Affective valence does not reflect progress prediction errors in perceptual decisions.

Affective valence and intensity form the core of our emotional experiences. It has been proposed that affect reflects the prediction error between expected and actual states, such that better/worse-than-expected discrepancies result in positive/negative affect. However, whether the same principle applies to progress prediction errors remains unclear. We empirically and computationally evaluate the hypothesis that affect reflects the difference between expected and actual progress in forming a perceptual decision. We model affect within an evidence accumulation framework where actual progress is mapped onto the drift-rate parameter and expected progress onto an expected drift-rate parameter. Affect is computed as the difference between the expected and actual amount of accumulated evidence. We find that expected and actual progress both influence affect, but in an additive manner that does not align with a prediction error account. Our computational model reproduces both task behavior and affective ratings, suggesting that sequential sampling models provide a promising framework to model progress appraisals. These results show that although affect is sensitive to both expected and actual progress, it does not reflect the computation of a progress prediction error.

Reappraising reappraisal: an expanded view.

Reappraisal is a frequently used and often successful emotion regulation strategy. However, its underlying cognitive mechanisms are not well understood. In this paper, we seek to clarify these mechanisms by expanding upon our recently proposed reAppraisal framework. According to this framework, reappraisal consists of appraisal shifts that arise from changes to the mental construal of a situation (reconstrual) or from changes to the goals that are used to evaluate the construal (repurposing). Here we propose that reappraisal can target both object-level construals and goals representing states in the environment as well as meta-level construals and goals about different states in the mind. We also propose that reappraisal can operate by facilitating decommitment from a dominant construal or goal as well as by facilitating commitment to alternative construals or goals. We demonstrate that the 2 × 2 × 2 matrix formed by crossing the three distinctions between reconstrual and repurposing, between object-level and meta-level representations, and between decommitment and commitment operations forms a useful map of different reappraisal tactics. We draw examples of each of the 8 reappraisal tactics from basic and clinical research. We conclude by considering future research inspired by the expanded reAppraisal framework.

Think again: the role of reappraisal in reducing negative valence bias.

Stimuli such as surprised faces are ambiguous in that they are associated with both positive and negative outcomes. Interestingly, people differ reliably in whether they evaluate these and other ambiguous stimuli as positive or negative, and we have argued that a positive evaluation relies in part on a biasing of the appraisal processes via reappraisal. To further test this idea, we conducted two studies to evaluate whether increasing the cognitive accessibility of reappraisal through a brief emotion regulation task would lead to an increase in positive evaluations of ambiguity. Supporting this prediction, we demonstrated that cuing reappraisal, but not in three other forms of emotion regulation (Study 1a-d; n = 120), increased positive evaluations of ambiguous faces. In a sign of robustness, we also found that the effect of reappraisal generalised from ambiguous faces to ambiguous scenes (Study 2; n = 34). Collectively, these findings suggest that reappraisal may play a key role in determining responses to ambiguous stimuli. We discuss these findings in the context of affective flexibility, and suggest that valence bias (i.e. the tendency to evaluate ambiguity more positively or negatively) represents a novel approach to measuring implicit emotion regulation.

Assessing and improving public mental health literacy concerning rTMS.

BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has received empirical support as a viable treatment alternative for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Nevertheless, patients and the public-at-large may be hesitant to adopt rTMS. In three studies, we sought to (1) assess and (2) improve public perceptions of rTMS as a treatment for depression. METHODS: In Study 1 (N = 107), we administered questionnaires on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to individuals from the US and Canada in a cross-sectional design to assess perceptions of rTMS compared to psychopharmacology, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and talk therapy. In Study 2 (N = 106), we again used an MTurk sample and a cross-sectional design to assess perceptions of rTMS after providing participants with a relatively long description of rTMS. In Study 3 (N = 308), we conducted an experiment in undergraduate students. Participants were randomized to one of four experimental conditions manipulating participants' understanding of the causal mechanisms of depression prior to assessing their perceptions of rTMS. RESULTS: Public perceptions of rTMS were more negative than pharmacotherapy and talk therapy but not ECT (Study 1). rTMS perceptions were notably better when participants were given thorough information about rTMS procedures, pain, and side-effects (Study 2), compared to the previous study when they were given a very brief description of rTMS. Finally, perceptions of rTMS were significantly better when participants were given a brain circuitry-based causal explanation of depression compared to when they were given a psychological explanation of the causes of depression (Study 3). CONCLUSIONS: Public perceptions of rTMS are relatively poor. To improve rTMS acceptability, practitioners should carefully consider patients' prior attitudes and beliefs when explaining rTMS as a treatment alternative. Given that beliefs can have powerful effects on treatment outcome (e.g., placebo, nocebo), future research should explore whether rTMS effects on depression can be improved by facilitating less negative perceptions of rTMS.

The mystery remains: breadth of attention in Flanker and Navon tasks unaffected by affective states induced by an appraisal manipulation.

Affective effects on breadth of attention have been related to aspects of different components of affective states such as the arousal and valence of affective experience and the motivational intensity of action tendency. As none of these explanations fully aligns with existing evidence, we hypothesised that affective effects on breadth of attention may arise from the appraisal component of affective states. Based on this reconceptualisation, we tested the effects of conduciveness and power appraisals on two measures of breadth of attention. In two web-based experiments, we manipulated these appraisals in a 2 × 2 design using a game-like arithmetic task where participants could (1) gain or lose rewards (goal conducive vs. obstructive) based on (2) either their action or the actions of a "robot" (high vs. low power). Breadth of attention was assessed using the flanker task (Experiment 1; n = 236) and the Navon task (Experiment 2; n = 215). We found that appraisals did not directly influence breadth of attention even though high power appraisal significantly improved the overall performance in both experiments indicating successful appraisal manipulation. We discuss ways in which these findings inform future efforts to explain the origins of affective effects on attentional breadth.

The regulation of recurrent negative emotion in the aftermath of a lost election.

For some American voters, the news of Mr. Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election caused recurrent emotions that were negative, persistent, and intense enough to elicit repeated attempts at emotion regulation. This afforded a rare opportunity to analyse the regulation of recurrent emotions in a natural, non-laboratory context. The regulation of recurrent emotion involves additional considerations relative to single-instance emotion, such as representations of past and future encounters with the emotion-eliciting variables, ongoing consequences of each regulatory episode, and a tendency to repeatedly deploy emotion regulation strategies that one is most familiar with in the context of the particular recurrent emotion. Despite the ubiquitous nature of recurrent emotions, its associated regulatory processes have been infrequently examined and are not well-understood. Over eight days (11/10/16-11/18/16), we administered four surveys to 202 participants who voted against Mr. Trump. We examined the determinants and outcomes of regulatory strategies in the context of recurrent emotion. We found that (1) reappraisal (compared to distraction and acceptance) was associated with greater decline in emotion intensity, (2) high-intensity emotions were more likely to be distracted, whereas low-intensity emotions were more likely to be reappraised, and (3) strategy variability was associated with greater affective adaptation.

Better together: a unified perspective on appraisal and emotion regulation.

Advances in our understanding of appraisal processes and emotion regulation have been two of the most important contributions of research on cognition and emotion in recent decades. Interestingly, however, progress in these two areas has been less mutually informative than one might expect or desire. To help remedy this situation, we provide an integration of appraisal theory and the process model of emotion regulation by describing parallel, interacting and iterative systems for emotion generation and emotion regulation. Outputs of the emotion generation system are perceived by the emotion regulation system, and emotion regulation strategies then modulate emotion by intervening at specific stages of the emotion generation system, ultimately changing appraisal dimensions. We hope that our unified perspective will encourage and guide future research at the interface of cognition and emotion.

Broadening of attention dilates the pupil.

Inconclusive evidence suggests that the pupil is more dilated when the breadth of attention is broad compared to narrow. To further investigate this relationship, we recorded pupil size from healthy volunteers while inducing trial-wise changes in breadth of attention using a shape-discrimination task where participants had to remember the location of a gap in a small or a large circle. A visual search task with targets presented at different distances from the centre of the screen was used to behaviourally assess the success of the manipulation of breadth of attention. Data were analysed using a generalised additive mixed model to test the experimental effects on pupil size after controlling for the effects of gaze location and eye vergence. The results showed that the pupil was more dilated in the broad-breadth-of-attention condition compared to the narrow-breadth-of-attention condition. However, the effect of attentional breadth on visual search performance was not mediated by pupil size, suggesting that more research is needed to understand the functional role of pupil dilation in relation to breadth of attention.

The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device is related to early emotional reactivity: An ERP study.

Despite the evidence of altered emotion processing in oral contraceptive (OC) users, the impact of hormonal intrauterine devices (IUD) on emotional processing remains unexplored. Our study aimed to investigate how behavioural performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) linked with emotion reactivity and its regulation are associated with hormonal profiles of women using different types of hormonal contraception and naturally cycling women. Women using OCs (n = 25), hormonal IUDs (n = 33), and naturally cycling women in their early follicular (NCF, n = 33) or mid-luteal (NCL, n = 28) phase of the menstrual cycle were instructed to view emotional pictures (neutral, low and high negativity) and use cognitive reappraisal to up- or down-regulate negative emotions, while their electroencephalogram was recorded. Participants rated perceived negativity after each picture and their emotional arousal throughout the task. Saliva samples were collected to assess levels of 17ß-estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone. As expected, emotional arousal increased throughout the task and correlated positively with perceived negativity. Perceived negativity and the amplitudes of the middle (N2/P3) and later (LPP) latency ERP components increased with increasing stimuli negativity. Emotion regulation modulated perceived negativity and the amplitudes of very late ERP components (parietal and frontal LPP). Moreover, IUD-users showed a higher negative amplitude of the frontal N2 in comparison to all three other groups, with the most consistent differences during up-regulation. Finally, testosterone correlated positively with the N2 peak in IUD-users and NCL women. Overall, our findings suggest that IUD-use and testosterone might be related to altered preconscious processing during the emotion regulation task requiring attention to the stimulus. The study underscores the need for additional research into how different hormonal contraceptives are linked to socio-emotional functioning.

The Process Model of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Assessing Individual Differences in Strategy Stage and Orientation.

The study of individual differences in emotion regulation has typically focused exclusively either on the stage of the emotion generation process at which regulation occurs or on the engagement versus disengagement orientation of the regulation efforts. We introduce a new measure that samples equally across each stage of the process model of emotion regulation and from both engagement and disengagement orientations. Through five studies (ntotal = 2,543), we present the development and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity evidence for the Process Model of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (PMERQ). We show the final 10-scale 45-item questionnaire has acceptable internal consistency, is invariant between genders and across the age range, and has sufficient convergent and discriminant validity. The PMERQ also predicts affective and relationship functioning with strategies occurring earlier in the process model generally showing the strongest effects. We propose the PMERQ is a valuable measure to assess individual differences in the use of emotion regulation strategies.

The role of trait reappraisal in response to emotional ambiguity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Individuals exhibit a systematic valence bias-a specific form of interpretation bias-in response to emotional ambiguity. Accumulating evidence suggests most people initially respond to emotional ambiguity negatively and differ only in subsequent responses. We hypothesized that trait-level cognitive reappraisal-an emotion regulation strategy involving the reinterpretation of affective meaning of stimuli-might explain individual differences in valence bias. To answer this question, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of 14 effect sizes from 13 prior studies (n = 2,086), identified via Google Scholar searches. We excluded studies (a) in languages other than English, (b) from non-peer-reviewed sources, or (c) nonempirical sources. We included studies with (a) the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, (b) a putative measure of valence bias prior to any study-specific manipulations, and (c) adult human participants (i.e., 17+). Supporting our prediction, we found individuals with higher trait reappraisal exhibited a less negative bias (r = -.18, z = -4.04, p < .001), whereas there was a smaller, opposite effect for trait expressive suppression (r = .10, z = 2.14, p = .03). The effects did, however, vary across tasks with stronger effects observed among studies using the scrambled sentences task compared to the valence bias task. Although trait reappraisal accounted for only a small amount of variance, reappraisal may be one mechanism contributing to variability in response to ambiguity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Appraisal shifts during reappraisal.

How to model the processes involved in regulating emotions via reappraisal? In two studies, we tested whether reappraisal impacts emotions through shifts along appraisal dimensions. In a first experimental study, 437 students imagined reliving a recent distressing event and rated their appraisals and emotions before and after using reappraisal to feel less negative about the event. Between 19% and 49% of changes to different emotions were statistically mediated by shifts along 10 appraisal dimensions. Latent profile analyses suggested that the appraisal shifts reflected four distinct reappraisal tactics. These findings were conceptually replicated in an intensive longitudinal Study 2, where 168 participants rated their appraisals and emotions in relation to a maximum of three emotional events for 7 days, first within an hour of the event and again in the evening when they also reported on emotion regulation use (1142 observations). Between 22% and 46% of changes to different emotions accompanying reappraisal use were statistically mediated by shifts along appraisal dimensions. Appraisal shifts were less significant for unregulated and otherwise regulated emotion changes. Relative to Study 1, the latent profile analyses of Study 2 revealed two similar and four novel reappraisal tactics reflecting a broader range of events and feelings. Across both studies, all appraisal dimensions were involved in at least one tactic and no dimension in all of them, highlighting the suitability of multivariate profiles over univariate dimensions for modelling reappraisal. These findings suggest that appraisal shift profiles can be part of a useful model of cognitive processes underlying reappraisal. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Estonian National Mental Health Study: Design and methods for a registry-linked longitudinal survey.

OBJECTIVES: The Estonian National Mental Health Study (EMHS) was conducted in 2021-2022 to provide population-wide data on mental health in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of this paper is to describe the rationale, design, and methods of the EMHS and to evaluate the survey response. METHODS: Regionally representative stratified random sample of 20,000 persons aged 15 years and older was drawn from the Estonian Population Register for the study. Persons aged 18 years and older at the time of the sampling were enrolled into three survey waves where they were invited to complete an online or postal questionnaire about mental well-being and disorders, and behavioral, cognitive, and other risk factors. Persons younger than 18 years of age were invited to fill an anonymous online questionnaire starting from wave 2. To complement and validate survey data, data on socio-demographic, health-related, and environmental variables were collected from six national administrative databases and registries. Additionally, a subsample was enrolled into a validation study using ecological momentary assessment. RESULTS: In total, 5636 adults participated in the survey wave 1, 3751 in wave 2, and 4744 in wave 3. Adjusted response rates were 30.6%, 21.1%, and 27.6%, respectively. Women and older age groups were more likely to respond. Throughout the three survey waves, a considerable share of adult respondents screened positive for depression (27.6%, 25.1%, and 25.6% in waves 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Women and young adults aged 18 to 29 years had the highest prevalence of depression symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The registry-linked longitudinal EMHS dataset comprises a rich and trustworthy data source to allow in-depth analysis of mental health outcomes and their correlates among the Estonian population. The study serves as an evidence base for planning mental health policies and prevention measures for possible future crises.

Links between self-reported and laboratory behavioral impulsivity.

A major problem in the research considering impulsivity is the lack of mutual understanding on how to measure and define impulsivity. Our study examined the relationship between self-reported impulsivity, behavioral excitatory and inhibitory processes and time perception. Impulsivity--fast, premature, thoughtless or disinhibited behavior--was assessed in 58 normal, healthy participants (30 men, mean age 21.9 years). Self-reported impulsivity as measured by Adaptive and Maladaptive Impulsivity Scale (AMIS) and behavioral excitatory and inhibitory processes as measured by Stop Signal Task were not directly related. Time perception, measured by the retrospective Time Estimation Task, was related to both. The length of the perceived time interval was positively correlated to AMIS Disinhibition subscale and negatively to several Stop Signal Task parameters. The longer subjects perceived the duration to last, the higher was their score on Disinhibition scale and the faster were their reactive responses in the Stop Signal Task. In summary our findings support the idea of cognitive tempo as a possible mechanism underlying impulsive behavior.

Do performance-monitoring related cortical potentials mediate fluency and difficulty effects on decision confidence?

It remains unclear to what extent the performance-monitoring (PM) processes involved in perceptual decisions are also involved in more complex reasoning decisions. To address this problem, we examined whether PM-related cortical potentials known to correlate with confidence ratings in the context of simple perceptual decisions also correlate with confidence ratings in a more complex reasoning task. In an EEG experiment, 49 participants had to quickly decide whether an equation (e.g. 9 * 7 = 65) was correct or incorrect and then report their confidence in that decision. Task difficulty and response fluency were varied to manipulate confidence. Pooling responses across correct as well as incorrect trials, we analyzed amplitudes of Error-Related Negativity (pooled ERN) and Error Positivity (pooled Pe). We found that pooled ERN but not pooled Pe had a positive significant correlation with decision confidence and that unpooled ERN correlated with confidence for correct, but not for error trials. Further analysis indicated that although pooled ERN correlated with task difficulty, neither pooled or unpooled potentials mediated the effects of difficulty or fluency on confidence. These results suggest that pooled ERN might reflect implicit performance monitoring and that confidence for simple perceptual and complex reasoning decisions may rely on different neural mechanisms.

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 12 May 2020. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4878591.v1.

Mental state space visualization for interactive modeling of personalized BCI control strategies.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies in the area of BCI are focused on the search for a better experimental paradigm-a set of mental actions that a user can evoke consistently and a machine can discriminate reliably. Examples of such mental activities are motor imagery, mental computations, etc. We propose a technique that instead allows the user to try different mental actions in the search for the ones that will work best. APPROACH: The system is based on a modification of the self-organizing map (SOM) algorithm and enables interactive communication between the user and the learning system through a visualization of user's mental state space. During the interaction with the system the user converges on the paradigm that is most efficient and intuitive for that particular user. MAIN RESULTS: Results of the two experiments, one allowing muscular activity, another permitting mental activity only, demonstrate soundness of the proposed method and offer preliminary validation of the performance improvement over the traditional closed-loop feedback approach. SIGNIFICANCE: The proposed method allows a user to visually explore their mental state space in real time, opening new opportunities for scientific inquiry. The application of this method to the area of brain-computer interfaces enables more efficient search for the mental states that will allow a user to reliably control a BCI system.

Mental illness and well-being: an affect regulation perspective.

Mental health crucially depends upon affective states such as emotions, stress responses, impulses and moods. These states shape how we think, feel and behave. Often, they support adaptive functioning. At other times, however, they can become detrimental to mental health via maladaptive affect generation processes and/or maladaptive affect regulation processes. Here, we present an integrative framework for considering the role of affect generation and regulation in mental illness and well-being. Our model views affect generation as an iterative cycle of attending to, appraising and responding to situations. It views affect regulation as an iterative series of decisions aimed at altering affect generation. Affect regulation decisions include identifying what, if anything, should be changed about affect, selecting where to intervene in the affect generation cycle, choosing how to implement this intervention, and monitoring the regulation attempt to decide whether to maintain, switch or stop it. Difficulties with these decisions, often arising from biased inputs to them, can contribute to manifestations of mental illness such as clinical symptoms, syndromes and disorders. The model has a number of implications for clinical assessment and treatment. Specifically, it offers a common set of concepts for characterizing different affective states; it highlights interactions between affect generation and affect regulation; it identifies assessment and treatment targets among the component processes of affect regulation; and it is applicable to prevention and treatment of mental illness as well as to promotion and restoration of psychological well-being.

Does goal congruence dilate the pupil over and above goal relevance?

To better understand the mechanisms underlying preferential processing of affective stimuli (i.e., affective attention), it is useful to ask which appraisal dimensions characterize stimuli that capture affective attention. Viewed from such appraisal perspective, most accounts of affective attention predict that the appraisal of goal relevance (i.e. the overall relevance of a stimulus/event to one's current goals) should attract attention whereas some accounts also implicate the appraisal of goal congruence (i.e. the value of the stimulus with respect to these goals). We compared these accounts by investigating independent effects of goal relevance and goal congruence on attention capture operationalized through pupil dilation. Forty-seven participants completed a modified Monetary Incentive Delay task (MID) where they sought to maximize the amount of chocolate received at the end of the experiment, pupil data from forty-two participants were used in the final analysis. Implicating attention capture by goal relevance, we found that pupil size was increased by all win- and loss-related compared to neutral stimuli and by materialized wins and losses compared to non-materialized ones. By contrast, we did not find pupil dilation effects of goal congruence across three different operationalizations of this appraisal dimension. These findings suggest that goal congruence appraisal may not contribute to the aspects of affective attention reflected in pupil dilation over and above goal relevance appraisal.

Empathy and emotion regulation: An integrative account.

How we understand and respond to others' emotions (i.e., empathy) may be influenced by the regulatory processes that are used to shape which emotions we and others have (i.e., emotion regulation). Empathy and emotion regulation are complex multidimensional constructs and the relationship between their component processes is not well characterized. To enable future work to examine their relationship more closely, this chapter presents an integrative framework of empathy and emotion regulation. We begin by delineating the component processes that underlie empathy and emotion regulation, and the neural underpinnings of these processes. We then present an integrative framework describing the processes of empathy and how these may be acted upon by distinct regulatory strategies. We conclude with a brief consideration of contextual influences on empathy and emotion regulation using a reward-based heuristic.