Clearing the Mind: A Working Memory Model of Distraction from Negative Mood

The present research examined whether and how loading working memory can attenuate negative mood. In three experiments, participants were exposed to neutral, weakly negative, or strongly negative pictures followed by a task and a mood scale. Working memory demands were varied by manipulating task presence (Study 1), complexity (Study 2), and predictability (Study 3). Participants in all three experiments reported less negative moods in negative trials with high compared to low working memory demand. Working memory demands did not affect mood in the neutral trials. When working memory demands were high, participants no longer reported more negative moods in response to strongly negative pictures than to weakly negative pictures. These findings suggest that loading working memory prevents mood-congruent processing, and thereby promotes distraction from negative moods. © 2007 American Psychological Association

Dealing with Negative Feelings : The Role of Working Memory in Emotion Regulation

Semin, G.R. [Promotor]Heslenfeld, D.J. [Copromotor]Koole, S.L. [Copromotor

Carnal pleasures

Pleasures are tightly intertwined with the body. Enjoyment derived from sex, feeding and social touch originate from somatosensory and gustatory processing, and pleasant emotions also markedly influence bodily states tied to the reproductive, digestive, skeletomuscular, and endocrine systems. Here, we review recent research on bodily pleasures, focussing on consummatory sensory pleasures. We discuss how different pleasures have distinct sensory inputs and behavioural outputs and review the data on the role of the somatosensory and interoceptive systems in social bonding. Finally, we review the role of gustatory pleasures in feeding and obesity, and discuss the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. We conclude that different pleasures have distinct inputs and specific outputs, and that their regulatory functions should be understood in light of these specific profiles in addition to generic reward mechanisms.Social decision makin

Experiencing and regulating desire

Social decision makin

Gruwelijke beelden van plaatsen delict: kijkstrategieën, opgewekte emoties en oordeelsvorming

Social decision makin

Room for feelings: a “working memory” account of affective processing

In the past decades, affective science has overwhelmingly demonstrated the unique properties of affective information to bias our attention, memory, and decisions. At the same time, accumulating evidence suggests that neutral and affective representations rely on the same working memory substrates for the selection and computation of information and that they are therefore restricted by the same capacity limitations that these substrates impose. Here, we integrate these insights into a working memory model of affective processing (WMAP). Drawing on competitive access models of working memory, we discuss its role in the various stages of affective processing, from attentional selection to maintenance and memory storage, and resulting feelings and actions. We end our overview with some open questions and future directions.Social decision makin

Psychologie: voer voor juristen

Eind november 2017 verscheen er een interview met Naomi Ellemers in het Financieele Dagblad. Naar aanleiding van haar onderzoek bij de Universiteit Utrecht sprak zij over de toepassing van psychologische inzichten in de praktijk. Juist op dat moment was Monique Wesselink, programmamanager bij de Academie voor Wetgeving en de Academie voor Overheidsjuristen, op zoek naar mogelijkheden om in het opleidingsprogramma aandacht te besteden aan kennis over gedrag. Zij benaderde Naomi met een verzoek om samenwerking. “De kennis van juristen over de psychologische werkelijkheid is beperkt,” aldus Wesselink in het eerste contact met Ellemers. Toch leek er een behoefte te bestaan aan meer inzicht op dat gebied, zoals ook naar voren komt uit de volgende citaten van latere cursisten: Ik zie diverse dossiers met concept wet- en regelgeving. Daarin lijkt soms regelgeving te staan die minder goed aansluit bij de werkbaarheid en uitvoerbaarheid ervan. Ik … stoorde mij aan de bestaande …wetgeving, die vaak achter de werkelijkheid aanloopt, niet altijd logisch of leesbaar is of aansluit bij de praktijk. … … door alle antimisbruikbepalingen [wordt] de wetgeving onleesbaar (ook voor uitvoerende instanties…). Op dit moment wordt er in de algemene wet bestuursrecht (en in andere regelgeving) te weinig rekening gehouden met het doenvermogen van burgers, waar door beslissingen worden genomen die niet goed bij hun situatie aansluiten en grote problemen kunnen opleveren.Social decision makin

The effect of cognitive load on preference and intensity processing of sweet taste in the brain

Distracted eating can cause overconsumption. Whereas previous work has shown that cognitive load suppresses perceived taste intensity and increases subsequent consumption, the mechanism behind distraction-induced overconsumption remains unclear. To elucidate this, we performed two event-related fMRI experiments that examined how cognitive load affects neural responses and perceived intensity and preferred intensity, respectively, to solutions varying in sweetness. In Experiment 1 (N = 24), participants tasted weak sweet and strong sweet glucose solutions and rated their intensity while we concurrently varied cognitive load using a digit-span task. In Experiment 2 (N = 22), participants tasted five different glucose concentrations under varying cognitive load and then indicated whether they wanted to keep, decrease or increase its sweetness. Participants in Experiment 1 rated strong sweet solutions as less sweet under high compared to low cognitive load, which was accompanied by attenuated activation the right middle insula and bilateral DLPFC. Psychophysiological interaction analyses showed that cognitive load moreover altered connectivity between the middle insula and nucleus accumbens and DLPFC and middle insula while tasting strong sweet solutions. In Experiment 2, cognitive load did not affect participants’ preferred sweetness intensity. fMRI results revealed that cognitive load attenuated DLPFC activation for the strongest sweet solutions in the study. In conclusion, our behavioral and neuroimaging results suggest that cognitive load dampens the sensory processing of strong sweet solutions in particular, which may indicate higher competition for attentional resources for strong sweet than weak sweet solutions under high cognitive load. Implications for future research are discussed.NWO464-18-105Health and self-regulationSocial decision makin

Choice architecture meets motivation science: How stimulus availability interacts with internal factors in shaping the desire for food

Recent research on choice architecture has highlighted the role of external aspects such as stimulus proximity or availability on consumption. How such external factors interact with internal, intraindividual factors, however, is very poorly understood. Here we show how the wanting for palatable food emerges from the interplay of one key external factor, availability, and two key internal factors central to motivation science, need state and learning history. Across three experiments in the food domain, we find converging evidence for a main effect of stimulus availability which is qualified in theoretically predicted ways by a three-way interaction such that food desire peaks when the availability of tempting food stimuli is accompanied by high need states and a positive learning experience. A pooled analysis across the three studies supported this general conclusion. We conclude that nudging effects are strongest when external factors of choice architecture synergize with internal factors in critical ways.Social decision makin