Affect-matching music improves cognitive performance in adults and young children for both positive and negative emotions

Three experiments assessed the hypothesis that cognitive benefits associated with exposure to music only occur when the perceived emotion expression of the music and the participant’s affective state match. Experiment 1 revealed an affect-matching pattern modulated by gender when assessing high-arousal states of opposite valence (happy/angry) in an adult sample (n=94) in which mood classification was based on self-report, and affective valence in music was differentiated by mode and other expressive cues whilst keeping tempo constant (139 BPM). The affect-matching hypothesis was then tested in two experiments with children using a mood-induction procedure: Experiment 2 tested happy/angry emotions with, respectively, 3-5- (n=40) and 6-9-year-old (n=40) children, and Experiment 3 compared happy/sad emotions (i.e., states differing both for valence and arousal profiles) with 3-5-year-old children (n=40), using music pieces differentiated also by fast vs. slow tempo. While young children failed to discriminate systematically between fast tempo music conveying different emotions, they did display cognitive benefits from exposure to affect-matching music when both valence (e.g., mode) and arousal level (e.g., tempo) differentiated the musical excerpts, with no gender effects

Metabolic state alters economic decision making under risk in humans

Background: Animals' attitudes to risk are profoundly influenced by metabolic state (hunger and baseline energy stores). Specifically, animals often express a preference for risky (more variable) food sources when below a metabolic reference point (hungry), and safe (less variable) food sources when sated. Circulating hormones report the status of energy reserves and acute nutrient intake to widespread targets in the central nervous system that regulate feeding behaviour, including brain regions strongly implicated in risk and reward based decision-making in humans. Despite this, physiological influences per se have not been considered previously to influence economic decisions in humans. We hypothesised that baseline metabolic reserves and alterations in metabolic state would systematically modulate decision-making and financial risk-taking in humans. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a controlled feeding manipulation and assayed decision-making preferences across different metabolic states following a meal. To elicit risk-preference, we presented a sequence of 200 paired lotteries, subjects' task being to select their preferred option from each pair. We also measured prandial suppression of circulating acyl-ghrelin (a centrally-acting orexigenic hormone signalling acute nutrient intake), and circulating leptin levels (providing an assay of energy reserves). We show both immediate and delayed effects on risky decision-making following a meal, and that these changes correlate with an individual's baseline leptin and changes in acyl-ghrelin levels respectively. Conclusions/Significance: We show that human risk preferences are exquisitely sensitive to current metabolic state, in a direction consistent with ecological models of feeding behaviour but not predicted by normative economic theory. These substantive effects of state changes on economic decisions perhaps reflect shared evolutionarily conserved neurobiological mechanisms. We suggest that this sensitivity in human risk-preference to current metabolic state has significant implications for both real-world economic transactions and for aberrant decision-making in eating disorders and obesity

Walking the walk: a phenomenological study of long distance walking

Evidence suggests that regular walking can elicit significant psychological benefits although little evidence exists concerning long distance walking. The purpose of this study was to provide detailed accounts of the experiences of long distance walkers. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with six long distance walkers. Data were transcribed verbatim before researchers independently analyzed the transcripts. Participants reported a cumulative effect with positive feelings increasing throughout the duration of the walk. Long distance walking elicited positive emotions, reduced the effects of life-stress, and promoted an increased sense of well-being and personal growth. Results are aligned to theories and concepts from positive psychology

Self-Affirmation Improves Problem-Solving under Stress

High levels of acute and chronic stress are known to impair problem-solving and creativity on a broad range of tasks. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Building on previous research showing that self-affirmation can buffer stress, we tested whether an experimental manipulation of self-affirmation improves problem-solving performance in chronically stressed participants. Eighty undergraduates indicated their perceived chronic stress over the previous month and were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. This research suggests a novel means for boosting problem-solving under stress and may have important implications for understanding how self-affirmation boosts academic achievement in school settings. © 2013 Creswell et al

Towards estimating computer users' mood from interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse

The purpose of this exploratory research was to study the relationship between the mood of computer users and their use of keyboard and mouse to examine the possibility of creating a generic or individualized mood measure. To examine this, a field study (n = 26) and a controlled study (n = 16) were conducted. In the field study, interaction data and self-reported mood measurements were collected during normal PC use over several days. In the controlled study, participants worked on a programming task while listening to high or low arousing background music. Besides subjective mood measurement, galvanic skin response (GSR) data was also collected. Results found no generic relationship between the interaction data and the mood data. However, the results of the studies found significant average correlations between mood measurement and personalized regression models based on keyboard and mouse interaction data. Together the results suggest that individualized mood prediction is possible from interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse

Making things happen : a model of proactive motivation

Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seizing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striving). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motivation. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences (e.g., personality, values, knowledge and ability) as well as contextual variations in leadership, work design, and interpersonal climate, that influence the proactive motivational states and thereby boost or inhibit proactive goal processes. Finally, the authors summarize priorities for future researc

Interrelationships among dependency, empathy, and sharing

The sharing behavior of 66 fourth-grade students was observed in two different experimental situations: (a) in the experimenter's presence (visible sharing), and (b) anonymously (invisible sharing). In addition, measures of empathy and dependency were given to each child. For girls some support was found for a positive relationship between empathy and sharing in both of the experimental conditions; also, moderate dependency, as measured by peer and teacher ratings, was related to invisible sharing. The correlations found among the variables were quite different for boys. Both empathy and dependency, as measured by the Children's Social Desirability Questionnaire, were negatively related to invisible sharing, and empathy was positively correlated to social desirability scores. Also, as indicated by curvilinear analyses, the interrelationships among these variables for boys were more complex than were suggested by simple linear correlations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45373/1/11031_2005_Article_BF01650603.pd

The interaction of gambling outcome and gambling harm-minimisation strategies for electronic gambling: the efficacy of computer generated self-appraisal messaging

It has been argued that generating pop-up messages during electronic gambling sessions, which cause a player to engage in self-appraisal of their gambling behaviour, instil greater control and awareness of behaviour (Monaghan, Computers in Human Behaviour, 25, 202–207, 2009). Consideration for the potential interaction between the messaging’s efficacy and gambling outcome (winning or losing) is lacking however. Thirty participants took part in a repeated-measures experiment where they gambled on the outcome of a computer-simulated gambling task. Outcome was manipulated by the experimenter to induce winning and losing streaks. Participants gambled at a significantly faster speed and a higher average stake size, which resulted in a greater betting intensity in the Loss condition compared to the Win condition. Computer generated self-appraisal messaging was then applied during the gambling session, which was able to significantly reduce the average speed of betting in the Loss condition only, demonstrating an interaction effect between computer generated messaging and gambling outcome