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An apology suppresses the approach motivation but not the emotional component of physiological and psychological anger
Symposia Abstracts / International Journal of Psychophysiology 85 (2012) 291–360
For Condition A, only necessary declarations (“Pong” and “Reach” etc.) were allowed, thereby controlling the communication opportunities among players across the conditions. ECG and EOG were measured during all games. Moreover, the performances by the players were recorded by a video camera. The arousal level measured as the average of heart rates (HR) and the heart rate variability (HRV) was compared across the conditions. Moreover, the HR and HRV for 30 s in the beginning and at the end of the game were compared. Then, the phasic cardiac responses when opponents made attack declarations (“Pong”, “Chow”, “Kong”, and “Reach”) were examined. For all participants, HR and HRV of Condition A were higher than those of Conditions B and C. Moreover, under all the conditions, HR and HRV immediately before the game's end were higher than those from the beginning of the game. The results of the phasic cardiac responses to attack declarations by opponents showed that the rate of the appearance of heart rate acceleration in Condition A was higher than Conditions B and C. However, the degree of the differences across the conditions varied among the participants, which may be attributed to the difference in game experience: The condition difference in the appearance rate of the acceleration was large for the participants with longer experience. Results showed that playing in direct contact with others may increase arousal level. Moreover, it was shown that heart rate acceleration as a startle response to attack declarations appeared easily when players met directly. These results suggest that the behavior of others who are playing together in the same place may strongly influence mental activity: That is, such a situation brings about a consciousness of others. For the development of social skills, it may be important to experience meeting and playing games directly with others. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.06.056
An apology suppresses the approach motivation but not the emotional component of physiological and psychological anger K. Kuboa, K. Okanoyaa,b,c, N. Kawaia,d Okanoya Emotional Information Project, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Nagoya, Japan b Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Wako, Japan c Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Japan d Department of Cognitive Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan a
When we play a video game or watch a movie, we experience various emotions. The anonymity provided by Internet games often boosts our emotions, especially anger. Such anger may not only be directed toward other anonymous persons on the Internet but also toward persons who are a part of our daily lives. It is crucial to calm others' anger to maintain relationships. The most common way to suppress anger is to apologize to the angry person. Although we often see people apologizing to soothe the other's anger, little is known about its efficacy and the underlying mechanisms of the apology on anger. Anger is a basic emotion that is accompanied by an increase in autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses such as heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) as well as a strong subjective feeling of excitement. Previous studies have reported that the state of anger can be measured in terms of lateralized electroencephalograms (EEGs). Studies have shown that the experience of anger is associated with greater activation of the left than the right prefrontal cortex. Although studies have emphasized the multiple components of anger, little is known about the physiological and psychological mechanisms of the approach motivational component and negative emotional component of anger. Thus, in order to gain a better understanding of the neural and psychological mechanisms under-
309
lying the effects of an apology on anger, we recorded not only EEG signals but also the HR and SCL together with subjective measures. In the experiment, participants wrote brief opinions about social problems (e.g., tuition hikes) and received a handwritten, insulting comment about their composition from the experimenter. Half of the participants (apology group) received a simple apologetic sentence at the end of the insulting comment. The other half (no apology group) did not receive one. The physiological responses of the participants were recorded prior to and after they read the comments. Increases in HR and asymmetric frontal brain activity were suppressed only in the apology group. Both groups showed an increase in skin conductance response. Our psychological scales showed that the apology suppressed self-reported state anger from an approach motivational standpoint but not from a negative emotional standpoint. The results suggest that anger is not a unitary process but has multiple components. The apology did provide a different physiological profile but did not diminish the subjective experience of anger. Thus, providing an apology may not always be effective in reducing the experience of anger to an insult. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.06.057
Do positive moods broaden the focus of visual attention? An electrophysiological study H. Moriya, H. Nittono Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan Previous studies have shown that positive moods broaden one's cognition and behavioral repertoires. However, it remains unclear which processing stage is responsible for this effect. In this study, we examined the effect of positive moods on the attentional focus at the sensory input stage in two experiments using event-related potentials (ERPs). In experiment 1, participants (N= 18) performed a flanker task after viewing positive, neutral, and negative affective pictures. The task was to respond to the central letter (H or S) by pressing the corresponding button. In 80% of the trials, a task-irrelevant probe stimulus (white rectangle) was presented at one of four locations: 0.5° left or right of the central letter (inner probes), or 1.5° left or right of the central letter (outer probes). Probe-evoked responses were calculated by subtracting the ERPs elicited by probe-absent stimuli from the ERPs elicited by four types of probe-present stimuli. Subjective mood rating showed that viewing affective pictures effectively induced positive, neutral, and negative moods. Probe stimuli evoked a P1 component that was dominant at occipitotemporal electrodes. Probe-evoked P1 amplitude was larger for inner probes than for outer probes. Although this position effect was not influenced by moods, the P1 amplitude was larger in the positive mood than in the negative and neutral moods, thus suggesting that the positive mood enhances the sensory input of task-irrelevant stimuli. In experiment 2, participants (N= 16) performed the flanker task under four varying conditions in which different moods were induced by music: happy (high-arousal positive), calm (low-arousal positive), anxious (high-arousal negative), and sad (low-arousal negative). The participants' task, probe location, and the procedure of calculating the probe-evoked ERPs were the same as those used in experiment 1. Subjective mood rating showed that listening to music effectively induced happy, calm, anxious, and sad moods. Similar to experiment 1, probe stimuli evoked a P1 component that was dominant at occipitotemporal electrodes. Probe-evoked P1 amplitude was larger for inner probes than for outer probes in the happy, anxious, and sad moods, whereas the effect of probe position was not statistically significant in the calm mood. These results indicate that the effects of positive moods on the breadth of attentional focus occur at the sensory
For Condition A, only necessary declarations (“Pong” and “Reach” etc.) were allowed, thereby controlling the communication opportunities among players across the conditions. ECG and EOG were measured during all games. Moreover, the performances by the players were recorded by a video camera. The arousal level measured as the average of heart rates (HR) and the heart rate variability (HRV) was compared across the conditions. Moreover, the HR and HRV for 30 s in the beginning and at the end of the game were compared. Then, the phasic cardiac responses when opponents made attack declarations (“Pong”, “Chow”, “Kong”, and “Reach”) were examined. For all participants, HR and HRV of Condition A were higher than those of Conditions B and C. Moreover, under all the conditions, HR and HRV immediately before the game's end were higher than those from the beginning of the game. The results of the phasic cardiac responses to attack declarations by opponents showed that the rate of the appearance of heart rate acceleration in Condition A was higher than Conditions B and C. However, the degree of the differences across the conditions varied among the participants, which may be attributed to the difference in game experience: The condition difference in the appearance rate of the acceleration was large for the participants with longer experience. Results showed that playing in direct contact with others may increase arousal level. Moreover, it was shown that heart rate acceleration as a startle response to attack declarations appeared easily when players met directly. These results suggest that the behavior of others who are playing together in the same place may strongly influence mental activity: That is, such a situation brings about a consciousness of others. For the development of social skills, it may be important to experience meeting and playing games directly with others. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.06.056
An apology suppresses the approach motivation but not the emotional component of physiological and psychological anger K. Kuboa, K. Okanoyaa,b,c, N. Kawaia,d Okanoya Emotional Information Project, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Nagoya, Japan b Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Wako, Japan c Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Japan d Department of Cognitive Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan a
When we play a video game or watch a movie, we experience various emotions. The anonymity provided by Internet games often boosts our emotions, especially anger. Such anger may not only be directed toward other anonymous persons on the Internet but also toward persons who are a part of our daily lives. It is crucial to calm others' anger to maintain relationships. The most common way to suppress anger is to apologize to the angry person. Although we often see people apologizing to soothe the other's anger, little is known about its efficacy and the underlying mechanisms of the apology on anger. Anger is a basic emotion that is accompanied by an increase in autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses such as heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) as well as a strong subjective feeling of excitement. Previous studies have reported that the state of anger can be measured in terms of lateralized electroencephalograms (EEGs). Studies have shown that the experience of anger is associated with greater activation of the left than the right prefrontal cortex. Although studies have emphasized the multiple components of anger, little is known about the physiological and psychological mechanisms of the approach motivational component and negative emotional component of anger. Thus, in order to gain a better understanding of the neural and psychological mechanisms under-
309
lying the effects of an apology on anger, we recorded not only EEG signals but also the HR and SCL together with subjective measures. In the experiment, participants wrote brief opinions about social problems (e.g., tuition hikes) and received a handwritten, insulting comment about their composition from the experimenter. Half of the participants (apology group) received a simple apologetic sentence at the end of the insulting comment. The other half (no apology group) did not receive one. The physiological responses of the participants were recorded prior to and after they read the comments. Increases in HR and asymmetric frontal brain activity were suppressed only in the apology group. Both groups showed an increase in skin conductance response. Our psychological scales showed that the apology suppressed self-reported state anger from an approach motivational standpoint but not from a negative emotional standpoint. The results suggest that anger is not a unitary process but has multiple components. The apology did provide a different physiological profile but did not diminish the subjective experience of anger. Thus, providing an apology may not always be effective in reducing the experience of anger to an insult. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.06.057
Do positive moods broaden the focus of visual attention? An electrophysiological study H. Moriya, H. Nittono Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan Previous studies have shown that positive moods broaden one's cognition and behavioral repertoires. However, it remains unclear which processing stage is responsible for this effect. In this study, we examined the effect of positive moods on the attentional focus at the sensory input stage in two experiments using event-related potentials (ERPs). In experiment 1, participants (N= 18) performed a flanker task after viewing positive, neutral, and negative affective pictures. The task was to respond to the central letter (H or S) by pressing the corresponding button. In 80% of the trials, a task-irrelevant probe stimulus (white rectangle) was presented at one of four locations: 0.5° left or right of the central letter (inner probes), or 1.5° left or right of the central letter (outer probes). Probe-evoked responses were calculated by subtracting the ERPs elicited by probe-absent stimuli from the ERPs elicited by four types of probe-present stimuli. Subjective mood rating showed that viewing affective pictures effectively induced positive, neutral, and negative moods. Probe stimuli evoked a P1 component that was dominant at occipitotemporal electrodes. Probe-evoked P1 amplitude was larger for inner probes than for outer probes. Although this position effect was not influenced by moods, the P1 amplitude was larger in the positive mood than in the negative and neutral moods, thus suggesting that the positive mood enhances the sensory input of task-irrelevant stimuli. In experiment 2, participants (N= 16) performed the flanker task under four varying conditions in which different moods were induced by music: happy (high-arousal positive), calm (low-arousal positive), anxious (high-arousal negative), and sad (low-arousal negative). The participants' task, probe location, and the procedure of calculating the probe-evoked ERPs were the same as those used in experiment 1. Subjective mood rating showed that listening to music effectively induced happy, calm, anxious, and sad moods. Similar to experiment 1, probe stimuli evoked a P1 component that was dominant at occipitotemporal electrodes. Probe-evoked P1 amplitude was larger for inner probes than for outer probes in the happy, anxious, and sad moods, whereas the effect of probe position was not statistically significant in the calm mood. These results indicate that the effects of positive moods on the breadth of attentional focus occur at the sensory