Special collection: Color and emotion

This Special Collection aims to report the latest research that advances scientific knowledge and theory regarding the interplay between color perception, color cognition, and emotional processes. There is a great public interest in understanding how colors and emotions are interconnected, and how colors might be utilized to shape emotional experiences. To facilitate empirically grounded understanding in this domain, the Editors welcome scholarly articles pertaining to the study of color and emotion. Topics might include, but are not limited to, conceptual correspondences between color and emotion, the effects of perceiving color on emotion, and the application of color toward enhancing emotion-regulation, well-being, or emotive communication

COTTONWOOD RIPARIAN SITE SELECTION ON THE CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX RESERVATION

The construction of the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River eliminated thousands of acres ofriparian and floodplain lands on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Restoration is needed to replace wildlife habitat. This study focused on site selection for native cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. Ex Marsh. ssp. Monilifers (Ait.) Eckenwalde) restoration to help mitigate this loss. Geographic information systems technologies were used to develop a suitability model for cottonwood restoration. Tribal lands were extracted from a digital dataset oflandownership. Those touched by or included in a 46 m border of the Moreau River were candidate sites. Of the 182 candidates, 50 sites were randomly selected for model development. Slope, aspect, stream length and number, soil properties, and land cover criteria were given a numeric score and these were summed; the lowest total score possible was -7 and the highest score possible was 33. The sample sites were evaluated and ranked as high (21 to 33, 7 sites), medium (7 to 20, 35 sites), or low (-7 to 6, 8 sites) for growth and maintenance of riparian cottonwood forests. Five sites were selected for cottonwood restoration using the model developed. Bare root trees were planted mechanically and by hand. Drought conditions limited survival and 50% ofthe area was replanted. Further data collection may increase the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology and facilitate site selection for cottonwood restoration in the northern Great Plains

COTTONWOOD RIPARIAN SITE SELECTION ON THE CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX RESERVATION

The construction of the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River eliminated thousands of acres ofriparian and floodplain lands on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Restoration is needed to replace wildlife habitat. This study focused on site selection for native cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. Ex Marsh. ssp. Monilifers (Ait.) Eckenwalde) restoration to help mitigate this loss. Geographic information systems technologies were used to develop a suitability model for cottonwood restoration. Tribal lands were extracted from a digital dataset oflandownership. Those touched by or included in a 46 m border of the Moreau River were candidate sites. Of the 182 candidates, 50 sites were randomly selected for model development. Slope, aspect, stream length and number, soil properties, and land cover criteria were given a numeric score and these were summed; the lowest total score possible was -7 and the highest score possible was 33. The sample sites were evaluated and ranked as high (21 to 33, 7 sites), medium (7 to 20, 35 sites), or low (-7 to 6, 8 sites) for growth and maintenance of riparian cottonwood forests. Five sites were selected for cottonwood restoration using the model developed. Bare root trees were planted mechanically and by hand. Drought conditions limited survival and 50% ofthe area was replanted. Further data collection may increase the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology and facilitate site selection for cottonwood restoration in the northern Great Plains

Effects of Color Perception and Enacted Avoidance Behavior on Intellectual Task Performance in an Achievement Context

Previous research has established performance impairment in intellectual tasks as a consequence of brief exposure to the color red. Furthermore, previous research has established a mediational process in which avoidance-grounded processes mediate the effect of color perception on intellectual performance. A separate line of research has shown that enacting (i.e., physically engaging in) avoidance behavior elicits avoidance processes in a similar fashion as color. The present research focused on further documenting the relationship between color perception, intellectual performance, and avoidance motivation. Participants were exposed to a color (i.e., red, green, or gray) manipulation and subsequently engaged in an anagram task. Anagrams are often used as a measure of intellectual performance. Anagram tasks require a participant to find a correct solution word from a scrambled set of letters. Additionally, a variable of enacted avoidance behavior (EAB) was included to further assess the color’s role as an avoidance cue. Results indicated that both red and EAB influenced anagram performance relative to other colors. However, potential artifacts were discovered in the anagram task. The discussion concludes with suggestions for anagram testing and ways to pursue similar studies in the future

Facial redness increases men’s perceived healthiness and attractiveness

Past research has shown that peripheral and facial redness influences perceptions of attractiveness for men viewing women. The current research investigated whether a parallel effect is present when women rate men with varying facial redness. In four experiments, women judged the attractiveness of men’s faces, which were presented with varying degrees of redness. We also examined perceived healthiness and other candidate variables as mediators of the red attractiveness effect. The results show that facial redness positively influences ratings of men’s attractiveness. Additionally, perceived healthiness was documented as a mediator of this effect, independent of other potential mediator variables. The current research emphasizes facial coloration as an important feature of social judgments.PostprintPeer reviewe

Women’s facial redness increases their perceived attractiveness : mediation through perceived healthiness

In the present research, we investigated whether the red-attraction relation that has been observed for men viewing women may also be observed with regard to women’s facial redness. We manipulated facial redness by slightly increasing or decreasing the redness on the faces of baseline pictures of target women, and then had men judge the attractiveness of the women. We also examined healthiness perceptions as a mediator of the redness-attraction relation, along with several other candidate mediator variables. A series of experiments showed that increased redness led to increased ratings of attractiveness, and decreased redness led to decreased ratings of attractiveness. Perceived healthiness was documented as a mediator of the influence of female facial redness on male perceptions of attractiveness, and this mediation was independent of other candidate mediator variables. The findings highlight the importance of attending to facial coloration as an attraction-relevant cue and point to interesting areas for subsequent research.PostprintPeer reviewe

Emotion-color associations in the context of the face

Facial expressions of emotion contain important information that is perceived and used by observers to understand others’ emotional state. While there has been considerable research into perceptions of facial musculature and emotion, less work has been conducted to understand perceptions of facial coloration and emotion. The current research examined emotion-color associations in the context of the face. Across four experiments, participants were asked to manipulate the color of face, or shape, stimuli along two color axes (i.e., red-green, yellow-blue) for six target emotions (i.e., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). The results yielded a pattern that is consistent with physiological and psychological models of emotion.PostprintPeer reviewe

Awe Arises in Reaction to Exceeded Rather Than Disconfirmed Expectancies

Awe is a fascinating emotion, associated with positive consequences such as greater prosociality, generosity, and epistemic openness. Unfortunately, in spite of the weighty consequences of awe, the exact way in which it arises, and what it entails, is still a puzzle. Particularly puzzling is the question of whether awe is the result of expectancy violation. While awe is thought to arise in reaction to expectancy-violating objects or events, classical expectancy violations (e.g., a red queen of spades playing card) do not tend to cause awe. To shed light on this problem, we distinguished two types of expectancy violations—those that disconfirm and those that exceed one’s expectancies—and we investigated whether awe is more likely to arise in reaction to one versus the other. We also looked at what appraisals constitute and are most important to the awe experience and how they structurally interact. To do this, we utilized network analysis and mapped out the network structure of appraisals linked to awe and to expectancy violations. Across two experimental studies (N = 823), we demonstrated that awe arises in reaction to exceeded (rather than disconfirmed) expectancies and that appraisals linked to exceeded expectancies (vastness and uniqueness) are central to awe, while appraisals linked to disconfirmed expectancies (uncertainty and inconsistency) are peripheral to the awe experience.</p

The spectrum of ATM missense variants and their contribution to contralateral breast cancer

Heterozygous carriers of ATM mutations are at increased risk of breast cancer. In this case-control study, we evaluated the significance of germline ATM missense variants to the risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC). We have determined the spectrum and frequency of ATM missense variants in 443 breast cancer patients diagnosed before age 50, including 247 patients who subsequently developed CBC. Twenty-one per cent of the women with unilateral breast cancer and 17% of the women with CBC had at least one ATM germline missense variant, indicating no significant difference in variant frequency between these two groups. We have found that carriers of an ATM missense mutation, who were treated with radiotherapy for the first breast tumour, developed their second tumour on average in a 92-month interval compared to a 136-month mean interval for those CBC patients who neither received RT nor carried a germline variant, (p = 0.029). Our results indicate that the presence of ATM variants does not have a major impact on the overall risk of CBC. However, the combination of RT and (certain) ATM missense variants seems to accelerate tumour development

Common ataxia telangiectasia mutated haplotypes and risk of breast cancer: a nested case–control study

INTRODUCTION: The ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene is a tumor suppressor gene with functions in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Based on family studies, women heterozygous for mutations in the ATM gene are reported to have a fourfold to fivefold increased risk of breast cancer compared with noncarriers of the mutations, although not all studies have confirmed this association. Haplotype analysis has been suggested as an efficient method for investigating the role of common variation in the ATM gene and breast cancer. Five biallelic haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms are estimated to capture 99% of the haplotype diversity in Caucasian populations. METHODS: We conducted a nested case–control study of breast cancer within the Nurses' Health Study cohort to address the role of common ATM haplotypes and breast cancer. Cases and controls were genotyped for five haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms. Haplotypes were predicted for 1309 cases and 1761 controls for which genotype information was available. RESULTS: Six unique haplotypes were predicted in this study, five of which occur at a frequency of 5% or greater. The overall distribution of haplotypes was not significantly different between cases and controls (χ(2 )= 3.43, five degrees of freedom, P = 0.63). CONCLUSION: There was no evidence that common haplotypes of ATM are associated with breast cancer risk. Extensive single nucleotide polymorphism detection using the entire genomic sequence of ATM will be necessary to rule out less common variation in ATM and sporadic breast cancer risk