Valence Appraisal Research Articles

The effect of emotional uncertainty on attentional bias toward neutral infant faces in adults.

Recent studies have found that adults have stronger attentional bias toward neutral infant faces than emotional (positive or negative) infant faces. This phenomenon may derive from uncertainty over neutral expressions. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 176 participants to examine the relationship between their attentional bias toward neutral infant faces (with neutral adult faces as a comparison baseline) and their level of certainty in their appraisal of emotional valence through eye-tracking indices. The results showed that participants had a longer dwell time and higher fixation counts for infant faces than for adult faces and that a more uncertain appraisal of facial expressions positively predicted attentional bias toward neutral infant faces. Therefore, this study preliminarily demonstrates that emotional uncertainty heightens adults' attentional bias toward infant faces with neutral expressions.

Amygdala in Action: Functional Connectivity during Approach and Avoidance Behaviors.

Motivation is an important feature of emotion. By driving approach to positive events and promoting avoidance of negative stimuli, motivation drives adaptive actions and goal pursuit. The amygdala has been associated with a variety of affective processes, particularly the appraisal of stimulus valence that is assumed to play a crucial role in the generation of approach and avoidance behaviors. Here, we measured amygdala functional connectivity patterns while participants played a video game manipulating goal conduciveness through the presence of good, neutral, or bad monsters. As expected, good versus bad monsters elicited opposing motivated behaviors, whereby good monsters induced more approach and bad monsters triggered more avoidance. These opposing directional behaviors were paralleled by increased connectivity between the amygdala and medial brain areas, such as the OFC and posterior cingulate, for good relative to bad, and between amygdala and caudate for bad relative to good monsters. Moreover, in both conditions, individual connectivity strength between the amygdala and medial prefrontal regions was positively correlated with brain scores from a latent component representing efficient goal pursuit, which was identified by a partial least squares analysis determining the multivariate association between amygdala connectivity and behavioral motivation indices during gameplay. At the brain level, this latent component highlighted a widespread pattern of amygdala connectivity, including a dorsal frontoparietal network and motor areas. These results suggest that amygdala-medial prefrontal interactions captured the overall subjective relevance of ongoing events, which could consecutively drive the engagement of attentional, executive, and motor circuits necessary for implementing successful goal-pursuit, irrespective of approach or avoidance directions.

Temporal Unfolding of Micro-valences in Facial Expression Evoked by Visual, Auditory, and Olfactory Stimuli

Appraisal theories suggest that valence appraisal should be differentiated into micro-valences, such as intrinsic pleasantness and goal-/need-related appraisals. In contrast to a macro-valence approach, this dissociation explains, among other things, the emergence of mixed or blended emotions. Here, we extend earlier research that showed that these valence types can be empirically dissociated. We examine the timing and the response patterns of these two micro-valences via measuring facial muscle activity changes (electromyography, EMG) over the brow and the cheek regions. In addition, we explore the effects of the sensory stimulus modality (vision, audition, and olfaction) on these patterns. The two micro-valences were manipulated in a social judgment task: first, intrinsic un/pleasantness (IP) was manipulated by exposing participants to appropriate stimuli presented in different sensory domains followed by a goal conduciveness/obstruction (GC) manipulation consisting of feedback on participants’ judgments that were congruent or incongruent with their task-related goal. The results show significantly different EMG responses and timing patterns for both types of micro-valence, confirming the prediction that they are independent, consecutive parts of the appraisal process. Moreover, the lack of interaction effects with the sensory stimulus modality suggests high generalizability of the underlying appraisal mechanisms across different perception channels.

Teachers' emotional experiences in response to daily events with individual students varying in perceived past disruptive behavior

Students' disruptive behavior during classroom events can elicit strong emotions in teachers and impact teachers' occupational wellbeing. This research was the first to test the proposition that teachers' emotional responses depend not solely on the specific classroom events themselves, but also on the perceived history of disruptive behavior of the student involved. Two complimentary studies examined whether teachers' perceptions of students' past disruptive behavior moderated the link between teachers' valence appraisals (i.e., how positive or negative an event was) and emotions in response to the event (i.e., enjoyment, anger, anxiety, self-, and other-related emotions). It was expected that teachers would be more emotionally reactive to events involving students whom they perceived as more disruptive in the past. Study 1 (N = 218 teachers) examined one teacher-selected relevant event of a workday with an individual student. Study 2 (N = 37 teachers) examined multiple events collected through daily diaries across the school year regarding two target students (N = 77) varying in perceived disruptive behavior. Both studies showed that teachers reacted more emotionally negative to students they perceived as more disruptive in the past compared to similarly appraised events with students perceived as less disruptive. Findings were most consistent for teachers' anger. In addition, Study 1 examined whether teachers' event-related emotions were related to their occupational wellbeing that workday. Teachers' anger was the only emotion associated with both teachers' emotional exhaustion and dedication. Intervention efforts to increase teachers' occupational wellbeing may profit from focusing on specific anger-evoking teacher-student dyads and try changing teachers' underlying judgments and associated emotions about disruptive students.

Testing a Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation: How teachers appraise three professional development activities

This article tests the tenability of a Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). The UMTM integrates task-specific components from several theories of motivation. Core of the model are four interacting but relatively independent types of valences. Affective and cognitive valences represent feelings while doing an activity and thoughts about the value of its consequences respectively; both affective and cognitive valences can be positive and negative, hence calling for approach and avoidance motivation respectively. The interaction between these four types of valences results in a valence appraisal that influences readiness for action. Task-specific antecedents, autonomy, feasibility, social relatedness and subjective norm, influence valences. 441 Primary school teachers provided judgments of all components of the model except social relatedness for three imaginary professional learning activities. The three activities were framed as a school board decided, a team decided and a personally decided learning activity. Structural equation modelling showed that for each activity a separate model was needed. How valences influenced readiness for action was specific to each activity. In the board and team decided activities, for instance, readiness for action appeared to be based predominantly on cognitive valences, while in the personally decided activity affective and cognitive valences showed a more balanced contribution. Regarding task-specific antecedents, however, the picture was less clear. Nevertheless, the UMTM proved to offer rich possibilities for the explanation of complex motivational phenomena and promises a significant reduction of the superabundance of theories that encumbers motivation research.

Coding valence in touchscreen interactions: hand dominance and lateral movement influence valence appraisals of emotional pictures.

The Body-Specificity Hypothesis postulates that the space surrounding the dominant hand is perceived as positive due to the motor fluency of this hand, whereas the space surrounding the non-dominant hand is perceived as negative. Experimental studies based on this theoretical framework also revealed associations between affective valence and hand dominance (i.e., dominant hand-positive; non-dominant hand-negative), or lateral movements of the hands (i.e., right hand toward the right space-positive; left hand toward the left space-positive). Interestingly, these associations have not been examined with regard to how lateral actions of the hands may influence affective experiences as, for example, in valence appraisals of affective objects that have been manipulated. The study presented here has considered this question in light of the emerging interest of embodied cognition approaches to interactive technologies, particularly in affective experiences with touchscreen interfaces. Accordingly, right-handed participants evaluated the valence of positive and negative emotional pictures after interacting with them either with the dominant right or with the non-dominant left hand. Specifically, they moved the pictures either from left to right or from right to left sides of a touchscreen monitor. The results indicated that a valence matching between the hand used for the interactions, the picture's valence category, and the movement's starting side reinforced the valence appraisals of the pictures (i.e., positive/negative pictures were more positively/negatively evaluated). The findings are discussed against the background of the Theory of Event Coding, which accounts for both the affective properties of the stimuli and the affective connotation of the related action.

Disentangling introspective and exteroceptive attentional control from emotional appraisal in depression using fMRI: A preliminary study

The neurocognitive abnormalities in affective experience associated with depression remain incompletely understood. We examined BOLD activity in 10 healthy and 10 depressed subjects while they viewed emotional picture sets and categorized their experience in the moment as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral (introspective attention), as well as when they viewed matched pictures and judged whether they depicted indoor or outdoor scenes (exteroceptive attention). Contrasts permitted investigation of differences in neural activity between groups associated with (1) attentional control, and (2) appraisal of valence. Introspective attentional control (compared to exteroceptive attentional control) activated a common pregenual anterior cingulate (pACC) region in depressed and control subjects. Contrasts between appraised valences of attended emotional responses revealed a consistent pattern of increased BOLD activity to unpleasant emotional responses and decreased BOLD activity to pleasant emotional responses in depressed subjects relative to controls in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and insula. These findings support the conclusion that mechanisms for conscious attention to emotional experiences are intact in depressed subjects and that the affective disturbance in MDD is related to altered reactivity to pleasant vs. unpleasant stimuli.

The relation between continuous and discrete emotional responses to food odors with facial expressions and non-verbal reports

Traditional sensory and hedonic tests are often limited to predict market performance. Investigating emotional responses to food stimuli may contribute to a better understanding of consumers’ eating behavior. In the present study, 26 female participants were exposed to an orange (pleasant) and a fish (unpleasant) odor presented in three different concentrations perceived as weak, medium and strong intensity in a semi-random order via an olfactometer. Emotional responses to those food odors were measured discretely using non-verbal subjective reports, and continuously using facial expressions. Non-verbal reports reflected primarily the odor’s valence with positive emotions, such as joy, satisfaction and hope, related to orange and negative emotions, such as dissatisfaction, fear and disgust, related to fish. Facial expressions varied dynamically over the 4s following stimulation, whereby expressions at 1250 and 2000ms associated best with odor valence and odor intensity, respectively. The correlation between non-verbal subjective reports and facial expressions reached a maximum during the second sec after exposure. Pleasant odors were associated with neutral and surprised expressions, and with fewer expressions of disgust. More intense odors were associated with fewer neutral expressions and more expressions of disgust. Facial expressions reflect the dynamic sequential unfolding of different emotional responses, whereas non-verbal reports primarily reflect the end result of valence appraisal. The distinction between initial and subsequent reactions detected by facial expressions may offer a new valuable perspective for sensory and consumer research.

The Nature and Dynamics of Relevance and Valence Appraisals: Theoretical Advances and Recent Evidence

Appraisal theories of emotion have had a strong impact on the development of theory and experimental research in the domain of the affective sciences. While there is generally a high degree of convergence between theorists in this tradition, some central issues are open to debate. In this contribution three issues have been chosen for discussion: (a) varieties of relevance detection, (b) varieties of valence appraisal, and (c) sequential-cumulative effects of appraisal results. In addressing these issues, new theoretical ideas are suggested and an update of recent research on the sequence of appraisal processes is provided. Special emphasis is placed on nonverbal signatures of appraisal processes.

541 – Comparison of brain activities associated with self-report versus clinician-related attachment measures: relationship scale questionnaire versus adult attachment interview

Introduction The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is considered the gold standard of attachment assessment, but is expensive and time consuming. The Relationship Scale Questionaire (RSQ) is a self-report assessment of attachment, but measures different constructs. Objectives We investigated how each measure correlates with brain activity in attachment-related tasks: conscious valence and salience appraisal of mother's face. Methods 28 female subjects ages 18–30 were given the AAI and RSQ. Using fMRI subjects viewed pictures of their mother and were asked to rate how good the image made them feel (valence rating) and how related they felt (salience rating). Brain activity correlating with AAI and RSQ measures of attachment security and dismissingness was determined by linear regression. Results Salience processing and valence processing were associated with increased thalamo-striatal, posterior cingulate and visual cortex activity. Salience processing was associated with bilateral decrease in PFC activity. In salience processing AAI secure subjects had attenuated visual cortex response and increased lingual gyrus activity while RSQ secure subjects had decreased right temporal lobe activity and AAI dismissing subjects had enhanced left PFC deactiviation while RSQ dismissing subjects had increased left temporal pole and visual cortex activity. In valence processing RSQ secure subjects demonstrated increased left insula activity and AAI dismissing subjects demonstrated bilateral increase in thalamic and posterior cingulate activation. Conclusions AAI and RSQ measures of attachment measure different constructs with divergent patterns of associated brain activity. AAI measures of attachment tap midline structures (pre-reflective/unconscious attachment processing), while RSQ measures tap lateral structures (cognitive/conscious attachment processing).

Odor Hedonic Capacity and Anhedonia in Schizophrenia and Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients

There is increasing evidence that schizophrenia patients have difficulties in the hedonic appraisal of odors. In a prior study, we assessed olfactory hedonic perception birhinally and found that males with schizophrenia failed to attach the appropriate hedonic valence to a pleasant odor, despite correctly perceiving changes in odor intensity. Female patients, in contrast, exhibited normal responses. The current study extends this work by examining odor valence processing in unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients, to determine the extent to which this abnormality may be genetically mediated. We also examine odor valence processing unirhinally, rather than birhinally, to probe possible lateralized differences in patients' hedonic processing deficits. Individuals with schizophrenia (n = 54), first-degree unaffected family members (n = 22), and demographically matched controls (n = 45) were administered the Suprathreshold Amyl Acetate Odor Intensity and Odor Pleasantness Rating Test. In contrast to family members and controls, both male and female schizophrenia probands underevaluated the hedonic characteristics of amyl acetate at lower concentrations and overevaluated its pleasantness at concentrations perceived as unpleasant by both controls and relatives. These patient-specific differences could not be explained by differences in smoking habit, medication use, or subjective ratings of odor intensity. However, they were associated with increased levels of anhedonia/asociality and negative symptomatology. Our findings suggest that both male and female schizophrenia patients have difficulties in the unirhinal appraisal of hedonic valence. Normal responses in unaffected first-degree relatives suggest that this is an environmentally, rather than genetically, mediated abnormality denoting negative symptomatology.

Situational differences in dialectical emotions: Boundary conditions in a cultural comparison of North Americans and East Asians

Past research generally suggests that East Asians tolerate opposing feelings or dialectical emotions more than North Americans. We tested the idea that North Americans would have fewer opposing emotions than East Asians in positive, but not in negative or mixed situations. Forty-seven European American, 40 Chinese, and 121 Japanese students reported the emotions that a protagonist of standardised positive, negative, and mixed situations would feel. Emotions were coded into three valence categories: pleasant, unpleasant, and neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant. As predicted, cultural differences in opposing emotion associations were found in positive situations only. Moreover, East Asians reported more neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant feelings, especially in mixed situations, possibly reflecting a deferral of valence appraisal due to expected change.

Visual complexity of websites: Effects on users’ experience, physiology, performance, and memory

Visual complexity is an apparent feature in website design yet its effects on cognitive and emotional processing are not well understood. The current study examined website complexity within the framework of aesthetic theory and psychophysiological research on cognition and emotion. We hypothesized that increasing the complexity of websites would have a detrimental cognitive and emotional impact on users. In a passive viewing task (PVT) 36 website screenshots differing in their degree of complexity (operationalized by JPEG file size; correlation with complexity ratings in a preliminary study r = .80 ) were presented to 48 participants in randomized order. Additionally, a standardized visual search task (VST) assessing reaction times, and a one-week-delayed recognition task on these websites were conducted and participants rated all websites for arousal and valence. Psychophysiological responses were assessed during the PVT and VST. Visual complexity was related to increased experienced arousal, more negative valence appraisal, decreased heart rate, and increased facial muscle tension (musculus corrugator). Visual complexity resulted in increased reaction times in the VST and decreased recognition rates. Reaction times in the VST were related to increases in heart rate and electrodermal activity. These findings demonstrate that visual complexity of websites has multiple effects on human cognition and emotion, including experienced pleasure and arousal, facial expression, autonomic nervous system activation, task performance, and memory. It should thus be considered an important factor in website design.

Startle modulation in autism: Positive affective stimuli enhance startle response

Behavioral evidence suggests that emotion processing deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may occur at the level of basic (early, rapid, automatic) affective processes. Consistently, neurological evidence indicates that key brain areas associated with basic affective processing are atypical in ASD. The current study sought to better specify these deficits by comparing different components of basic affective processing in 14 adolescents and adults with ASD and 14 typical controls matched for age and verbal ability. Participants viewed affective pictures, and their responses were assessed with (i) affective eyeblink startle modulation, an indicator of the brain's aversive motivational system; (ii) facial electromyography, an online indicator of implicit valence appraisal; and (iii) self-report, an indicator of overt valence appraisal. The results show that in contrast to the typical pattern, in which exposure to negative stimuli increases startle whereas exposure to positive stimuli decreases startle, individuals with ASD showed startle potentiation to both positive and negative stimuli. Atypical potentiation during positive stimuli occurred despite individuals with ASD demonstrating appropriate implicit valence appraisals, reflected in their facial EMG responses, and appropriate overt appraisals, reflected in their self-reported ratings of the stimuli. Potentiation of startle to both positive and negative stimuli suggests a disruption in basic affective processes in ASD at the level of the early motivational response. This atypical pattern of responses has implications for understanding social and emotion deficits in ASD and calls for further investigation of basic affective processes.

Fear conditioning in posttraumatic stress disorder: Evidence for delayed extinction of autonomic, experiential, and behavioural responses

Aversive conditioning has been proposed as an important factor involved in the etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is not yet fully understood exactly which learning mechanisms are characteristic for PTSD.PTSD patients (n=36), and healthy individuals with and without trauma exposure (TE group, n=21; nTE group, n=34), underwent a differential fear conditioning experiment consisting of habituation, acquisition, and extinction phases. An electrical stimulus served as the unconditioned stimulus (US), and two neutral pictures as conditioned stimuli (CS+, paired; CS-, unpaired). Conditioned responses were quantified by skin conductance responses (SCRs), subjective ratings of CS valence and US-expectancy, and a behavioural test.In contrast to the nTE group, PTSD patients showed delayed extinction of SCRs to the CS+. Online ratings of valence and US-expectancy as well as the behavioural test confirmed this pattern. These findings point to a deficit in extinction learning and highlight the role of affective valence appraisals and cognitive biases in PTSD. In addition, there was some evidence that a subgroup of PTSD patients had difficulties in learning the CS–US contingency, thereby providing preliminary evidence of reduced discrimination learning.

Key Processing Precedes Emotional Categorization of Western Music

To investigate whether key processing precedes the appraisal of valence in music, participants listened to pairs of clips of same or different valence, played either in the same key or one semitone apart. They judged whether the second clip expressed the same emotion as the first one. Our predictions were confirmed: the response times obtained were shorter when both clips were played in the same key than when they were played one semitone apart.

Automatic appraisal of motivational valence: Motivational affective priming and Simon effects

We investigated whether motivationally determined stimulus valence can be processed in an automatic way, as is assumed in many appraisal theories (e.g., Frijda, 1986, 1993; Lazarus, 1991; Scherer, 1993a). Whereas appraisal theorists typically use conscious self-report methods to investigate their assumptions, our experiments used indirect experimental methods that leave less room for deliberate, conscious reflections of the participants. Using variants of the affective priming and Simon paradigms, we demonstrated that intrinsically neutral, but wanted stimuli facilitated responses with a positive valence, whereas intrinsically neutral, but unwanted stimuli facilitated negative responses. In addition, the second experiment proved to be supportive of another assumption made by appraisal theorists according to which a relation exits between different (automatic) outcomes of motivational appraisal (positive-negative) and different action tendencies (approach-withdrawal).