Research Methods in Cognition and Emotion

In this chapter we critically survey research methods used in the field of cognition and emotion. Research on cognition and emotion addresses a great variety of topics, which include the ways in which emotional states influence cognitive processes, the role of cognition in producing emotion, and folk categories and knowledge of emotion. So great is this variety that a brief chapter cannot address all the research methods that have contributed to the expansion of knowledge that has occurred in recent years; there are too many methods, and many are relevant only to particular specialized topics. Specialized research methods are discussed throughout this volume in the chapters devoted to the relevant topics. In this chapter we restrict our attention to methodological issues that span the field of cognition and emotion, yet are in some way unique to it. Not surprisingly, these are the issues and methods that have to do with emotion itself

Magnetization structure of a Bloch point singularity

Switching of magnetic vortex cores involves a topological transition characterized by the presence of a magnetization singularity, a point where the magnetization vanishes (Bloch point). We analytically derive the shape of the Bloch point that is an extremum of the free energy with exchange, dipole and the Landau terms for the determination of the local value of the magnetization modulus.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

The Accuracy of Beliefs About Retrieval Cues

We investigated the accuracy of predictions about semantic, environmental, and phonological cues for remembering. Subjects rated the pleasantness of 10 words in each of four rooms, predicted the number of words that they would recall with and without one of the three types of cues, and then were tested for free or cued recall. Consistent with their predictions, subjects who received semantic cues recalled more words than did subjects in the free-recall group. The subjects in the other cuing conditions did not benefit from the cues; furthermore, they overestimated the value of phonological cues, and they believed that environmental cues were ineffective. Finally, confidence ratings for cued-recall predictions did not reflect the pattern of cued-recall performance. Subjects were least confident about their predictions for semantic cuing and most confident about their predictions for recall to be cued phonologically

Effects of Alcohol and Expectancy Upon Episodic Memory in Individuals Reporting Alcoholic Blackouts

In a within-subject placebo design, 10 heavy drinkers reporting alcoholic blackouts showed significant decrements in episodic memory when receiving alcohol but not on days when a placebo was given. Parallel deficits were observed on recall and recognition measures. On placebo days, self-ratings of intoxication were related to the degree of observed performance decrement. Memory deficits appear to be primarily pharmacologic rather than expectancy effects of drinking

Conductance of Distorted Carbon Nanotubes

We have calculated the effects of structural distortions of armchair carbon nanotubes on their electrical transport properties. We found that the bending of the nanotubes decreases their transmission function in certain energy ranges and leads to an increased electrical resistance. Electronic structure calculations show that these energy ranges contain localized states with significant $\sigma$-$\pi$ hybridization resulting from the increased curvature produced by bending. Our calculations of the contact resistance show that the large contact resistances observed for SWNTs are likely due to the weak coupling of the NT to the metal in side bonded NT-metal configurations.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX including 4 figures, submitted to PR

Cognitive Effort and Memory

We propose that the concept of cognitive effort in memory is both useful and important. Cognitive effort is defined as the engaged proportion of limited-capacity central processing. It·was hypothesized that this variable might have important memorial consequences and might also be a potential confounding factor in levels-of-processing paradigms. The first experiment tested this possibility using two types of incidental-learning tasks factorially combined with two degrees of effort. It was found that high effort led to better recall than low effort, but that level-of-processing effects were nonsignificant. A second experiment clearly demonstrated the feasibility of using performance on a secondary task as an independent criterion for measuring effort, and two further experiments ruled out alternative accounts of effort effects. A reliable levels-of-processing effect was obtained in the fourth experiment in which the incidental-learning tasks were blocked. Implications and possible future applications of the cognitive effort concept are discussed

Depression-Related Impairments in Prospective Memory

Time-based prospective memory, the ability to carry out a future intention at a specified time, was found to be impaired in a community sample of clinically depressed adults, relative to a nondepressed sample. Nondepressed participants monitored the time more frequently and, in the final block of the task, accelerated time-monitoring as the target time for the prospective memory response approached. These results are consistent with previous findings of depression-related impairments in retrospective memory tasks that require controlled, self-initiated processing

Planned expansion of transportation infrastructure in Brazil has implications for the pattern of agricultural production and carbon emissions.

By combining geospatial estimation of transportation cost with a grid-resolving, multiscale economic model that bridges fine-scale crop production with its trade and demand from national and global perspectives, we explore impacts of transportation infrastructure expansion on agricultural production, land use changes, and carbon emissions both locally and nationally in Brazil

Growth in densely populated Asia: implications for primary product exporters

Economic growth and integration in Asia is rapidly increasing the global economic importance of the region. To the extent that this growth continues and is strongest in natural resource-poor Asian economies, it will add to global demand for imports of primary products, to the benefit of (especially nearby) resource-abundant countries. How will global production, consumption and trade patterns change by 2030 in the course of such economic developments and structural changes? We address this question using the GTAP model and Version 8.1 of the 2007 GTAP database, together with supplementary data from a range of sources, to support projections of the global economy from 2007 to 2030 under various scenarios. Factor endowments and real gross domestic product are assumed to grow at exogenous rates, and trade-related policies are kept unchanged to generate a core baseline, which is compared with an alternative slower growth scenario. We also consider the impact of several policy changes aimed at increasing China's agricultural self-sufficiency relative to the 2030 baseline. Policy implications for countries of the Asia-Pacific region are drawn out in the final section