The role of appraisal in emotion

status: publishe

Assessing the Ability to Recognize Facial and Vocal Expressions of Emotion: Construction and Validation of the Emotion Recognition Index

Despite extensive research on emotional expression, there are few validated tests of individual differences in emotion recognition competence (generally considered as part of nonverbal sensitivity and emotional intelligence). This paper reports the development of a rapid test of emotion recognition ability, the Emotion Recognition Index (ERI), consisting of two subtests: one for facial and one for vocal emotion recognition. The rationale underlying the test's construction, item selection, and analysis are described and a major validation study with more than 3,500 professional candidates, providing stable norms, is reported. Additional analyses concern differences for gender, age, and education, as well as correlations with cognitive intelligence and personality factors. Moreover, a separate validation study with a student sample reports the correlations of the ERI with some of the major published tests in this area, demonstrating satisfactory construct validity. Correlations between ERI scores and the position of candidates in the organizational hierarchy suggest that recognition competence might be might contribute to predicting career advancemen

Anisotropic diffusion of galactic cosmic ray protons and their steady-state azimuthal distribution

Galactic transport models for cosmic rays involve the diffusive motion of these particles in the interstellar medium. Due to the large-scale structured galactic magnetic field this diffusion is anisotropic with respect to the local field direction. We included this transport effect along with continuous loss processes in a quantitative model of galactic propagation for cosmic ray protons which is based on stochastic differential equations. We calculated energy spectra at different positions along the Sun's galactic orbit and compared them to the isotropic diffusion case. The results show that a larger amplitude of variation as well as different spectral shapes are obtained in the introduced anisotropic diffusion scenario and emphasize the need for accurate galactic magnetic field models.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Music evoked emotions are different-more often aesthetic than utilitarian

We disagree with Juslin & Västfjäll's (J&V's) thesis that music-evoked emotions are indistinguishable from other emotions in both their nature and underlying mechanisms and that music just induces some emotions more frequently than others. Empirical evidence suggests that frequency differences reflect the specific nature of music-evoked emotions: aesthetic and reactive rather than utilitarian and proactive. Additional mechanisms and determinants are suggested as predictors of emotions triggered by musi

Lost Luggage: A Field Study of Emotion-Antecedent Appraisal

One hundred twelve airline passengers reporting their luggage lost to the baggage retrieval service in a major international airport were interviewed after their interaction with an airline agent. Participants were asked to rate their emotional state before and after the interaction with the agent and to provide information on how they had appraised the situation. The data are interpreted with respect to (1) type and intensity of the emotions felt in this situation, (2) appraisal theory predictions of emotion elicitation and differentiation, and (3) emotional change in the course of the interaction following reappraisal of the situatio

The interaction of multiple stellar winds in stellar clusters: potential flow

While several studies have investigated large-scale cluster winds resulting from an intra-cluster interaction of multiple stellar winds, as yet they have not provided details of the bordering flows inside a given cluster. The present work explores the principal structure of the combined flow resulting from the interaction of multiple stellar winds inside stellar clusters. The theory of complex potentials is applied to analytically investigate stagnation points, boundaries between individual outflows, and the hydrodynamic structure of the asymptotic large-scale cluster wind. In a second part, these planar considerations are extended to fully three-dimensional, asymmetric configurations of wind-driving stars. We find (i) that one can distinguish regions in the large-scale cluster wind that are determined by the individual stellar winds, (ii) that there are comparatively narrow outflow channels, and (iii) that the large-scale cluster wind asymptotically approaches spherical symmetry at large distances. The combined flow inside a stellar cluster resulting from the interaction of multiple stellar winds is highly structured.Comment: 8 pages, 8 Figure

A psycho-ethological approach to social signal processing

The emerging field of social signal processing can benefit from a theoretical framework to guide future research activities. The present article aims at drawing attention to two areas of research that devoted considerable efforts to the understanding of social behaviour: ethology and social psychology. With a long tradition in the study of animal signals, ethology and evolutionary biology have developed theoretical concepts to account for the functional significance of signalling. For example, the consideration of divergent selective pressures responsible for the evolution of signalling and social cognition emphasized the importance of two classes of indicators: informative cues and communicative signals. Social psychology, on the other hand, investigates emotional expression and interpersonal relationships, with a focus on the mechanisms underlying the production and interpretation of social signals and cues. Based on the theoretical considerations developed in these two fields, we propose a model that integrates the processing of perceivable individual features (social signals and cues) with contextual information, and we suggest that output of computer-based processing systems should be derived in terms of functional significance rather than in terms of absolute conceptual meanin

Emotion is for doing: the action tendency component

We explain the operationalization of the Action tendency component based on Frijda's action readiness theory. The action tendencies of approach, avoidance, being-with, attending, rejection, indifference, antagonism, interruption, dominance, submission, apathy, excitement, exuberance, passivity, inhibition, and helplessness were represented in the GRID instrument. Structural analyses on these action tendencies revealed a three-factor structure with a strong first factor representing defensive vs appetitive action tendencies, and two subsidiary factors representing disengagement vs intervention and submit vs attack action tendencies. The first action tendency factor was strongly related to the overall valence factor. The two subsidiary factors were both associated with the overall power factor. It was possible to correctly classify 46.1% of the emotion terms in the 34 samples on the basis of the three action tendency factors. The analyses confirm that action tendencies form a constitutive part of the meaning of emotion terms

The Geneva affective picture database (GAPED): a new 730-picture database focusing on valence and normative significance

In emotional research, efficient designs often rely on successful emotion induction. For visual stimulation, the only reliable database available so far is the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). However, extensive use of these stimuli lowers the impact of the images by increasing the knowledge that participants have of them. Moreover, the limited number of pictures for specific themes in the IAPS database is a concern for studies centered on a specific emotion thematic and for designs requiring a lot of trials from the same kind (e.g., EEG recordings). Thus, in the present article, we present a new database of 730 pictures, the Geneva Affective PicturE Database, which was created to increase the availability of visual emotion stimuli. Four specific negative contents were chosen: spiders, snakes, and scenes that induce emotions related to the violation of moral and legal norms (human rights violation or animal mistreatment). Positive and neutral pictures were also included: Positive pictures represent mainly human and animal babies as well as nature sceneries, whereas neutral pictures mainly depict inanimate objects. The pictures were rated according to valence, arousal, and the congruence of the represented scene with internal (moral) and external (legal) norms. The constitution of the database and the results of the picture ratings are presente