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Eye movements and U.S. presidential elections
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Symposium abstracts / International Journal of Psychophysiology 69 (2008) 139–205
and 4) Synchronization of blinking between two eyes was perfect with the precision of 30 frame per second. In addition to these human studies, eyeblinks of 71 species of primates were recorded in the Japan Monkey Center. Large inter-species differences in blink rate, ranging from 0.4 to 30.0 blinks per minute were observed. Some contributing factors determining blink rate were inferred from measures of head and body length, and body mass, circadian rhythms (nocturnal or diurnal), habitat types (arboreal or terrestrial), and phylogenetic order. These interpretations are tentative and in need of further empirical investigation. There are many possible interpretations of intra and interspecies differences in blink rate. Two tentative hypotheses are offered: 1) the development of eyeblinks reflects the development of the visual system; 2) the large variation in rate observed both within and between species reflects plasticity in the system. It allows for both psychological and biological factors as influences on blinking.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.514 The eyeblink component of the startle response in attention, emotion and psychological disorders J.L. Andreassi City University of New York, New York, USA The startle reflex refers to a complex of bodily reactions to a strong, rapid and unexpected stimulus. A loud noise is a common means of producing this response. The fastest and most reliable component of this startle response is the eyeblink (EB) with a latency of 40ms. Both Pavlov (1927) and Landis and Hunt (1939) considered the startle EB to be a defensive reflex that protected the organism from injury. In the early days of startle research psychologists focused on the physiological changes that occurred during startle, including ones controlled by somatic and autonomic nervous systems. Later researchers such as Graham, Lang and Vrana and others have shown the usefulness of the startle EB in studies of attention, emotion and psychological disorders. The major dependent variable is the muscle response (in microvolts) produced by contraction of the orbicularis oculi during the reflexive EB. The use of the startle EB to distinguish the intensity effects of the aversive stimulus from attentional effects was initiated by Graham (1975). One of the findings was that a short and weak prepulse could lead to a reduction in the EB response to the loud noise. In other studies it was reported that attended prepulses produced greater EB inhibition than ignored tones. The research of Lang, Vrana and their colleagues has yielded consistent findings regarding the impact of emotional, visual and imaginal stimuli on the EB startle response. For example, the startle EB is largest when subjects view unpleasant stimuli and attenuated when examining pleasant pictures. A similar result obtains when imagining pleasant events versus unpleasant ones. In the realm of clinical research it has been reported that conditions effective in reducing the EB startle in normals are less effective with schizophrenics. On the other hand, individuals suffering simple and social phobias and panic disorder all show enhancement of the startle EB while imagining or viewing scenes that are threatening to them. In summary, a provocative literature has arisen in the area of startle EB modulation as it relates to attentional and emotional processes and psychological disorders. This presentation will consider these processes and theory that attempts to explain the effects.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.515 Eye movements and U.S. presidential elections J.J. Tecce Boston College, Psychology Department, Chestnut Hill, USA A two-factor theoretical model was proposed at the 13th World Congress of Psychophysiology in 2006 to account for psychophysiological studies of eyeblink frequency: 1. Attention–Eyeblink Hypothesis: Eyeblink frequency is decreased when attention is unified and directed to a single event and is increased when attention is divided and directed to two or more events; 2. Hedonia–Eyeblink Hypothesis: Eyeblink frequency is increased during negative hedonic arousal states and is decreased during positive hedonic arousal states. The hedonic arousal hypothesis has received strong empirical support from laboratory research, but there is a compelling need for field studies to
establish its ecological validity. One real-life situation of potential value is that of U.S. presidential elections. Election debates provide a standard format that facilitates a comparison of eye movements of candidates under well-controlled conditions. Since rapid blinking is reliably associated with psychological stress, eyeblink rate (EBR) provides a useful metric for differentiating candidates' stress levels. Beyond its value as a stress indicator, EBR may also have a cue function. If so, differences in EBRs of candidates might be judged by viewer-voters as a negative attribute. According to this social-cue hypothesis, the more rapid blinker during debates would be expected to receive fewer votes than his opponent and, therefore, lose the election. This seems to be the case. For eight U.S. presidential elections during the period 1960–2004, the rapid blinker during debates received fewer overall votes than his opponent. In seven of these eight elections, the rapid blinker also lost the electoral vote and was defeated at the polls. Furthermore, in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, seven out of ten presidential aspirants have shown elevated EBRs (over 50 blinks per minute) and have been defeated in their candidacies. While the predictive value of EBR in presidential elections is clear, the underlying mechanisms are not. Given its heuristic value, the social-cue hypothesis is a potentially useful explanation that requires further study. The demonstration that patterns of fast and slow blinking produce different perceptions would support the social-cue hypothesis and have far-reaching implications for social interactions. Other ocular phenomena of potential social value will be discussed and demonstrated: slow blinking (eight blinks per minute or less: Perot effect); unblinking robotic stare (no blinking for 40 s or more: Hoekstra effect); gaze aversion (15 or more gaze aversions per minute: Clemens effect); triple blinks (three rapid blinks within a second: Nixon effect); double blinks (two rapid blinks within a second); half-blinks; and one-eyed blinks.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.516 SYMPOSIUM 35: Beta Oscillations in the Brain Functioning Symposium Chair: Murat Ozgoren (Turkey); Co-Chair: Gennady Knyazev (Russia) Beta in simple and complex cognitive processes M. Ozgoren, A. Oniz Dokuz Eylul University, Biophysics department, Izmir, Turkey The beta oscillations belong to a less studied group of EEG frequency bands. The 15–30 Hz remained understudied especially compared to the gamma activity as well as upper alpha. In recent years the existence of beta oscillatory activity has been acknowledged by means of studies related to simple and complex stimuli in multi-modal studies. There have been reports on the linguistic and complex visual stimuli. This frequency band reveals a variety of brain functions from simple sensory to higher cognitive functions. Accordingly, sensory memory, excitation–inhibition visual attention, movement related changes such as repetitive hand movements, recollection and familiarity, emotional states and cognitive loads have been shown to be related to the beta range. Beta oscillations are actual identities of the brain and its functioning, existent as part of the molecular and cellular mechanisms to large-scale networks. These properties can be verified as repeatable factors as proven by the genetics case of alcoholics and their children. Their properties are reproducible as a firm parameter of the EEG. The classical experimental design in the psychophysiological research field commonly uses the press button as part of the paradigm setup, causing movement related changes. This may also contribute to factors limiting the findings related to functional importance of beta oscillations. The results from our laboratory do also provide a range of findings from simple to complex stimuli (visual, auditory and somatosensory). Consequently, in this session the beta oscillatory activity in the cognitive functioning will be discussed.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.517 Coupling of beta with low frequency oscillations in motivationally relevant states G.G. Knyazev State Research Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Symposium abstracts / International Journal of Psychophysiology 69 (2008) 139–205
and 4) Synchronization of blinking between two eyes was perfect with the precision of 30 frame per second. In addition to these human studies, eyeblinks of 71 species of primates were recorded in the Japan Monkey Center. Large inter-species differences in blink rate, ranging from 0.4 to 30.0 blinks per minute were observed. Some contributing factors determining blink rate were inferred from measures of head and body length, and body mass, circadian rhythms (nocturnal or diurnal), habitat types (arboreal or terrestrial), and phylogenetic order. These interpretations are tentative and in need of further empirical investigation. There are many possible interpretations of intra and interspecies differences in blink rate. Two tentative hypotheses are offered: 1) the development of eyeblinks reflects the development of the visual system; 2) the large variation in rate observed both within and between species reflects plasticity in the system. It allows for both psychological and biological factors as influences on blinking.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.514 The eyeblink component of the startle response in attention, emotion and psychological disorders J.L. Andreassi City University of New York, New York, USA The startle reflex refers to a complex of bodily reactions to a strong, rapid and unexpected stimulus. A loud noise is a common means of producing this response. The fastest and most reliable component of this startle response is the eyeblink (EB) with a latency of 40ms. Both Pavlov (1927) and Landis and Hunt (1939) considered the startle EB to be a defensive reflex that protected the organism from injury. In the early days of startle research psychologists focused on the physiological changes that occurred during startle, including ones controlled by somatic and autonomic nervous systems. Later researchers such as Graham, Lang and Vrana and others have shown the usefulness of the startle EB in studies of attention, emotion and psychological disorders. The major dependent variable is the muscle response (in microvolts) produced by contraction of the orbicularis oculi during the reflexive EB. The use of the startle EB to distinguish the intensity effects of the aversive stimulus from attentional effects was initiated by Graham (1975). One of the findings was that a short and weak prepulse could lead to a reduction in the EB response to the loud noise. In other studies it was reported that attended prepulses produced greater EB inhibition than ignored tones. The research of Lang, Vrana and their colleagues has yielded consistent findings regarding the impact of emotional, visual and imaginal stimuli on the EB startle response. For example, the startle EB is largest when subjects view unpleasant stimuli and attenuated when examining pleasant pictures. A similar result obtains when imagining pleasant events versus unpleasant ones. In the realm of clinical research it has been reported that conditions effective in reducing the EB startle in normals are less effective with schizophrenics. On the other hand, individuals suffering simple and social phobias and panic disorder all show enhancement of the startle EB while imagining or viewing scenes that are threatening to them. In summary, a provocative literature has arisen in the area of startle EB modulation as it relates to attentional and emotional processes and psychological disorders. This presentation will consider these processes and theory that attempts to explain the effects.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.515 Eye movements and U.S. presidential elections J.J. Tecce Boston College, Psychology Department, Chestnut Hill, USA A two-factor theoretical model was proposed at the 13th World Congress of Psychophysiology in 2006 to account for psychophysiological studies of eyeblink frequency: 1. Attention–Eyeblink Hypothesis: Eyeblink frequency is decreased when attention is unified and directed to a single event and is increased when attention is divided and directed to two or more events; 2. Hedonia–Eyeblink Hypothesis: Eyeblink frequency is increased during negative hedonic arousal states and is decreased during positive hedonic arousal states. The hedonic arousal hypothesis has received strong empirical support from laboratory research, but there is a compelling need for field studies to
establish its ecological validity. One real-life situation of potential value is that of U.S. presidential elections. Election debates provide a standard format that facilitates a comparison of eye movements of candidates under well-controlled conditions. Since rapid blinking is reliably associated with psychological stress, eyeblink rate (EBR) provides a useful metric for differentiating candidates' stress levels. Beyond its value as a stress indicator, EBR may also have a cue function. If so, differences in EBRs of candidates might be judged by viewer-voters as a negative attribute. According to this social-cue hypothesis, the more rapid blinker during debates would be expected to receive fewer votes than his opponent and, therefore, lose the election. This seems to be the case. For eight U.S. presidential elections during the period 1960–2004, the rapid blinker during debates received fewer overall votes than his opponent. In seven of these eight elections, the rapid blinker also lost the electoral vote and was defeated at the polls. Furthermore, in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, seven out of ten presidential aspirants have shown elevated EBRs (over 50 blinks per minute) and have been defeated in their candidacies. While the predictive value of EBR in presidential elections is clear, the underlying mechanisms are not. Given its heuristic value, the social-cue hypothesis is a potentially useful explanation that requires further study. The demonstration that patterns of fast and slow blinking produce different perceptions would support the social-cue hypothesis and have far-reaching implications for social interactions. Other ocular phenomena of potential social value will be discussed and demonstrated: slow blinking (eight blinks per minute or less: Perot effect); unblinking robotic stare (no blinking for 40 s or more: Hoekstra effect); gaze aversion (15 or more gaze aversions per minute: Clemens effect); triple blinks (three rapid blinks within a second: Nixon effect); double blinks (two rapid blinks within a second); half-blinks; and one-eyed blinks.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.516 SYMPOSIUM 35: Beta Oscillations in the Brain Functioning Symposium Chair: Murat Ozgoren (Turkey); Co-Chair: Gennady Knyazev (Russia) Beta in simple and complex cognitive processes M. Ozgoren, A. Oniz Dokuz Eylul University, Biophysics department, Izmir, Turkey The beta oscillations belong to a less studied group of EEG frequency bands. The 15–30 Hz remained understudied especially compared to the gamma activity as well as upper alpha. In recent years the existence of beta oscillatory activity has been acknowledged by means of studies related to simple and complex stimuli in multi-modal studies. There have been reports on the linguistic and complex visual stimuli. This frequency band reveals a variety of brain functions from simple sensory to higher cognitive functions. Accordingly, sensory memory, excitation–inhibition visual attention, movement related changes such as repetitive hand movements, recollection and familiarity, emotional states and cognitive loads have been shown to be related to the beta range. Beta oscillations are actual identities of the brain and its functioning, existent as part of the molecular and cellular mechanisms to large-scale networks. These properties can be verified as repeatable factors as proven by the genetics case of alcoholics and their children. Their properties are reproducible as a firm parameter of the EEG. The classical experimental design in the psychophysiological research field commonly uses the press button as part of the paradigm setup, causing movement related changes. This may also contribute to factors limiting the findings related to functional importance of beta oscillations. The results from our laboratory do also provide a range of findings from simple to complex stimuli (visual, auditory and somatosensory). Consequently, in this session the beta oscillatory activity in the cognitive functioning will be discussed.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.517 Coupling of beta with low frequency oscillations in motivationally relevant states G.G. Knyazev State Research Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia