Measuring One Aspect of Teachers’ Affective States: Development of the Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Discontentment Scale

Purpose This study explored group experiences and individual differences in the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings perceived by adults who stutter. Respondents' goals when speaking and prior participation in self-help/support groups were used to predict individual differences in reported behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Method In this study, 502 adults who stutter completed a survey examining their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings in and around moments of stuttering. Data were analyzed to determine distributions of group and individual experiences. Results Speakers reported experiencing a wide range of both overt behaviors (e.g., repetitions) and covert behaviors (e.g., remaining silent, choosing not to speak). Having the goal of not stuttering when speaking was significantly associated with more covert behaviors and more negative cognitive and affective states, whereas a history of self-help/support group participation was significantly associated with a decreased probability of these behaviors and states. Conclusion Data from this survey suggest that participating in self-help/support groups and having a goal of communicating freely (as opposed to trying not to stutter) are associated with less negative life outcomes due to stuttering. Results further indicate that the behaviors, thoughts, and experiences most commonly reported by speakers may not be those that are most readily observed by listeners.

Download Full-text

Heart Rate Variability, Homeostasis, and Brain Function

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000080 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 178-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Francesco Riganello ◽

Sergio Garbarino ◽

Walter G. Sannita

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Vegetative State ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Affective States ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Cardiovascular Research ◽

Sensory Stimuli ◽

Additional Information ◽

Brain Injured

Measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are major indices of the sympathovagal balance in cardiovascular research. These measures are thought to reflect complex patterns of brain activation as well and HRV is now emerging as a descriptor thought to provide information on the nervous system organization of homeostatic responses in accordance with the situational requirements. Current models of integration equate HRV to the affective states as parallel outputs of the central autonomic network, with HRV reflecting its organization of affective, physiological, “cognitive,” and behavioral elements into a homeostatic response. Clinical application is in the study of patients with psychiatric disorders, traumatic brain injury, impaired emotion-specific processing, personality, and communication disorders. HRV responses to highly emotional sensory inputs have been identified in subjects in vegetative state and in healthy or brain injured subjects processing complex sensory stimuli. In this respect, HRV measurements can provide additional information on the brain functional setup in the severely brain damaged and would provide researchers with a suitable approach in the absence of conscious behavior or whenever complex experimental conditions and data collection are impracticable, as it is the case, for example, in intensive care units.

Download Full-text

An Alternative to Self-Reports of Trait and State Affect

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000190 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 231-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Markus Quirin ◽

Regina C. Bode

Keyword(s):

Self Report ◽

Factorial Validity ◽

Artificial Language ◽

Cognitive Representation ◽

Affective States ◽

Novel Variants ◽

Self Reports ◽

State Affect ◽

Affective Experiences ◽

Automatic Activation

Self-report measures for the assessment of trait or state affect are typically biased by social desirability or self-delusion. The present work provides an overview of research using a recently developed measure of automatic activation of cognitive representation of affective experiences, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT). In the IPANAT, participants judge the extent to which nonsense words from an alleged artificial language express a number of affective states or traits. The test demonstrates appropriate factorial validity and reliabilities. We review findings that support criterion validity and, additionally, present novel variants of this procedure for the assessment of the discrete emotions such as happiness, anger, sadness, and fear.

Download Full-text