Effect of Negative Emotional Content on Working Memory and Long-Term Memory.

In long-term memory, negative information is better remembered than neutral information. Differences in processes important to working memory may contribute to this emotional memory enhancement. To examine the effect that the emotional content of stimuli has on working memory performance, the authors asked participants to perform working memory tasks with negative and neutral stimuli. Task accuracy was unaffected by the emotional content of the stimuli. Reaction times also did not differ for negative relative to neutral words, but on an n-back task using faces, participants were slower to respond to fearful faces than to neutral faces. These results suggest that although emotional content does not have a robust effect on working memory, in some instances emotional salience can impede working memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Discrepancy in Analyses of the MSCEIT--Resolving the Mystery and Understanding Its Implications: A Reply to Gignac (2005).

Replies to comments made by G. E. Gignac (see record 2005-06671-010) on the current authors' original article (see record 2003-02341-015). Gignac reanalyzed the factor structure of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and found results that differed from those the authors obtained initially. The authors tracked down the surprising sources of those discrepancies. G. E. Gignac's hierarchical model of emotional intelligence appears promising, and the authors anticipate that further investigations of the MSCEIT factor structure may yield additional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating expectations about negative emotional states of aggressive boys using Bayesian model selection.

Researchers often have expectations about the research outcomes in regard to inequality constraints between, e.g., group means. Consider the example of researchers who investigated the effects of inducing a negative emotional state in aggressive boys. It was expected that highly aggressive boys would, on average, score higher on aggressive responses toward other peers than moderately aggressive boys, who would in turn score higher than nonaggressive boys. In most cases, null hypothesis testing is used to evaluate such hypotheses. We show, however, that hypotheses formulated using inequality constraints between the group means are generally not evaluated properly. The wrong hypotheses are tested, i.e.. the null hypothesis that group means are equal. In this article, we propose an innovative solution to these above-mentioned issues using Bayesian model selection, which we illustrate using a case study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in psychosocial predictors of positive and negative affect: A longitudinal investigation of young, midlife, and older adults: Correction to Windsor and Anstey (2010).

Reports an error in Age differences in psychosocial predictors of positive and negative affect: A longitudinal investigation of young, midlife, and older adults by Tim D. Windsor and Kaarin J. Anstey (Psychology and Aging, 2010[Sep], Vol 25[3], 641-652). Contains an error in Figure 3, on page 649. The correction discusses where to find the correct data. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-18944-009.) Research has consistently shown that despite aging-related losses, older adults have high levels of emotional well-being relative to those in young and midlife adults. We aimed to contribute to knowledge around the factors that predict emotional well-being over the life course by examining age group differences in associations of positive and negative social exchanges and mastery beliefs with positive and negative affect in a sample of 7,472 young, midlife, and older adults assessed on 2 measurement occasions, 4 years apart. Results from structural equation models indicated lower levels of negative affect with advancing age. Mastery was consistently related to higher well-being, with the strongest associations evident for young adults. Older adults reported the most frequent positive and least frequent negative social exchanges; however, associations of social relations with affect tended to be stronger among young and midlife adults relative to older adults. Results are discussed in the context of life course perspectives on goal orientations and self-regulatory processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent and divergent responses to emotional displays of ingroup and outgroup.

In the present research, we test the assumption that emotional mimicry and contagion are moderated by group membership. We report two studies using facial electromyography (EMG; Study 1), Facial Action Coding System (FACS; Study 2), and self-reported emotions (Study 2) as dependent measures. As predicted, both studies show that ingroup anger and fear displays were mimicked to a greater extent than outgroup displays of these emotions. The self-report data in Study 2 further showed specific divergent reactions to outgroup anger and fear displays. Outgroup anger evoked fear, and outgroup fear evoked aversion. Interestingly, mimicry increased liking for ingroup models but not for outgroup models. The findings are discussed in terms of the social functions of emotions in group contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于HMM的可训练情感语音合成研究

研究了基于HMM的英语语音合成系统,并通过分析情感语句的语调,得到高兴、生气、悲伤、平静四种不同情感类型的基音频率、能量和时长的变化规律。将基于HMM的可训练语音合成方法应用到英语情感语音合成,对基于HMM所合成的平静语音,叠加相应情感的语调变化规则,通过修改韵律特征参数合成出带有情感的语音。从所合成情感语句的效果来看,合成语音整体稳定流畅、情感特征明显,且合成系统可以快速构成。     

胡萝卜汁添加对乳化肠食用品质的影响

研究了胡萝卜汁添加对乳化肠色泽、质构特性、保水性以及感官品质的影响。基于最优基础配方,实验通过控制胡萝卜汁的添加量(0%、5%、10%、15%),探索其对于乳化肠食用品质的影响。结果表明:添加胡萝卜汁组与对照组(胡萝卜汁添加量0%)的色差、质构以及感官方面存在显著差异(P0.05)。随着胡萝卜汁添加量的增加,红度值、硬度都呈显著下降趋势,而蒸煮损失、黏聚性和弹性与对照组没有显著差异。胡萝卜汁添加量为10%的样品组的硬度、咀嚼性和胶着性最好,且通过感官评定得知该组各项指标综合评定结果最好,本实验得出10%是胡萝卜汁较优的添加量。     

消费者情感偏好对运动文胸设计要素的影响

为了解18~45岁女性消费者在购买运动文胸时的情感偏好,以消费者在穿着体验中的评价为依据进行问卷调研,衡量消费者的情感偏好。通过探索性因子分析和验证性因子分析,构建5个一级指标和21个二级指标的消费者情感偏好评价指标模型,采用非线性主成分分析法确定影响消费者情感偏好设计要素的权重值。结果表明:一级指标权重值从大到小依次为面料(0.274)、色彩(0.191)、背部结构(0.188)、肩带形式(0.184)、罩杯形式(0.163),说明面料是消费者购买运动文胸时考虑的主要因素。     

Technical note: the use of a physical activity monitor to estimate the eating time of cows in pasture

Accurate eating time can be used as an index of forage dry matter intake in grazing cows. To develop a method for easily estimating the eating time of dairy cows in a pasture, 8 lactating Holstein cows were fitted with collars equipped with commercial uniaxial accelerometers; namely, the Kenz Lifecorder EX (LCEX; Suzuken Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan), and were allowed to graze in a pasture for 4, 8, or 20 h daily for 7 d. The LCEX device recorded the intensity of the physical activity categorized into 1 of 11 activity levels ranging among 0 (no movement), 0.5 (subtle) and from 1 to 9 (1, light; 9, vigorous intensity) every 4 s during the experimental period. The activities of the animals were also video-recorded for 11 h and were manually classified into 7 categories (eating, searching, ruminating, standing resting, lying resting, drinking, and walking) at 4-s intervals. According to the count distribution of the activity levels for the categorized activities, 94.4% of the counts involving eating activity ranged from activity level 1 to 7. On the other hand, most of the counts were activity level 0 or 0.5 when ruminating and resting activities were observed. No records of activity level 8 or 9 were found in any activities. When activity level 1 was used as a threshold for discriminating eating from the other activities, the lowest misclassification rate of 5.5% was observed. With a threshold of activity level 1, the eating times in pasture for cows grazing for 4, 8, and 20 h/d were 142.8, 290.6, and 438.4 min/d, respectively, and the proportions of the time spent in pasture that were made up of eating time were 0.66, 0.67, and 0.38, respectively [the proportion during daytime (8 h of the 20-h grazing treatment) was 0.63 and that at nighttime (12 h of the 20-h grazing treatment) was 0.23]. The use of the LCEX device allows for easy measurement of eating time and facilitates the determination of the pattern of eating activity in pasture for grazing cows.