The impact of mixed emotions on judgements: a naturalistic study during the FIFA world cup.

Experiencing mixed emotions, a combination of two oppositely-valenced emotions, has been shown to reduce bias in decision making and improve the accuracy of judgements made. However, most previous research has been limited to laboratory-based experiments. In this pre-registered study, we looked at mixed emotions and judgements in the naturalistic context of watching sport during the FIFA world cup. N = 80 participants reported on mixed emotions before and after each England game during the World Cup, and made score predictions for each game, collecting a total of k = 480 observations. We used a lagged-effect design and multilevel modelling to analyse the data. We found that participants who felt more mixed emotions at the end of a match made significantly more likely score predictions in the following match, indicating that experiencing stronger mixed emotions subsequently predicted more reasonable judgements. This result was supported even after controlling for a number of affective, attitudinal, and socio-demographic variables. This provides evidence that naturally occurring mixed emotions are related to improved real-world judgements. The evidence is discussed through the lens of fantasy realisation theory, and the importance of feeling mixed during decisions involving puzzling or uncertain outcomes is emphasised.

Still More Than a Feeling: Commentary on Cash et al., "Expectancy Effects in the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response" and Recommendations for Measurement in Future ASMR Research.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) - the sensory phenomenon experienced by some people in response to visual and auditory stimuli such as whispering - has attracted substantial public attention but is not yet well understood or well established within the scientific community. Recent research published in PeerJ by Cash, Heisick and Papesh (2018) investigated whether ASMR could be a placebo effect (resulting from expectation) rather than a genuine experience triggered by ASMR-inducing stimuli. In this article, we provide a commentary on Cash et al.'s findings and argue that they provide evidence for (rather than against) the veracity of ASMR. We discuss issues regarding the measurement of ASMR and end by providing some recommendations on how to assess ASMR as both a state and a trait, in the hope of galvanising collaborative research efforts in the emerging field of ASMR.

More than a feeling: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is characterized by reliable changes in affect and physiology.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) describes the experience of tingling sensations in the crown of the head, in response to a range of audio-visual triggers such as whispering, tapping, and hand movements. Public interest in ASMR has risen dramatically and ASMR experiencers watch ASMR videos to promote relaxation and sleep. Unlike ostensibly similar emotional experiences such as "aesthetic chills" from music and awe-inspiring scenarios, the psychological basis of ASMR has not yet been established. We present two studies (one large-scale online experiment; one laboratory study) that test the emotional and physiological correlates of the ASMR response. Both studies showed that watching ASMR videos increased pleasant affect only in people who experienced ASMR. Study 2 showed that ASMR was associated with reduced heart rate and increased skin conductance levels. Findings indicate that ASMR is a reliable and physiologically-rooted experience that may have therapeutic benefits for mental and physical health.

The influence of emotional cues on prospective memory: a systematic review with meta-analyses.

Remembering to perform a behaviour in the future, prospective memory, is essential to ensuring that people fulfil their intentions. Prospective memory involves committing to memory a cue to action (encoding), and later recognising and acting upon the cue in the environment (retrieval). Prospective memory performance is believed to be influenced by the emotionality of the cues, however the literature is fragmented and inconsistent. We conducted a systematic search to synthesise research on the influence of emotion on prospective memory. Sixty-seven effect sizes were extracted from 17 articles and hypothesised effects tested using three meta-analyses. Overall, prospective memory was enhanced when positively-valenced rather than neutral cues were presented (d = 0.32). In contrast, negatively-valenced cues did not enhance prospective memory overall (d = 0.07), but this effect was moderated by the timing of the emotional manipulation. Prospective memory performance was improved when negatively-valenced cues were presented during both encoding and retrieval (d = 0.40), but undermined when presented only during encoding (d = -0.25). Moderating effects were also found for cue-focality and whether studies controlled for the arousal level of the cues. The principal finding is that positively-valenced cues improve prospective memory performance and that timing of the manipulation can moderate emotional effects on prospective memory. We offer a new agenda for future empirical work and theorising in this area.