Velten Mood Induction Procedure Research Articles

Imprisoned by the past: Unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering

Evidence suggests that mind wandering is a frequent accompaniment to an unhappy mood. Building on such work, two laboratory experiments used mood induction to assess whether the greater frequency of mind wandering in a low mood is also accompanied by a shift towards a focus on events from the past. Experiment 1 induced moods via video and induction of an unhappy mood was associated with a greater tendency for past-related mind wandering as measured by a post-task questionnaire. In Experiment 2, negative and positive moods were induced in a group of participants using the Velten mood-induction procedure and the temporal focus of mind wandering was measured using experience sampling probes. Analyses indicated that induction of an unhappy mood led to an increase in past-related mind wandering and the magnitude of this change increased with scores on a measure of depressive symptoms. Together these experiments suggest that when the mind wanders in an unhappy mood it is drawn to events from its past.

Increased sensitivity to heat pain after sad mood induction in female patients with major depression

Patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) have been shown to exhibit increased thresholds towards experimentally induced thermal pain applied to the skin. In contrast, the induction of sad mood can increase pain perception in healthy controls. Here, we aimed to test the hypothesis that heat pain thresholds are further increased after sad mood induction in depressed patients. Thermal pain thresholds were obtained from 25 female depressed patients and 25 controls before and after sad mood induction applying a modified Velten Mood Induction procedure (MIP). Valence and arousal ratings were obtained using the self-assessment manikin. The Montgomery Depression Rating Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were obtained at baseline from all participants. Pain thresholds at baseline did not significantly differ between groups. Pain thresholds and valence of mood significantly decreased both in patients and controls, while arousal showed an inverse time course between groups. Therefore, our hypothesis could not be confirmed. From these data, we propose that the depressed mood as seen in MDD patients influences pain experience differently as compared to the shorter-lasting mood change after MIP. A differential interaction of both affective states with brain areas of the pain matrix might be assumed. Eventually, the induction of sad mood might mirror the increased number of pain complaints in depressed patients and thus adds to the current concept of adjuvant antidepressant treatment both in depressed patients with pain complaints and in chronic pain patients.

Reduced heat pain thresholds after sad-mood induction are associated with changes in thalamic activity

Negative affective states influence pain processing in healthy subjects in terms of augmented pain experience. Furthermore, our previous studies revealed that patients with major depressive disorder showed increased heat pain thresholds on the skin. Potential neurofunctional correlates of this finding were located within the fronto-thalamic network. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neurofunctional underpinnings of the influence of sad mood upon heat pain processing in healthy subjects. For this purpose, we used a combination of the Velten Mood Induction procedure and a piece of music to induce sad affect.Initially we assessed heat pain threshold after successful induction of sad mood outside the MR scanner in Experiment 1. We found a highly significant reduction in heat pain threshold on the left hand and a trend for the right. In Experiment 2, we applied thermal pain stimuli on the left hand (37, 42, and 45°C) in an MRI scanner. Subjects were scanned twice, one group before and after sad-mood induction and another group before and after neutral-mood induction, respectively. Our main finding was a significant group×mood-induction interaction bilaterally in the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus indicating a BOLD signal increase after sad-mood induction and a BOLD signal decrease in the control group. We present evidence that induced sad affect leads to reduced heat pain thresholds in healthy subjects. This is probably due to altered lateral thalamic activity, which is potentially associated with changed attentional processes.

Procédures d’induction d’humeurs en laboratoire : une revue critique

Resume Le regain d’interet des chercheurs pour l’etude des relations entre cognition et emotion a conduit au developpement de nombreuses techniques d’induction d’humeurs. Cet article a pour objectifs d’effectuer une revue des principales procedures d’induction d’humeurs developpees depuis l’etude princeps de Schachter et Singer [Psychol Rev 69 (1962) 379–399] et de rendre compte de l’interet mais aussi des inconvenients lies a l’utilisation de telles techniques. La litterature dans ce domaine est tres importante et l’objectif ici n’est pas d’en rendre compte de maniere exhaustive mais plutot de preciser les principales procedures permettant l’induction d’une humeur negative comme d’une humeur positive. Dans un premier temps, seront donc detaillees les differentes procedures selon leur caractere simple (utilisation d’une seule modalite d’induction) ou composite (association de deux techniques simples). Dans un second temps, il s’agira de presenter l’utilite de l’induction d’humeurs dans l’etude du fonctionnement cognitif normal et pathologique puis de revenir sur les problemes inherents a l’emploi de l’induction d’humeurs tant du point de vue des effets de demande frequemment generes que du point de vue de l’efficacite des inductions realisees.

Depression, smoking abstinence and HPA function in women smokers.

To determine whether smokers with a history of depression are differentially susceptible to smoking withdrawal, depressed mood induction and/or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation during smoking abstinence, 24 women smokers with and without such a history were studied. During one 5-day interval, participants smoked ad libitum; during a second they abstained. On day 4, the participants were exposed to the Velten mood induction procedure (VMIP). Participants were then instructed to take 1 mg dexamethasone at 11 pm. At 4 pm on day 5, blood samples were withdrawn to determine the cortisol and ACTH response. Despite lower baseline cotinine levels, history-positive participants displayed more pronounced overall withdrawal distress than did history-negative participants, regardless of condition. The VMIP increased depression as well as negative responses on other profile of mood states subscales. Despite many overall group differences, no significant main effects for smoking condition nor interaction effects emerged. All participants evinced cortisol suppression in response to dexamethasone during both conditions, but the degree of suppression did not differ as a function of either abstinence or depression history. In history-positive smokers, however, ACTH levels trended toward overall elevation and showed almost no suppression during abstinence; thus exacerbation of HPA dysregulation in history-positive smokers during smoking abstinence cannot be ruled out.

Increased cortisol and decreased right ear advantage (REA) in dichotic listening following a negative mood induction

This study aimed to evaluate neuroendocrine responses and changes in perceptual asymmetry following an induced negative affect. Cortisol increasing in response to negative affect has been reported, while current brain models of emotion processing link negative affect to the right hemisphere. In this study, the Velten Mood Induction Procedure was used to generate neutral or negative affect in 44 healthy subjects. The PANAS scales were used to assess self-reported mood. A consonant-vowel dichotic listening (DL) test was applied after the neutral and negative affect inductions, and levels of salivary cortisol were determined by radioimmunoassay. For the negative affect condition, and congruent with the hypothesis tested, PANAS positive scores diminished (p<0.001) and PANAS negative scores increased (p<0.001), yielding an inverse correlation between them. A significant increase in cortisol levels was also seen (p<0.04). When taking cortisol reactivity into account, PANAS negative scores were higher for high-than for low-cortisol responders (p<0.02). Regarding DL, an increase in left ear items (p<0.04) and a decrease in right ear items (p<0.03) reported for those subjects who obtained a right ear advantage in the neutral condition. An explanation in terms of Kinsbourne's model for attentional-activation influences on DL is postulated and implications for the issue of affective illness are also discussed.

Dissertation Titles and Synopses

Dissertation Titles and Synopses

A simple laboratory method for inducing anger: A preliminary investigation

To facilitate the experimental study of anger, we developed a simple laboratory method to induce anger. This anger induction (AI) is similar in format to the Velten Mood Induction Procedure for depression (VMIP-D), and involves reading descriptors of anger experience, recalling relevant personal memories, and evoking the mood suggested by the sentence/memory. We administered the AI and VMIP-D to 81 undergraduate men and women and collected mood ratings before, during, and after each mood induction. The AI exhibited good sensitivity and specificity in that it induced moderate to greater increases in anger (>1 sd change) in 68% of the sample, significant decreases in happiness, and minimal changes in other emotions. Mood responses to the AI and VMIP-D were influenced by gender and order of presentation. Uses and limitations of this method are discussed.

Effects of experimentally-induced emotional states on frontal lobe cognitive task performance

A growing body of evidence suggests that dysphoric and euphoric emotional states are associated with reliable patterns of frontal lobe activity. Specifically, dysphoric affect coincides with greater right than left frontal lobe activity, and euphoric affect tends to correspond with a converse pattern of activity. The present study examined whether cognitive outcomes associated with the left and right frontal lobes are differentially influenced by dysphoric and euphoric affect. In a completely between-groups design, 60 dextral women were administered either the positive or negative conditions of the Velten Mood Induction Procedure, and they subsequently completed either a verbal or figural fluency test. Euphoria resulted in better verbal than figural fluency performance, and dysphoria yielded better figural than verbal fluency outcomes. These findings are consistent with electrophysiological data concerning frontal lobe activity during euphoric and dysphoric affect, and they underscore the notion that affective influences upon cognition are more complicated than previously thought.

In defense of the Velten mood induction procedure.

In defense of the Velten mood induction procedure.

Toward a Multiple-Method View of Mood Induction: The Appropriateness of a Modified Velten Mood Induction Technique and the Problems of Procedures With Group Assignment to Conditions

Two methodological issues involving the Velten (1968) mood induction technique are examined. The first issue concerns threats to statistical conclusion validity that result from the use of some group mood induction techniques: In research on the effects of mood, groups of subjects are often assigned to mood conditions, whereas individuals are treated as the unit of analysis. It is argued that this procedure threatens the validity of inferences about mood effects, in particular by inflating Type I error. The use of a group mood induction, with only one mood manipulated in a particular group, also increases the likelihood of experimenter bias, local history effects, or both. This article illustrates an alternative method of group mood induction involving four modifications to the Velten (1968) mood induction procedure. Using this revised procedure, subjects are randomly assigned to different mood conditions, yet the data are collected simultaneously. Results indicate that this method is successful in induci...

Endocrine correlates of sadness and elation.

In a series of three exploratory studies, we examined the endocrine correlates of elation and sadness produced by the Velten Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP). In Study 1, 10 college females participated in elation and sadness mood inductions on separate days. In Study 2, 12 college females participated in a neutral mood induction. In Study 3, 16 college-aged actresses participated in elation and sadness mood inductions as in Study 1. At regular intervals in each study, we assessed subjective ratings of emotions, serum cortisol and growth hormone, and heart rate and blood pressure. Results demonstrated that the VMIP induced the desired moods. Serum cortisol increased equally in response to both the sadness and elation mood inductions, but showed no change in response to the neutral mood induction. Select associations between affect and cortisol levels were also observed. Interestingly, our data from Study 3 also suggest that an association may exist between elation and growth hormone. These endocrine changes did not appear to be a function of general arousal as indexed by cardiovascular changes. We conclude that elation and sadness are associated with endocrine concomitants and that the VMIP is a viable method for examining such associations. These previously unreported affect-endocrine relationships are discussed and implications for psychobiological theories of emotion are considered.

Long- and short-term affective states in happiness: Age and sex comparisons

Data from 690 persons in three adult age groups were used to evaluate the generality of a componential model of happiness (Kozma et al., 1990). The model postulates that long- and short-term affective states combine in an additive manner to produce current happiness. The short-term components should be more susceptible to environmental manipulation than the long-term ones and should change more readily with an appropriate experimental manipulation. Subscales of the Memorial University Mood Scale (MUMS) were used to assess short-term affect while the experience subscales of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH) and Diener's Long-term Satisfaction Scale were used to measure long-term affect. Overall current happiness was assessed by a seven-point avowed happiness rating scale. The Velten mood induction procedure was used to manipulate current affective state. In five of six comparisons, changes on short-term components were significantly greater than on long-term components. Age differences in reactivity to mood induction emerged only when a negative induction procedure was followed by a positive one. Under these conditions, the youngest cohort responded more consistently than the oldest cohort. An additive model, based on long- and short-term affect, age, and sex produced the best explanation for current happiness.

Memory accessibility and probability judgments: An experimental evaluation of the availability heuristic.

Consistent with Tversky and Kahneman's (1973, 1974) availability heuristic hypothesis, the current study found a negative correlation between recall latency for past events and the perceived future probability of similar events. Furthermore, when the relative accessibility of memories of positive and negative events was experimentally manipulated using the Velten mood-induction procedure, the perceived future probabilities of similar events also changed in a manner consistent with the availability heuristic account. Reductions in recall latencies resulting from the mood manipulations were, as predicted, related to increases in perceived probability, and vice versa. Partial correlations indicated that this association between the observed patterns of changes in recall latencies and probability judgments could not be accounted for by the existence of independent associations between each of these effects and the magnitude of mood change.

Memory accessibility and probability judgments: an experimental evaluation of the availability heuristic.

Consistent with Tversky and Kahneman's (1973, 1974) availability heuristic hypothesis, the current study found a negative correlation between recall latency for past events and the perceived future probability of similar events. Furthermore, when the relative accessibility of memories of positive and negative events was experimentally manipulated using the Velten mood-induction procedure, the perceived future probabilities of similar events also changed in a manner consistent with the availability heuristic account. Reductions in recall latencies resulting from the mood manipulations were, as predicted, related to increases in perceived probability, and vice versa. Partial correlations indicated that this association between the observed patterns of changes in recall latencies and probability judgments could not be accounted for by the existence of independent associations between each of these effects and the magnitude of mood change.

The effects of induced mood on laboratory pain

Sixty-five subjects experienced 2 cold pressor immersions. Following the initial immersion, subjects participated in the Velten mood induction procedure by reading either depressive, neutral or elative statements. The sensory discriminative response to pain was measured by ratings of pain, and the affective-reactive response to pain was measured by pain tolerance. Pain tolerance, but not pain ratings, were affected by mood inductions with subjects in the depression condition shortening their tolerance times more than the subjects in the neutral condition and the subjects in the elative condition increasing their tolerance times.

Meta-Analysis of Experimental Manipulations: Some Factors Affecting the Velten Mood Induction Procedure

Manipulation validity may be influenced by many factors, including specific aspects of experimental procedure. Meta-analysis is an ideal tool for assessing factors that influence manipulations because it is capable of equating, combining, and gauging the impact of different experimental procedures on a given manipulation. This use of meta-analysis is demonstrated by meta-analyzing experiments employing the Velten mood manipulation. This manipulation has been criticized for creating experimental demand. Procedures relevant to experimental demand include whether an honest or deceptive cover story is used and whether a self-report or non-self-report manipulation check measure is used. Effect sizes are smaller when a deceptive (vs. honest) cover story is used and when a non-self-report (vs. self-report) manipulation check measure is used. Discussion concerns how the Velten manipulation may be compromised and how meta-analysis may be employed to evaluate factors influencing manipulation validity.

Individual differences and response to the Velten mood induction procedure

The aim of this study was to investigate factors underlying individual response to the depression condition of the Velten Mood Induction Procedure. The hypotheses tested were that there would be a differential individual response and that this response would be linked to specific individual differences. The subjects were 40 student volunteers. The independent variables were characteristics derived from cognitive and social theories of depression and from the psychology of individual differentiation. The dependent variable was the subject's mood change to the induction procedure. The induction procedure was presented via a visual display unit and subjects were tested using various pen and paper questionnaires as well as automatised measures. The results indicated that both state and trait variables were significantly associated with mood induction response. These findings may explain the inconsistent and variable results reported to mood induction procedures and may also give some insight into the process of clinical depression.

The role of automatic negative thoughts in the development of dysphoric mood: An analogue experiment

Beck's cognitive theory of depression asserts that active, depressogenic schemas produce a thinking pattern characterized by negative thoughts concerning the self, the world, and the future. Factor II of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-30) is assumed to be consistent with two (views of self and future) of the three components of this negative cognitive triad. It was hypothesized that nondepressed subjects exhibiting a high frequency of automatic negative thoughts according to their scores on Factor II would be more sensitive to Velten's Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP) than subjects exhibiting a low frequency of such thoughts. The results indicated that high ATQ-30 Factor II scores predicted significantly more depression on the Depression Adjective Checklist (DACL) and lower psychomotor speed as measured on the Digit Symbol Test. High ATQ-30 Factor II scores had no effect on the Minnesota Clerical Test and the Arithmetic Problems. The results support the view that a high frequency of automatic negative thoughts toward the self and the future in nondepressed subjects may indicate a vulnerability to depression at the moment of testing.

Restraint, disinhibition, hunger and negative affect eating

The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (Stunkard & Messick, 1985) contains factors measuring dietary restraint, disinhibition, and hunger. In this study, the ability of these factors to predict eating responses to negative affect was tested. The Velten mood induction procedure was used to produce neutral or depressed moods in normal weight college students. Subjects were encouraged to sample candy which was made available during the mood induction procedure. The results indicated that the Hunger factor was the only significant predictor of negative affect eating. Depressed, high-hunger subjects were more likely to eat than subjects in other conditions and, in one of two analyses of amount of candy consumed, were found to eat the most candy as well. The possibility that these results could be explained by an overlap between the Hunger factor and the construct of external responsiveness was considered. Implications of the overall findings for theories of emotional eating were briefly discussed.