Subjective Affective Experience Research Articles

How previous experience shapes future affective subjective ratings: A follow-up study investigating implicit learning and cue ambiguity.

People use their previous experience to predict future affective events. Since we live in ever-changing environments, affective predictions must generalize from past contexts (from which they may be implicitly learned) to new, potentially ambiguous contexts. This study investigated how past (un)certain relationships influence subjective experience following new ambiguous cues, and whether past relationships can be learned implicitly. Two S1-S2 paradigms were employed as learning and test phases in two experiments. S1s were colored circles, S2s negative or neutral affective pictures. Participants (Experiment 1 N = 121, Experiment 2 N = 116) were assigned to the certain (CG) or uncertain group (UG), and they were presented with 100% (CG) or 50% (UG) S1-S2 congruency during an uninstructed (Experiment 1) or implicit (Experiment 2) learning phase. During the test phase both groups were presented with a new 75% S1-S2 paradigm, and ambiguous (Experiment 1) or unambiguous (Experiment 2) S1s. Participants were asked to rate the expected valence of upcoming S2s (expectancy ratings), or their experienced valence and arousal (valence and arousal ratings). In Experiment 1 ambiguous cues elicited less negative expectancy ratings, and less unpleasant valence ratings, independently of prior experience. In Experiment 2, both groups showed similar expectancies, predicting upcoming pictures' valence according to the 75% contingencies of the test phase. Overall, we found that in the presence of ambiguous cues subjective affective experience is dampened, and that implicit previous experience does not emerge at the subjective level by significantly shaping reported affective experience.

Two’s company: Biobehavioral research with dyads

The development of paradigms for studying dyadic interaction in the laboratory and methods and analytics for dealing with dyadic data is described. These are illustrated with research findings from the author and others with particular focus on dyadic measures of linkage or synchrony in physiology, expressive behavior, and subjective affective experience.

Does your past define you? The role of previous visual experience in subjective reactions to new affective pictures and sounds.

According to predictive models of emotion, people use previous experience to construct affective predictions, represented multimodally in the brain. We do not live in a stable world, however. Some environments are uncertain, whereas others are not. In two experiments we investigated how experiencing previous certain versus uncertain contingencies shaped subjective reactions to future affective stimuli, within and across sensory modalities. Two S1-S2 paradigms were used as learning and test phases. S1s were colored circles, S2s negative/neutral affective pictures or sounds. During the learning phase, participants (N = 192, 179) were assigned to the certain (CG) or uncertain group (UG) and presented with 100% (CG) or 50% (UG) S1-S2 congruency between visual stimuli. During the test phase, participants were presented with a new 75% S1-S2 paradigm and visual (Experiment 1) or auditory (Experiment 2) S2s. Participants were asked to rate the expected valence of upcoming S2s (expectancy ratings) or valence and arousal to S2s. In both experiments, the CG reported more extreme expectancy ratings than the UG, suggesting that experiencing previous reliable S1-S2 associations led CG participants to subsequently predict similar associations. No group differences emerged on valence and arousal ratings, which were more prominently influenced by the new 75% contingencies of the test phase rather than by previous learned contingencies. Last, comparing the two experiments, no significant group by experiment interaction was found, supporting the hypothesis of cross-modality generalization at the subjective level. Overall, our results advance knowledge about the mechanisms by which previous learned contingencies shape subjective affective experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Framing Subjective Emotion Reports as Dynamic Affective Decisions.

Self-reports remain affective science's only direct measure of subjective affective experiences. Yet, little research has sought to understand the psychological process that transforms subjective experience into self-reports. Here, we propose that by framing these self-reports as dynamic affective decisions, affective scientists may leverage the computational tools of decision-making research, sequential sampling models specifically, to better disentangle affective experience from the noisy decision processes that constitute self-report. We further outline how such an approach could help affective scientists better probe the specific mechanisms that underlie important moderators of affective experience (e.g., contextual differences, individual differences, and emotion regulation) and discuss how adopting this decision-making framework could generate insight into affective processes more broadly and facilitate reciprocal collaborations between affective and decision scientists towards a more comprehensive and integrative psychological science.

Affective experience in a virtual crowd regulates perceived travel time.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10055-022-00713-8.

Mind your words: Affective experience during reading mediates the effect of textual valence on comprehension

AbstractIn today's society, we are constantly absorbing information via text (e.g., news, social media), much of which may be affectively charged. However, to date, little is known about how the affective framing of the text itself may give rise to various affective experiences during reading. We examined how subtle changes to wording (negatively or positively valenced framing of the same content) influenced affective experiences during reading and subsequent comprehension. Results show that (a) affective framing in text elicited congruent subjective affective states throughout reading, (b) subjective affective valence throughout reading impacted comprehension at various levels, and (c) subjective affective valence mediated the relationship between affective framing and how participants integrated information from the text in their summaries, as well as if they included affect in their summaries. This indicates that even subtle affectively valenced content in text can indirectly influence some aspects of comprehension through eliciting subjective affective experiences in the reader.

Multi-modal assessment of reward functioning in adolescent anhedonia.

Anhedonia is a core symptom of depression that predicts worse treatment outcomes. Dysfunction in neural reward circuits is thought to contribute to anhedonia. However, whether laboratory-based assessments of anhedonia and reward-related neural function translate to adolescents' subjective affective experiences in real-world contexts remains unclear. We recruited a sample of adolescents (n = 82; ages 12-18; mean = 15.83) who varied in anhedonia and measured the relationships among clinician-rated and self-reported anhedonia, behaviorally assessed reward learning ability, neural response to monetary reward and loss (as assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging), and repeated ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) in daily life. Anhedonia was associated with lower mean PA and higher mean NA across the 5-day EMA period. Anhedonia was not related to impaired behavioral reward learning, but low PA was associated with reduced nucleus accumbens response during reward anticipation and reduced medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) response during reward outcome. Greater mean NA was associated with increased mPFC response to loss outcome. Traditional laboratory-based measures of anhedonia were associated with lower subjective PA and higher subjective NA in youths' daily lives. Lower subjective PA and higher subjective NA were associated with decreased reward-related striatal functioning. Higher NA was also related to increased mPFC activity to loss. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that laboratory-based measures of anhedonia translate to real-world contexts and that subjective ratings of PA and NA may be associated with neural response to reward and loss.

New insights on the correspondence between subjective affective experience and physiological responses from representational similarity analysis.

Classical views suggest that experienced affect is related to a specific bodily response, whereas recent perspectives challenge this view postulating that similar affective experiences rather evoke different physiological responses. To further advance this debate in the field, we used representational similarity analysis to investigate the correspondence between subjective affect (arousal and valence ratings) and physiological reactions (skin conductance response [SCR], startle blink response, heart rate, and corrugator activity) across various emotion induction contexts (picture viewing task, sound listening task, and imagery task). Significant similarities were exclusively observed between SCR and arousal in the picture viewing task. However, none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks. These findings are discussed within the framework of the Populations hypothesis, suggesting that physiological responses do not depend on the experienced affect but are directly associated with the context in which they are evoked.

The Relation Between Valence and Arousal in Subjective Odor Experience

Introduction: he main purpose of this study was to investigate the overall relation between the mean (at the nomothetic or group level) subjective valence and arousal ratings for odors. Although well established in other sensory modalities (e.g., visual, auditory, gustatory, tactile), this relation has not previously been investigated for odors covering a large range of the valence dimension. In addition, we evaluated the EmojiGrid (a recently introduced intuitive graphical affective self-report tool) for the affective appraisal of odors. Methods: Young and healthy participants (N = 56, 32 females) used the EmojiGrid to rate the perceived valence and arousal for 40 different and randomly presented odors, ranging in valence from unpleasant to pleasant. Results: The overall relation between mean valence and arousal can be described by a U-shaped (quadratic) form; odors scoring near neutral on mean valence have the lowest mean arousal ratings, while odors scoring either high (pleasant) or low (unpleasant) on mean valence show higher mean arousal ratings. The results for odors that were also used in previous studies in the literature agree with their earlier reported values. Conclusion: Mean arousal ratings increase with (positive or negative) emotional valence. Participants intuitively used the EmojiGrid to report their affective appraisal of odors without any verbal labels or written instructions. Implications: The current findings are relevant for various applications and environments (e.g., public, retail, entertainment) where odors are used to induce desired emotional states (e.g., relaxation, arousal) and behaviors. The EmojiGrid can efficiently be applied to assess whether specific odors evoke the desired subjective affective experiences.

Emotions after stroke: A narrative update.

In this narrative review we aimed to describe how stroke affects emotions and update the readers on the emotional disturbances that occur after stroke. We searched Medline from 1.1.2013 to 1.7.2019, personal files and references of selected publications. All retrieved systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials were included. Other references were selected by relevance. The emotional response includes a reactive behavior with arousal, somatic, motivational and motor components, and a distinctive cognitive and subjective affective experience. Emotional category responses and experiences after stroke can show dissociations between the behavioral response and the cognitive and affective experiences. Emotional disturbances that often occur after stroke include fear, anger, emotional indifference, lack of understanding of other emotions, and lack of control of emotional expression. Emotional disturbances limit social reintegration of the persons with stroke and are a source of caregiver burnout. The evidence to support the management of the majority of emotional disorders in stroke survivors is currently weak and of low or very low methodologic quality. An exception are the disorders of emotional expression control where antidepressants can have a strong beneficial effect, by reducing the number and duration of the uncontrollable episodes of crying or laughing. Our current knowledge of the emotional disorders that occurs in acute stroke patients and in stroke survivors is heterogeneous and limited. Joint efforts of different research approaches, methodologies and disciplines will improve our current understanding on emotional disorder after stroke and indicate rational pathways to manage them.

Positive memory enhancement training for individuals with major depressive disorder

When in a negative mood state, individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) may have difficulties recalling positive autobiographical memories in a manner that repairs that negative mood. Using cognitive bias modification techniques, investigators have successfully altered different aspects of cognition among individuals with MDD. However, little has been done to investigate the modification of positive autobiographical memory recall. This study examined the impact of a novel positive memory enhancement training (PMET) on the memories and subjective affective experiences of individuals with MDD (N = 27). Across a series of trials, participants first recalled a sad memory to elicit a negative mood state. They then recalled a happy memory and completed procedures to elicit a vivid, here-and-now quality of the memory. PMET procedures were hypothesized to promote mood repair via the recall of increasingly vivid and specific positive memories. PMET participants demonstrated improved memory specificity and greater perceived ability to “relive” positive memories. The procedures also repaired mood; PMET participants’ affect following recall of positive memories did not differ from control participants’ affect following recall of neutral memories. Results provide preliminary support for PMET as a method to improve the quality of positive memories and facilitate emotion regulation in MDD.

The role of affective evaluation in conflict adaptation: An LRP study

Conflict between incompatible response tendencies is typically followed by control adjustments aimed at diminishing subsequent conflicts, a phenomenon often called conflict adaptation. Dreisbach and Fischer (2015, 2016) recently proposed that it is not the conflict per se but the aversive quality of a conflict that originally motivates this kind of sequential control adjustment. With the present study we tested the causal role of aversive signals in conflict adaptation in a more direct way. To this end, after each trial of a vertical Simon task participants rated whether they experienced the last trial as rather pleasant or unpleasant. Conflict adaptation was measured via lateralized readiness potentials as a measure of early motor-related activation that were computed on the basis of event-related brain potentials. Results showed the typical suppression of automatic response activation following trials rated as unpleasant, whereas suppression was relaxed following trials rated as pleasant. That is, sequential control adaptation was not based on previous conflict but on the subjective affective experience. This is taken as evidence that negative affect even in the absence of actual conflict triggers subsequent control adjustments.

Distinguishing the relationship between different aspects of empathic responding as a function of psychopathic, autistic, and anxious traits

Although deficits in cognitive and emotional empathy are associated with specific developmental and neurological disorders, such as autism and psychopathy, little is known about the relationship between individual differences in psychopathic, autistic, and anxious traits, and behavioral measures of cognitive empathy, empathic concern, and affective sharing. Particularly, investigations of empathy rarely consider anxiety, or distinguish between different components of emotional empathy. Presently, healthy adults completed trait questionnaire measures and the Multifaceted Empathy Test, a performance-based task tapping cognitive empathy and multiple aspects of emotional empathy elicited by emotionally-charged realistic images. Heightened coldhearted psychopathic traits were associated with reduced empathic concern and affective sharing in response to affective images, and were unrelated to cognitive empathy performance. As expected, autistic traits were not associated with emotional empathy. Increased trait anxiety was linked to greater affective sharing, and arousal in particular, but this was driven by arousal elicited by contextual rather than social aspects of the stimuli. Thus, while coldhearted psychopathic traits appear to disrupt empathic processes thought to motivate altruistic behaviors, trait anxiety may influence subjective affective experience without instilling greater emotional empathy.

Getting stuck in depression: The roles of rumination and emotional inertia

Like many other mental disorders, depression is characterised by psychological inflexibility. Two instances of such inflexibility are rumination: repetitive cognitions focusing on the causes and consequences of depressive symptoms; and emotional inertia: the tendency for affective states to be resistant to change. In two studies, we tested the predictions that: (1) rumination and emotional inertia are related; and (2) both independently contribute to depressive symptoms. We examined emotional inertia of subjective affective experiences in daily life among a sample of non-clinical undergraduates (Study 1), and of affective behaviours during a family interaction task in a sample of clinically depressed and non-depressed adolescents (Study 2), and related it to self-reported rumination and depression severity. In both studies, rumination (particularly the brooding facet) and emotional inertia (particularly of sad/dysphoric affect) were positively associated, and both independently predicted depression severity. These findings demonstrate the importance of studying both cognitive and affective inflexibility in depression.

How to map the affective semantic space of scents

The investigation of the semantic space associated with subjective affective experiences or feelings linked to odour perception has recently emerged. Because of the specificity of the emotional effects of odours, the terms derived from traditional models of emotion are unlikely to optimally account for odour-associated feelings. In this study, sets of terms derived from two traditional models, basic emotions and valence by arousal by dominance dimensional emotions, were compared with a recently elaborated olfaction-specific set of terms (Geneva Emotion and Odour Scale; GEOS). Three main criteria were considered: (1) the feeling's intensity reported in response to odours; (2) the inter-rater agreement concerning the reported feelings; and (3) the power to discriminate feelings evoked by various odorous substances. The evidence strongly suggested that the set of terms proposed by GEOS outperformed the terms derived from the two classical models in measuring the subjective affective experience elicited by odours. These results are interpreted with respect to a good correspondence between the functions of olfaction and the meaning conveyed by GEOS terms.

Facial expressions as honest signals of cooperative intent in a one-shot anonymous Prisoner's Dilemma game

Previous research has posited that facial expressions of emotion may serve as honest signals of cooperation. Although findings from several empirical studies support this position, prior studies have not used comprehensive and dynamic measures of facial expression as potential predictors of behaviorally defined cooperation. The authors investigated (a) specific positive and negative facial actions displayed among strangers immediately following verbal promises of commitment within an unrestricted acquaintance period and (b) anonymous, behaviorally defined decisions of cooperation or defection in a one-shot, two-person Prisoner's Dilemma game occurring directly following the acquaintance period. The Facial Action Coding System [Ekman P. & Friesen W.V. (1978). Facial Action Coding System. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychology Press] was used to measure affect-related facial actions. It was found that facial actions related to enjoyment were predictive of cooperative decisions within dyads; additionally, facial actions related to contempt were predictive of noncooperative decisions within dyads. Furthermore, and consistent with previous works, participants were able to accurately predict their partner's decisions following the acquaintance period. These results suggest that facial actions may function as honest signals of cooperative intent. These findings also provide a possible explanation for the association between subjective affective experience and facial expression that advances understanding of cooperative behavior.

How do you feel when you smell this? Optimization of a verbal measurement of odor-elicited emotions

The Geneva Emotion and Odor Scale (GEOS) was developed to measure the subjective affective experience (i.e., feeling) elicited by everyday odors. This study aimed to adapt the GEOS to commercial and development needs and had a threefold objective: (i) to verify whether the number of measurement terms in the GEOS questionnaire could be reduced; (ii) to investigate the suitability of this new questionnaire to differentiate the feelings evoked by the odors of different fragranced and flavored products; and (iii) to verify whether the measurement of feelings with this tool could add information to more traditional consumer liking measures. The original and modified questionnaires yielded comparable results for different shampoos. Results of characterizing various product categories with the new questionnaire indicated that it is relevant to differentiate the feelings evoked by odors from fragranced and flavored products, which can be perceptually distinct or similar. In addition, the verbal measurement of feelings provides insight into consumer liking, improving the discrimination of products that have similar liking scores.

Mapping the Semantic Space for the Subjective Experience of Emotional Responses to Odors

Two studies were conducted to examine the nature of the verbal labels that describe emotional effects elicited by odors. In Study 1, a list of terms selected for their relevance to describe affective feelings induced by odors was assessed while participants were exposed to a set of odorant samples. The data were submitted to a series of exploratory factor analyses to 1) reduce the set of variables to a smaller set of summary scales and 2) get a preliminary sense of the differentiation of affective feelings elicited by odors. The goal of Study 2 was to replicate the findings of Study 1 with a larger sample of odorant samples and participants and to validate the preliminary model obtained in Study 1 by using confirmatory factor analysis. Overall, the findings point to a structure of affective responses to odors that differs from the classical taxonomies of emotion such as posited by discrete or bidimensional emotion theories. These findings suggest that the subjective affective experiences or feelings induced by odors are structured around a small group of dimensions that reflect the role of olfaction in well-being, social interaction, danger prevention, arousal or relaxation sensations, and conscious recollection of emotional memories.

Sustained Empathic Focus, Vulnerability, and the Centrality of Subjective-Affective Experience: Further Thoughts on a Self Psychological Approach to the Clinical Use of Dreams

Dreams, and the analyst's responsiveness to them, provide an excellent opportunity for the development of a playful and metaphorical communication between analyst and patient that can enhance the curative process. For the playspace, created by the analyst's empathic responsiveness, to facilitate a deepening of the curative process, it must include a sense of focus. This article presents and illustrates (with particular attention to the clinical use of dreams) the use of a self psychologically informed focus referred to as a “sustained empathic focus” on the patient's subjective-affective experience.

Discrete Emotions or Dimensions? The Role of Valence Focus and Arousal Focus

The present study provides evidence that valence focus and arousal focus are important processes in determining whether a dimensional or a discrete emotion model best captures how people label their affective states. Individuals high in valence focus and low in arousal focus fit a dimensional model better in that they reported more co-occurrences among like-valenced affective states, whereas those lower in valence focus and higher in arousal focus fit a discrete model better in that they reported fewer co-occurrences between like-valenced affective states. Taken together, these findings suggest that one static, nomothetic theory may not accurately describe the subjective affective experience of all individuals.