Levels Of Valence Research Articles

The algorithmic nature of song-sequencing: statistical regularities in music albums

Based on a review of anecdotal beliefs, we explored statistical patterns of track-sequencing within a large set of released music albums. We found that songs with high levels of valence, energy and loudness are more likely to be positioned at the beginning of each album. We also found that transitions between consecutive tracks tend to alternate between increases and decreases of valence and energy. These findings were used to build a system which automates the process of album-sequencing. Our results and hypothesis have both practical and theoretical applications. Practically, sequencing regularities can be used to inform playlist generation systems. Theoretically, we show that professional musicians and music producers have significant levels of agreement about how to determine the order of tracks in their albums.

Variation in Valence Intensity Within Frames: Testing Predictions of Prospect Theory and Fuzzy‐Trace Theory

ABSTRACTRisk and decision‐making are central to human behavior and have been extensively studied across many disciplines. To better understand the factors that influence an individual's risk‐related choices, this paper investigates the influence of frame valence intensity. It does so by comparing predictions from two prominent theories of decision‐making: Prospect theory (PT) and fuzzy‐trace theory (FTT). PT relies on the numerical transformation of subjective value information suggesting that the intensity of the frame should not affect the decision outcome. In contrast, FTT predicts that the level of frame valence should correspond to the intensity of the extracted memory trace and have predictable effects on risky choice. The results demonstrate that risky choice varies across different levels of the frame's valence. For positive frames, increasing valence intensity is associated with decreased risk preference. For negative frames, the relationship is more complex and context‐dependent. These findings extend our understanding of framing effects, suggesting that both the direction and intensity of frame valence influence risk preferences. While broadly aligning with FTT predictions regarding gist extraction, our results also indicate that PT could be extended to account for valence intensity effects, potentially bridging these theoretical perspectives.

Effective affective EEG-based indicators in emotion-evoking VR environments: an evidence from machine learning

AbstractThis study investigates the use of electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize emotions and provides insights into the consistency between self-reported and machine learning outcomes. Thirty participants engaged in five virtual reality environments designed to elicit specific emotions, while their brain activity was recorded. The participants self-assessed their ground truth emotional state in terms of Arousal and Valence through a Self-Assessment Manikin. Gradient Boosted Decision Tree was adopted as a classification algorithm to test the EEG feasibility in the characterization of emotional states. Distinctive patterns of neural activation corresponding to different levels of Valence and Arousal emerged, and a noteworthy correspondence between the outcomes of the self-assessments and the classifier suggested that EEG-based affective indicators can be successfully applied in emotional characterization, shedding light on the possibility of using them as ground truth measurements. These findings provide compelling evidence for the validity of EEG as a tool for emotion characterization and its contribution to a better understanding of emotional activation.

The COVID-19 vaccine on the short-video platform Kwai: A study of the emotions expressed in Brazilian content

In this article, we analysed the emotions expressed in response to COVID-19 vaccines on Kwai, a Chinese social-media platform launched in Brazil in 2019. Our corpus comprised 355 videos published between 2020 and 2022 and collected through a Python script. The emotions were identified and classified based on the emotion descriptors of the Human–Machine Interaction Network on Emotion for Emotion Annotation and Representation Language; an analysis of the levels of emotional valence and arousal was based on the core affect model. Considering the diversity of video content, we classified the posts according to their approach in order to identify those that expressed emotion, based on their predominant characteristic (personal, informative, infotainment, humorous or advertising). As a result, we observed that just over half of the emotions expressed in relation to the total set of data were positive. This positive attitude was emphasized when the vaccines were taken as the main topic mobilizing emotions. Expressions of contentment and trust stood out, especially among posts with a personal approach and advertising content. Among the negative emotions, disapproval and doubt stood out, mobilized by topics in relation to the vaccines and other contextual elements, especially in videos with a humorous, informative or infotainment approach.

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Older Adults' Emotional Responses Toward Death: A Pilot Study.

The current study reports preliminary findings from a pilot sample that sought to compare the emotional responses of older adults toward death in Egyptian and Spanish cultures. A cohort of 90 eligible older adults from Egypt and Spain were recruited using a cross-sectional descriptive design. Egyptian participants recorded a significantly higher score in approaching acceptance of death compared to their Spanish counterparts (mean = 21.57, SD = 9.4 and mean = 13.51, SD = 7.11, respectively). Post-hoc test showed there were differences in levels of valence (F[1,86] = 23.88, p < 0.001), indicating that older adults in Spain perceived such images as more unpleasant compared to Egyptian older adults. A significant difference related to death attitude profile scale was noted between Egyptian and Spanish older adults. Egyptian and Spanish older adults demonstrated different attitudes toward death in addition to differences in death anxiety and depression. This preliminary study validates the importance of developing effective nursing strategies to lessen anxiety and fear about death. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, 17(3), 112-120.].

Emotion Recognition from Brain EEG Signals

Abstract: The recognition of emotions plays a vital role in various fields such as neuroscience, cognitive sciences, and biomedical engineering. This particular project is centered on the development of a system for recognizing emotions through EEG signals. The main goal is to accurately classify different emotional states like valence and arousal by analyzing EEG brain wave patterns. The study is based on the DEAP dataset, which contains EEG and peripheral physiological signals recorded as participants interacted with video clips and music. The main objective is to explore and compare the efficacy of two classification techniques: Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). A total of 20 electrodes are used to identify and differentiate among 12 emotional states. The principal focus is on arousal and valence-related trends utilizing Russell's Circumplex Model, which depicts emotions on a two-dimensional plane determined by these two factors. This model allows for the visualization of emotions within this framework based on their levels of arousal and valence. By conducting extensive training and testing on the DEAP dataset, the accuracy of each classifier in predicting emotional states, including valence and arousal, is evaluated. This comparative assessment helps in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each method for emotion recognition using EEG signals.

Narcissists' affective well-being: Associations of grandiose narcissism with state affect level and variability.

Whereas grandiose narcissism has generally been found to be related to adaptive affective experiences (i.e., positive affective states), many theoretical conceptualizations have emphasized its associations with characteristics of low affective well-being (i.e., unstable, highly variable affective states). Empirical research on the association of grandiose narcissism with the mean level of and variability in affective states has been inconclusive, as studies have differed considerably in their conceptualizations and measurement of narcissism and affect dynamics and have suffered from methodological limitations. Here, we offer conceptual explanations for previously inconsistent findings, derive diverging hypotheses about different aspects of narcissism and affective well-being, and investigate these hypotheses in two daily diary and three experience-sampling data sets (overall N = 2,125; total measurements = 116,336). As hypothesized, we found diverging associations between agentic and antagonistic aspects of narcissism with affect levels: Whereas narcissistic admiration was related to more pleasant affective states, narcissistic rivalry was related to less pleasant ones. We also obtained some support for diverging effects of admiration and rivalry on affect variability. However, these associations were largely reduced when we corrected for (squared) mean levels of affective valence and arousal. In combination, these findings suggest that only the agentic aspect of grandiose narcissism is conducive to affective well-being, whereas its antagonistic aspect negatively influences affective well-being. Moreover, the assumed associations of grandiose narcissism with volatile affectivity seem to rely heavily on mean-level effects and primarily manifest in experiences of more diverse affective states rather than stronger or more frequent affective fluctuations in general. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The effect of negative arousal on declarative memory

Arousing events influence retrieval success, with a number of studies supporting a context-dependent effect of arousal on episodic memory retrieval. An improvement in speed and accuracy of episodic memories is observed when negative arousal is attached to them. In contrast, enhancing effects of negative arousal have not been reported to improve semantic memory retrieval. Episodic and semantic memory are highly interactive and yet differ based on their embedded contextual content. Although differences in brain activity exist between episodic and semantic memory, the two types of memory retrieval are part of a common long-term memory system. Considering the shared processes between episodic and semantic memory, the objectives of the current study were twofold: i) to examine, employing a novel paradigm, whether performance on episodic and semantic memory retrieval would be influenced differently by varying levels of arousal, between negative and neutral valence; and ii) to explore the neural patterns underlying these processes. Forty-seven healthy young adults were recruited and completed the experiment in the MRI scanner. The results demonstrated a negative arousal effect on the brain circuitry subserving both memory conditions as well as on behavioural performance, as indicated by better accuracy and faster reaction times. The study provides an insight into the role of negative arousal in memory processes and contributes to our understanding of the interplay between cognitive and emotional factors in memory modulation. Our work also highlights the highly interactive nature of episodic and semantic memory, and emphasises the importance in understanding how negative arousal interacts with the contextual content of a memory, on a behavioural and neurofunctional level.

Air quality in the car: How CO2 and body odor affect drivers' cognition and driving performance?

Elevated indoor levels of CO2 and the presence of body odor have been shown to have adverse effects on the cognitive function of building occupants. These factors may also contribute to impaired in-car driving performance, potentially posing a threat to transportation and public safety. To investigate the effects of CO2 and body odor on driving performance, we enrolled 25 participants in highway driving tasks under three indoor CO2 levels (800, 1800, and 3500 ppm) and two body odor conditions (presence and absence). CO2 was injected in the cabin to increase CO2 levels. In addition, we assessed working memory and reaction time using N-back tasks during driving. We found that driving speed, acceleration, and lateral control were not significantly affected by either CO2 or body odor. We observed no significant differences in sleepiness or emotion under varying CO2 or body odor conditions, except for a lower level of emotion valence with exposure to body odor. Task load was also not significantly impacted by CO2 or body odor levels, except for a higher reported effort at 1800 ppm compared to 800 ppm CO2. However, participants did demonstrate significantly higher accuracy with increased body odor exposure, suggesting a complex effect of volatile organic compounds on driver cognition. Our findings also revealed moderating effects of task difficulty of N-back tests and exposure duration on cognition and driving performance. This is one of the first few in-depth studies regarding environmental factors and their effect on drivers' cognition and driving performance, and these results provide valuable insights for car-cabin environmental design for air quality and driving safety.

Effects of environmental colours in virtual reality: Physiological arousal affected by lightness and hue.

It is a popular belief that colours impact one's psychological and affective functioning. However, clear-cut scientific evidence is still lacking, largely due to methodological challenges. Virtual reality (VR) enabled us to control and modify the environment. We exposed 60 participants to red or blue environments varying in lightness and saturation. We assessed participants' physiological responses (i.e. arousal) with heart rate and skin conductance measures, and their self-reported levels of valence and arousal in response to the coloured environments. The results revealed physiological effects of lightness and hue. When compared with the baseline measures, heart rate increased, and heart rate variability decreased more in the dark than the medium lightness rooms. Both measures signalled higher arousal in the darker room, irrespective of hue. Also, when compared with the baseline measures, skin conductance increased more in the red than the blue rooms, again signalling higher arousal in the red condition. The difference between the red and the blue conditions was detectable only on some saturation and lightness combinations. We conclude that being immersed in environments of different colours can change physiological arousal. However, not all changes are driven by hue and not all the effects are measurable on all physiological parameters.

How do Individuals With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury Interpret Emoji? Similarities and Differences in Perceived Valence, Arousal, and Emotion Representation

Impaired facial affect recognition is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and linked to poor social outcomes. We explored whether perception of emotions depicted by emoji is also impaired after TBI. Fifty participants with TBI and 50 non-injured peers generated free-text labels to describe emotions depicted by emoji and rated their levels of valence and arousal on nine-point rating scales. We compared how the two groups’ valence and arousal ratings were clustered and examined agreement in the words participants used to describe emoji. Hierarchical clustering of affect ratings produced four emoji clusters in the non-injured group and three emoji clusters in the TBI group. Whereas the non-injured group had a strongly positive and a moderately positive cluster, the TBI group had a single positive valence cluster, undifferentiated by arousal. Despite differences in cluster numbers, hierarchical structures of the two groups’ emoji ratings were significantly correlated. Most emoji had high agreement in the words participants with and without TBI used to describe them. Participants with TBI perceived emoji similarly to non-injured peers, used similar words to describe emoji, and rated emoji similarly on the valence dimension. Individuals with TBI showed small differences in perceived arousal for a minority of emoji. Overall, results suggest that basic recognition processes do not explain challenges in computer-mediated communication reported by adults with TBI. Examining perception of emoji in context by people with TBI is an essential next step for advancing our understanding of functional communication in computer-mediated contexts after brain injury.

Affect, desire and interpretation

Are interpersonal comparisons of desire possible? Can we give an account of how facts about desires are grounded that underpins such comparisons? This paper supposes the answer to the first question is yes, and provides an account of the nature of desire that explains how this is so. The account is a modification of the interpretationist metaphysics of representation that the author has recently been developing. The modification is to allow phenomenological affective valence into the “base facts” on which correct interpretation is grounded. To use this extra resource within that theory to vindicate interpersonal comparisons, we will need to appeal rational connections between level of valence and level of desire, which this paper sets out and examines.

Perception of avatars nonverbal behaviors in virtual reality

AbstractVirtual reality has shown great potential in many fields, especially in business and psychology. By immersing someone in a new computer‐generated reality, it is possible to create realistic, safe, and controllable simulations for research and training, as well as new three‐dimensional‐enriched consumer experiences and services. Most of these environments, especially in the metaverse, rely on virtual representations of people called avatars. The design and non‐verbal behaviors of these avatars must be carefully crafted to provide a realistic and truly immersive experience. This paper aims to understand how avatar nonverbal behaviors (i.e., body posture, facial expression, and head movement) are perceived by users immersed in a virtual reality context, a very common situation encountered in many simulations and especially during training. Therefore, the first objective of this study is to validate, through an experiment with 125 participants, how the audience's levels of emotional valence and arousal are perceived in virtual reality. Based on these results, a library of audience non‐verbal behaviors corresponding to different arousal and valence levels is now available for future applications. The experiment also examines the benefits of using low‐end versus high‐end virtual reality headsets, and photo‐realistic versus cartoon avatars. The results have implications for the design of realistic, challenging, and interactive virtual audiences.

The background assimilation effect: Facial emotional perception is affected by surrounding stimuli.

The perception of facial emotion is not only determined by the physical features of the face itself but also be influenced by the emotional information of the background or surrounding information. However, the details of such effect are not fully understood. Here, the authors tested the perceived emotion of a target face surrounded by stimuli with different levels of emotional valence. In Experiment 1, four types of objects were divided into three groups (negative, unpleasant flowers and unpleasant animals; mildly negative (neutral), houses; positive, pleasant flowers). In Experiment 2, three groups of surrounding faces with different social-emotional valence (negative, neutral, and positive) were formed with the memory of affective personal knowledge. The data from two experiments showed that the perception of facial emotion can be influenced and modulated by the emotional valence of the surrounding stimuli, which can be explained by assimilation: the positive stimuli increased the valence of a target face, while the negative stimuli comparatively decreased it. Furthermore, the neutral stimuli also increased the valence of the target, which could be explained by the social positive effect. Therefore, the process of assimilation is likely to be a high-level emotional cognition rather than a low-level visual perception. The results of this study may help us better understand face perception in realistic scenarios.

Social and Emotional Touch Between Romantic Partners is Affectively More Pleasant Due to Finely Tuned Contact Interactions.

Our daily observations tell us that the delivery of social sentiments and emotions differs between strangers and romantic partners. This work explores how relationship status influences our delivery and perception of social touches and emotions, by evaluating the physics of contact interactions. In a study with human participants, strangers and romantically involved touchers delivered emotional messages to receivers' forearms. Physical contact interactions were measured using a customized 3D tracking system. The results indicate that strangers and romantic receivers recognize emotional messages with similar accuracy, but with higher levels of valence and arousal between romantic partners. Further investigation into the contact interactions which underlie the higher levels of valence and arousal reveals that a toucher tunes their strategy with their romantic partner. For example, when stroking, romantic touchers use velocities preferential to C-tactile afferents, and maintain contact for longer durations with larger contact areas. Notwithstanding, while we show that relationship intimacy influences the deployment of touch strategies, such impact is relatively subtle compared to distinctions between gestures, emotional messages, and individual preferences.

Processing negative autobiographical memories in a foreign language.

The use of a foreign language has been introduced in the clinical setting as a form of emotional distance to help deal with negative experiences. However, the evidence of foreign language reducing emotionality during processing negative events is still scarce. This study aims to test whether the description and processing of a traumatic or highly emotional event in a foreign language could modulate the strength of the connection between traumatic symptomatology and emotional reaction. For this purpose, a sample of 128 healthy participants completed a series of questionnaires via an online platform. Firstly, their levels of distress, arousal and valence were assessed in their native language. Secondly, they were assigned to either the native language or the foreign language group and described a negative childhood event in the assigned language (English or Spanish), followed by five questions for processing the event. Next, their emotionality was assessed again in their native language. Finally, a questionnaire of traumatic stress symptoms and an avoidance scale were completed. Results showed that the relationship between traumatic symptomatology and emotionality was moderated by the language of processing the negative event. Specifically, traumatic symptomatology was more strongly associated with distress and arousal change when the processing task was performed in the native language. These findings suggest the influence of a foreign language on emotional reactivity when a negative experience is processed, which could be an essential tool in the treatment of disorders related to stress and trauma.

Block-segmentation vectors for arousal prediction using semi-supervised learning

To handle emotional expressions in computer applications, Russell’s circumplex model has been useful for representing emotions according to valence and arousal. In SentiWordNet, the level of valence is automatically assigned to a large number of synsets (groups of synonyms in WordNet) using semi-supervised learning. However, when assigning the level of arousal, the existing method proposed for SentiWordNet reduces the accuracy of sentiment prediction. In this paper, we propose a block-segmentation vector for predicting the arousal levels of many synsets from a small number of labeled words using semi-supervised learning. We analyze the distribution of arousal and non-arousal words in a corpus of sentences by comparing it with the distribution of valence words. We address the problem that arousal level prediction fails when arousal and non-arousal words are mixed together in some sentences. To capture the features of such arousal and non-arousal words, we generate word vectors based on inverted indexes by block IDs, where the corpus is divided into blocks in the flow of sentences. In the evaluation experiment, we show that the results of arousal prediction with the block-segmentation vectors using semi-supervised learning outperform the results of the previous methods in SentiWordNet and SocialSent.

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for valence-space congruency effect of emotional pictures in a spatial Stroop task

Previous studies have shown that people implicitly associate the emotional valence of abstract words with vertical position (i.e., positive words up, negative words down), resulting in the so-called valence-space congruency effect. Research has demonstrated that there is a valence-space congruency effect when it comes to emotional words. It's interesting to see that whether the emotional pictures with different levels of valence are mapped to distinct vertical space positions. Here, the event-related potential (ERP) and time-frequency techniques were employed to investigate the neural basis of the valence-space congruency effect of emotional pictures in a spatial Stroop task. Firstly, this study showed that the reaction time of the congruent condition (i.e., positive pictures in the top and negative pictures in the bottom of the screen) was significantly shorter than that of the incongruent condition (i.e., positive pictures in the bottom and negative pictures in the top of the screen), suggesting that exposure to stimuli with positive or negative valence, regardless of whether these stimuli were comprised of words or pictures, would be enough to invoke the vertical metaphor. Moreover, we found that the congruency between the vertical position and the valence of emotional pictures could significantly modulate the amplitude of the P2 component and the Late Positive Component (LPC) in ERP waveforms, as well as the post-stimulus alpha-ERD in the time-frequency plane. This study has conclusively demonstrated the presence of a space-valence congruency effect in emotional pictures and has elucidated the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms associated with the valence-space metaphor.

A reliable and robust online validation method for creating a novel 3D Affective Virtual Environment and Event Library (AVEL).

This paper describes the development and validation of 3D Affective Virtual environments and Event Library (AVEL) for affect induction in Virtual Reality (VR) settings with an online survey; a cost-effective method for remote stimuli validation which has not been sufficiently explored. Three virtual office-replica environments were designed to induce negative, neutral and positive valence. Each virtual environment also had several affect inducing events/objects. The environments were validated using an online survey containing videos of the virtual environments and pictures of the events/objects. They survey was conducted with 67 participants. Participants were instructed to rate their perceived levels of valence and arousal for each virtual environment (VE), and separately for each event/object. They also rated their perceived levels of presence for each VE, and they were asked how well they remembered the events/objects presented in each VE. Finally, an alexithymia questionnaire was administered at the end of the survey. User ratings were analysed and successfully validated the expected affect and presence levels of each VE and affect ratings for each event/object. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the online validation of VE material in affective and cognitive neuroscience and wider research settings as a good scientific practice for future affect induction VR studies.

Social Contexts, Momentary Mood and Affective Variability in Early Adolescence: An Exploratory Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

The frequency, intensity and variability of emotional experiences increase in early adolescence, which may be partly due to adolescents’ heightened affective sensitivity to social stimuli. While this increased variability is likely intrinsic to adolescent development, greater mood variability is nevertheless associated with the risk of internalising psychopathology. Early adolescents (N = 58, ages 13–14) reported their social context and mood when prompted by a smartphone application. Valence, arousal, and their variability were compared across social contexts using multilevel regression models. Social contexts were defined by the presence of close others, peripheral others, both, or neither. Arousal was lower when alone. Valence was lower and more variable, and arousal was more variable when alone than in either close or peripheral company. This is the first time that level and variability of valence and arousal in adolescent affect have been shown systematically to differ for the same individual in different daily-life social contexts.