

Introduction. It has been suggested that a bias to misattribute self-generated thoughts to a nonself source underlies the experience of auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVH). We tested this hypothesis with healthy participants prone or not prone to AVH. Method. Participants (N=133) were presented with 96 words for subsequent recognition (half positively, half negatively valenced). For self-generated trials, participants generated a sentence containing the word. For other-generated trials, participants heard a prerecorded sentence containing the word. At test, studied words were re-presented visually, intermixed with 96 matched lures. Participants indicated the study status (old or new) and source (self or other) for each item. Sensitivity and bias measures were derived for item and source memory using signal detection theory. The 20 participants scoring highest on questions relating to AVH from the revised Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale formed the high-AVH group and the 20 scoring lowest formed the low-AVH group. Results. ANOVAs revealed no significant differences between the two participant groups in sensitivity or bias of source memory, regardless of item valence. There was a trend for the sensitivity of item memory to be lower in the high-AVH group, compared with the low-AVH group. The bias of item memory was not significantly different between groups. Conclusions. Although we found no evidence that source-monitoring problems underlie the experience of AVHs in the general population, we recommend that signal detection measures be applied in future investigations of source monitoring in at-risk and clinical populations.

Do optimism and pessimism have different relationships with personality dimensions? A re-examination

The classic, well-cited study by Marshall et al. (1992) demonstrated that optimism correlates stronger with extraversion than does pessimism and pessimism correlates stronger with neuroticism than does optimism, and these results lent support to their claim that optimism and pessimism are two separate constructs. However, we argued that their results are likely the outcome of scale artefact caused by item valence (or item favorability). In an empirical study ( N = 1016), we evaluated the correlation of optimism scores and pessimism scores with the most common measure of optimism – Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). As expected, when item valence effect was not controlled, we replicated the finding by Marshall et al. (1992) that optimism and pessimism show differential correlations with extraversion and neuroticism. After item valence was controlled such pattern of relationships was greatly reduced. Suggestions for future research to resolve the dimensionality debate for optimism–pessimism are discussed.

Emotion's influence on memory for spatial and temporal context

Individuals report remembering emotional items vividly. It is debated whether this report reflects enhanced memory accuracy or a bias to believe emotional memories are vivid. We hypothesised emotion would enhance memory accuracy, improving memory for contextual details. The hallmark of episodic memory is that items are remembered in a spatial and temporal context, so we examined whether an item's valence (positive, negative) or arousal (high, low) would influence its ability to be remembered with those contextual details. Across two experiments, high-arousal items were remembered with spatial and temporal context more often than low-arousal items. Item valence did not influence memory for those details, although positive high-arousal items were recognised or recalled more often than negative items. These data suggest that emotion does not just bias participants to believe they have a vivid memory; rather, the arousal elicited by an event can benefit memory for some types of contextual details.

The effect of arousal on the emotional memory network depends on valence

Some suggest that arousal is the essential element needed to engage the amygdala. However, the role of arousal in the larger emotional memory network may differ depending on the valence (positive, negative) of the to-be-remembered information. The goal of the current study was to determine the influence of arousal-based changes in amygdalar connectivity for positive and negative items. Participants were shown emotional and neutral pictures while they underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. The emotional pictures varied by valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low). Approximately 90minutes later, outside of the scanner, participants took a surprise recognition test. Effective connectivity analysis examined how arousal affected successful encoding activity. For negative information, arousal increased the strength of amygdala connections to the inferior frontal gyrus and the middle occipital gyrus, while for positive information arousal decreased the strength of these amygdala efferents. Further, while the effect of arousal on memory for positive information was restricted to amygdalar efferents, arousal had a more widespread effect for negative items, enhancing connectivity between other nodes of the emotional memory network. These findings emphasize that the effect of arousal on the connectivity within the emotional memory network depends on item valence.

Noradrenergic neuromodulation of human attention for emotional and neutral stimuli.

IntroductionNorepinephrine (NE) has a regulatory role in human attention.ObjectiveTo examine its role in emotional modulation of attention, we used an attentional blink (AB) paradigm, in the context of psychopharmacological manipulation, where targets were either emotional or neutral items.Results and discussionWe report behavioural evidence that β-adrenergic blockade with propranolol impairs attention independent of target valence. Furthermore, this effect is centrally mediated as administration of the peripheral β-adrenergic antagonist nadolol did not impair attention. By contrast, increasing NE tone, using the selective NE reuptake inhibitor reboxetine, improves detection of emotional stimuli.ConclusionIn line with theoretical and animal models, these findings provide human behavioural evidence that the adrenergic system has a modulatory influence on selective attention that in some instances depends on item valence.

The self in conflict: The role of executive processes during truthful and deceptive responses about attitudes

This study sought to extend previous results regarding deceptions about specific memories by investigating the role of executive processes in deceptions about evaluative judgments. In addition, given that previous studies of deception have not included valence manipulations, we also wanted to determine whether the goodness/badness aspect of the items would affect the processes used during deception. Thus, we compared behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) activity while participants made truthful and directed lie (i.e., press opposite of the truth) responses about attitude items with which they either strongly agreed or disagreed. Consistent with previous results, deceptive responses required greater cognitive control as indicated by slower RTs, larger medial frontal negativities (MFN) and smaller late positive components than truthful responses. Furthermore, the magnitude of these deception-related effects was dependent on the valence that participants assigned to the items (i.e., agree/disagree). Directed lie responses about attitudes also resulted in greatly reduced pre-response positivities, an indication that participants strategically monitored their responses even in the absence of explicit task demands. Item valence also differentially affected the amplitude of three ERP components in a 650 ms pre-response interval, independently of whether truthful or deceptive responses were made. Analyses using dipole locations based on results from fMRI studies of evaluative judgments and deception indicated a high degree of overlap between the ERP and fMRI results and revealed the possible temporal characteristics of the hemodynamic activations.

Noradrenergic Modulation of Emotion-Induced Forgetting and Remembering

We used a free-recall paradigm to establish a behavioral index of the retrograde and anterograde interference of emotion with episodic memory encoding. In two experiments involving 78 subjects, we show that negatively valenced items elicit retrograde amnesia, whereas positively valenced items elicit retrograde hypermnesia. These data indicate item valence is critical in determining retrograde amnesia and retrograde hypermnesia. In contrast, we show that item arousal induces an anterograde amnesic effect, consistent with the idea that a valence-evoked arousal mechanism compromises anterograde episodic encoding. Randomized double-blind administration of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol compared with the selective norepinephrine (NE) reuptake-inhibitor reboxetine, and placebo, demonstrated that the magnitude of this emotional amnesia and hypermnesia can be upregulated and downregulated as a function of emotional arousal and central NE signaling. We conclude that a differential processing of emotional arousal and valence influences how the brain remembers and forgets.

Development and validation of the Communication and Attitudinal Self-Efficacy scale for cancer (CASE-cancer)

We sought to develop a reliable and valid measure of patient self-efficacy within the context of productive communication and positive attitude for cancer patients. A set of 19 potential items for the Communication and Attitudinal Self-Efficacy scale for cancer (CASE-cancer) was pilot tested with 50 cancer patients. Based on the pilot test, item valence was made consistent (i.e., all items worded positively) and the response scale was simplified. The CASE-cancer was then administered to 127 persons receiving cancer treatment at general oncology clinics in Shreveport, Louisiana and Chicago, Illinois. Psychometric analyses revealed three 4-item factors: understanding and participating in care, maintaining a positive attitude, and seeking and obtaining information. The CASE-cancer proved to have high internal consistency and construct validity. Moreover, scale items performed similarly across literacy levels. The CASE-cancer is a psychometrically-sound tool that may provide new information on important mediating factors of cancer care. Our two-step approach to presenting response options may also provide a model for helping lower literate patients more accurately respond to survey items.