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Assessing The Effect Of Negative Mood States On Valence-Dependent Belief Updating, Aleksandr Karnick

Master's Theses

Individuals consistently tend to underestimate the likelihood of negative events happening to them and fail to update these beliefs adequately when provided with statistical evidence. However, depressed populations are better able to accurately update beliefs. It is not clear if the ability to update beliefs effectively is due to overall dysphoria or are partially due to momentary fluctuations of acute affective states. Undergraduates (N=83) completed a belief updating task where they estimated the likelihood of a negative event happening to them, were presented with the actual likelihood of the event, and then re-estimated the likelihood of the event happening to …

Emotion Reactivity And Its Relation To Daily Affect And Sleep Experiences Among First Year College Students, Elizabeth Marie Rea

Master's Theses

Individuals with high emotion reactivity may be at increased likelihood to experience emotions more intensely, frequently, and for longer periods of time than those with low emotion reactivity. This might lead to more extreme fluctuations in their daily experience of emotion. Additionally, those high in emotion reactivity may be at risk for poor sleep. The transition to college has been shown to be a difficult time for some students, and potentially contribute to these emotional fluctuations and shorter sleep duration. However, students high in emotion reactivity might be more likely to experience the negative effects of this transition than those …

The Role Of Emotion Regulation In The Relationship Between Trait Anger And Relational Aggression, Skylar Hicks

Master's Theses

Relational aggression (RA) has been linked to a number of serious problems for all age ranges, especially in young children, adolescents, and emerging adults. Elevated trait anger appears to be positively related to both peer and romantic RA, and there is some evidence that difficulties with emotion regulation are positively associated with RA as well. The present study investigated the role of emotion regulation as a potential moderator of the relationship between trait anger and RA in a college student sample (N = 307) while taking general negative affect into account. As expected, trait anger was a positive predictor …

Neural Correlates Of Inhibitory Function Following The Implicit Processing Of Emotional Faces, Lorri A. Kais

Master's Theses

Emotion and cognitive function interact to play a central role in determining

human thought and behavior. Attention to emotion can facilitate or hinder cognitive

control efforts based on the given contextual demands of the task at hand. This study used

scalp electroencephalography (EEG) methods to examine the link between valence of

facial stimuli and neural changes associated with emotional face processing and

subsequent inhibitory response. 20 participants completed a gender discrimination stop-

signal task using emotional faces. Facial valence did not differentially modulate the P200

event-related potential (ERP), indicating that happy and sad faces recruit similar neural

resources in the …

The Effects Of Creativity On Mood Enhancement Caused By Laughter Therapy, Jennifer Clark

Master's Theses

This study was conducted to examine the mood-enhancing benefits of Judy Young’s Laughter Therapy and the facilitative effects of high levels of creativity on changes in mood. This program aims to teach participants purposeful laughter so that they may ‘turn on’ genuine laughter at will. Two hour exposure to Laughter Therapy revealed increases in Positive Affect (PA) and decreases in Negative Affect (NA). The full three-week program was conducted with a control group with consenting employees at a school district. The control group included beneficial components of the Laughter Therapy program (i.e. light cardiovascular exercise, diaphragmatic breathing, and social interaction) …

Effects Of Embodiment On Perceptual And Affective Responses To Infant Crying, Jennifer B. Bisson

Master's Theses

Three experiments were conducted to investigate how changes in bodily states might be related to perceptions of infant vocalizations. In Study 1, participants were asked to hold a pencil between their lips, mimicking a smile, while listening to infant crying. Although there were no embodied effects for perceptual ratings, results indicated that this manipulation decreased participants’ self-reported, negative affect. In Study 2, participants were played both infant crying and birdsong while exposed to similar embodied manipulations, including activation of muscles related to approach and withdrawal behavior. There were no embodied effects for ratings of crying or for affect. Comparing Study …