Dimensional affect recognition from HRV: an approach based on supervised SOM and ELM

Dimensional affect recognition is a challenging topic and current techniques do not yet provide the accuracy necessary for HCI applications. In this work we propose two new methods. The first is a novel self-organizing model that learns from similarity between features and affects. This method produces a graphical representation of the multidimensional data which may assist the expert analysis. The second method uses extreme learning machines, an emerging artificial neural network model. Aiming for minimum intrusiveness, we use only the heart rate variability, which can be recorded using a small set of sensors. The methods were validated with two datasets. The first is composed of 16 sessions with different participants and was used to evaluate the models in a classification task. The second one was the publicly available Remote Collaborative and Affective Interaction (RECOLA) dataset, which was used for dimensional affect estimation. The performance evaluation used the kappa score, unweighted average recall and the concordance correlation coefficient. The concordance coefficient on the RECOLA test partition was 0.421 in arousal and 0.321 in valence. Results show that our models outperform state-of-the-art models on the same data and provides new ways to analyze affective states

Wanda and Joseph: Language development in the context of family stress and trauma

Much has been written on child language development and recent years have seen a burst of research on the psychological and physiological impact of trauma and stress. This study seeks to review existing research on how family trauma influences language development, and consider existing interventions. A case study is presented of work with a mother and her language-­‐delayed child through preventive services. Interventions focused on increasing the mother’s capacity for mentalization and playful interaction with her child were found to be useful in ameliorating communication barriers and increasing the child’s social engagement

Decision Time in Social Dilemmas – Personality and Situational Factors Moderating Spontaneous Behavior in First and Second Order Public Good Games

Ob die Natur des Menschen ausmacht, intuitiv nach dem eigenen Nutzen zu streben oder diesen – als erste und spontane Reaktion – dem Gemeinwohl unterzuordnen, ist Bestandteil einer andauernden, interdisziplinär-wissenschaftlichen Debatte. Die Veröffentlichung des „spontanen Kooperationseffekts“ im Jahr 2012 von Rand, Greene und Nowak hat in der Psychologie wie Verhaltensökonomie eine Vielzahl an Replikations- und Folgestudien angestoßen. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist Bestandteil dieser Debatte und trägt dazu bei, die heterogene Befundlage verschiedenster Replikationsversuche zu erklären und die Generalisierbarkeit spontaner Kooperation zu testen: Es wird gezeigt, dass spontane Kooperation den Entscheidungsdefault für Individuen mit einer prosozialen Persönlichkeit repräsentiert. Weiterführend wird die Allgemeingültigkeit spontaner Prosozialität untersucht und geprüft, ob Bestrafungsverhalten in sozialen Dilemmata als so genannte instrumentelle Kooperation ebenfalls ein spontanes Phänomen darstellt und analog zu spontaner Kooperation demselben Verlauf über die Entscheidungszeit folgt. In diesem Kontext wurden auch die zugrundeliegenden Motive als moderierende Faktoren untersucht und gegen jene kontrastiert, die spontaner Kooperation unterliegen. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass spontanes Bestrafungsverhalten im Unterschied zu spontaner Kooperation kein Akt von dispositional-prosozialen Individuen ist. Vielmehr ist spontane Bestrafung retributiver Natur und wird von den Personen ausgeführt, die überdurchschnittlich viel zum öffentlichen Gut beigetragen haben. Zusammenfassend werden die Ergebnisse spontan- elementaren wie instrumentellen Kooperationsverhaltens kritisch im Licht einer spontanen Prosozialitätstheorie diskutiert.There is an ongoing discussion regarding the circumstances under which individuals seek to maximize the welfare of the common good rather than their own benefit – two motives that are contrasted in social dilemmas. In this context, it could be shown that cooperation behavior in social dilemmas decreases with decision time and, thus, represents a spontaneously expressed phenomenon. This finding has triggered substantial debate about the cognitive underpinnings of prosocial behavior in the fields of psychology and behavioral economics to which this thesis contributes with the scope of two articles: First, dispositional pro-sociality (i.e., social value orientation and Honesty-Humility) was identified as a moderator of spontaneous cooperation. Specifically, spontaneous cooperation was shown to be valid only for prosocial individuals – thus offering an explanation for heterogeneous replication results of the spontaneous cooperation effect. In turn, the second article explores whether spontaneous cooperation can be generalized to costly punishment behavior (also known as instrumental cooperation) in social dilemmas. Specifically, negative affect and social value orientation are investigated as potentially underlying motives of spontaneous punishment. Results show that spontaneous punishment – unlike spontaneous cooperation – is not conducted by prosocials but rather retributively displayed by highly upset, above-average contributors. These results of the similar, spontaneously expressed behavior in social dilemmas and the accompanied motivations are critically discussed concerning their added value to the underlying theory of spontaneous cooperation as well as in light of a theory of spontaneous pro-sociality in general

The Lived Experience of Adolescents Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

The purpose of the current study was to explore the lived experience of adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Phenomenological interviews inquired about emotionality, conflict styles, and parental relationships among a clinical population of six adolescents. All participants met criteria for the proposed diagnosis of NSSI found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Nine central themes emerged as significant: identification with an alternative to the dominant culture, inhibition of affect, difficulty managing conflict, suicidality, negative emotionality, feeling numb, negative internal monologue, self-harm as a temporary coping skill, and maternal conflict. The affect regulation function was clearly supported, as adolescents demonstrated low distress tolerance, poor affect regulation skills, and utilized NSSI to obtain temporary emotional relief. Results indicate that adolescent self-injurers are avoidant, as they suppress both positive and negative emotionality, and actively avoid initiating, managing, or addressing conflict. Findings revealed a need for clinical treatment to address the underlying affective disturbances associated with the behavior

The Lived Experience of Adolescents Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

The purpose of the current study was to explore the lived experience of adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Phenomenological interviews inquired about emotionality, conflict styles, and parental relationships among a clinical population of six adolescents. All participants met criteria for the proposed diagnosis of NSSI found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Nine central themes emerged as significant: identification with an alternative to the dominant culture, inhibition of affect, difficulty managing conflict, suicidality, negative emotionality, feeling numb, negative internal monologue, self-harm as a temporary coping skill, and maternal conflict. The affect regulation function was clearly supported, as adolescents demonstrated low distress tolerance, poor affect regulation skills, and utilized NSSI to obtain temporary emotional relief. Results indicate that adolescent self-injurers are avoidant, as they suppress both positive and negative emotionality, and actively avoid initiating, managing, or addressing conflict. Findings revealed a need for clinical treatment to address the underlying affective disturbances associated with the behavior

Reconocimiento de Estados Afectivos a partir de Señales Biomédicas

Las emociones constituyen una parte fundamental de los individuos, influyendo en sucomunicación diaria, la toma de decisiones y el foco de atención. La incorporación de las emociones en la tecnología ha avanzado en losúltimos años, desde estudios exploratorios en la respuesta a los estímulos, a aplicaciones comerciales en interfaces hombre-máquina. Una de las fuentes paraidentificar estados emocionales es la respuesta fisiológica, registrada medianteseñales biomédicas. El uso de estas señales permitiría el desarrollo de dispositivos poco invasivos, como por ejemplo una pulsera, que puedan registrarseñales continuamente, en diferentes condiciones, y manteniendo la privacidad delos usuarios. Existen numerosos enfoques para el reconocimiento de afectos, condiferentes señales, técnicas de procesamiento de la señal y métodos deaprendizaje automático. Entre ellos, la combinación demúltiples señales se utilizó ampliamente para mejorar las tasas de reconocimiento,pero resulta inviable en la práctica por su invasividad. Los desafíosactuales requieren clasificadores que puedan funcionar en tiempo real, enaplicaciones interactivas, y con mayor comodidad para el usuario. En esta tesis doctoral se aborda el desafío del reconocimiento de estadosafectivos en varios aspectos. Se revisan las propiedades de cada señalfisiológica en términos de su practicidad y potencial. Se propone un método paraadaptar un clasificador a nuevos usuarios, estimando parámetros fisiológicosbasales. Luego se presentan dos métodos originales paramejorar las tasas de reconocimiento. El primero es un método supervisado basadoen mapas auto-organizativos (sSOM). Este método permite representar los espacios de características fisiológicas ymodelos emocionales, para analizar las relaciones en los datos. El otro estabasado en máquinas de aprendizaje extremo (ELM),una novedosa familia de redes neuronales artificiales que tiene gran poder degeneralización y puede entrenarse con pocos datos. Los métodos fueron evaluados y comparados con los del estadodel arte, en corpus realistas y de acceso libre. Los resultados obtenidos muestran avances en relación al estado del arte para el problema. Elmétodo de adaptación permite, a partir de pocos segundos,mejorar las tasas de reconocimiento en tiempo real, aproximando los resultados delreconocimiento que se podría hacer con posterioridad, sobre los registros completos. Utilizando una única señal de actividad cardiovascular, en particularla variabilidad del ritmo cardíaco (HRV), se lograron avances prometedores, con diferencias significativasen relación a los resultados obtenidos por los métodos del estado del arte. LasELM obtuvieron excelentes resultados y con bajo costo computacional, por lo queserían útiles para aplicaciones móviles. El sSOMlogra resultados similares, con la ventaja de proveer a la vez una herramientapara representar y analizar los espacios complejos de la fisiología y lasemociones, en una forma compacta.Fil: Bugnon, Leandro Ariel. Universidad Nacional del Litoral; Argentin

Life beckoning. A thematic analysis of change in a deprived boy in long-term foster care, during intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy

This research is based on a single case study of psychoanalytic therapy with a young adolescent boy in care. It is part of a growing movement to identify research methods for exploring the place of unconscious expectations, emotion and affect, in relationships. It experiments with methods for testing out psychoanalytic theory and contributing findings to evidence, modify or expand theory in new directions. The patient Simon, had a history of deprivation and showed many features of ADHD and oppositional conduct disorder. The research locates him in a “family” of children who share histories of early traumas and serious behavioural difficulties. Therefore findings, while grounded in clinical material from a single case, and restricted in scope, are of relevance to work with a very needy and challenging population of children, who are often a major cause of concern to their carers, teachers, social workers and to mentalhealth professionals. The research examines clinical material through the framework of Bion’s theoretical claim that identifies thinking as at bottom an emotional process, and relates symbolic capacity to early emotional experiences of communication and containment. The framework was selected because of its relevance to the particular features of the patient, which emerged through the detailed study of session records. The analysis of patient therapist interaction follows Bion in looking at thinking and learning, side by side with the sort of internal objects active in the therapeutic relationship, and the emotions connected to them. Through a detailed focus on these aspects of clinical material, the author assesses some current ideas about what interferes with a deprived child’s capacity to think and learn from experience; and what are the factors in a therapeutic relationship that can help a child’s capacity in these areas to grow

Yale Medicine : Alumni Bulletin of the School of Medicine, Winter 1999- Summer 1999

This volume contains Yale medicine: alumni bulletin of the School of Medicine, v.33 (Winter-Summer 1999). Prepared in cooperation with the alumni and development offices at the School of Medicine. Earlier volumes are called Yale School of Medicine alumni bulletins, dating from v.1 (1953) through v.13 (1965). Digitized with funding from the Arcadia fund, 2017.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yale_med_alumni_newsletters/1014/thumbnail.jp

Views from the “dustbin”: a phenomenological examination of the experiences of a borderline personality disorder diagnosis as a parent

Literature highlights negative attitudes among different health and social care professionals towards individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Negative attitudes and inconsistent interactions are implicated in poor outcomes, including: increased stigma, self-stigmatisation, disengagement from treatment, and malignant alienation, often contributing to increased incidence of symptomatology, self-harm, and suicidal ideations and behaviours. To date, efforts to understand the extent to which these attitudes are internalised by service users, from the perspective of service users, are marked by their paucity. Coupling this with research highlighting poor outcomes among the children of individuals diagnosed BPD, along with a noted child protection risk among this group, the present research aims to increase understanding from the perspective of BPD-diagnosed parents themselves. The empirical chapters of this thesis see a phenomenological approach; through an IPA interview study and a phenomenologically driven series of focus groups, to examine diagnosis, experiences of care and treatment, and parenting. Findings highlight experiences of negative attitudes and interactions with service providers exacerbating stigma and self-stigma, lack of understanding of the diagnosis and how it relates to the individual specifically representing a barrier to engagement and therefore treatment. Little specific information is provided about the parenting challenges and capacities representing a significant aspect of the experience of participants. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research, demonstrating inconsistency and iatrogenic interactions during the period of diagnosis and treatment, identifying further impact on parents and parenting. The process and utility of diagnosis is also examined with a proposed diagnostic trajectory model applied to this participant group