scholarly journals Affect-Driven Attention Biases as Animal Welfare Indicators: Review and Methods

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Crump ◽  
Gareth Arnott ◽  
Emily Bethell
Keyword(s):  
Research Effort ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Causative Role ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Welfare Indicators ◽  
Valence States ◽  
Attentional Scope ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Positive Valence

Attention bias describes the differential allocation of attention towards one stimulus compared to others. In humans, this bias can be mediated by the observer’s affective state and is implicated in the onset and maintenance of affective disorders such as anxiety. Affect-driven attention biases (ADABs) have also been identified in a few other species. Here, we review the literature on ADABs in animals and discuss their utility as welfare indicators. Despite a limited research effort, several studies have found that negative affective states modulate attention to negative (i.e., threatening) cues. ADABs influenced by positive-valence states have also been documented in animals. We discuss methods for measuring ADAB and conclude that looking time, dot-probe, and emotional spatial cueing paradigms are particularly promising. Research is needed to test them with a wider range of species, investigate attentional scope as an indicator of affect, and explore the possible causative role of attention biases in determining animal wellbeing. Finally, we argue that ADABs might not be best-utilized as indicators of general valence, but instead to reveal specific emotions, motivations, aversions, and preferences. Paying attention to the human literature could facilitate these advances.

scholarly journals Distinct facial expressions represent pain and pleasure across cultures

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (43) ◽  
pp. E10013-E10021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaona Chen ◽  
Carlos Crivelli ◽  
Oliver G. B. Garrod ◽  
Philippe G. Schyns ◽  
José-Miguel Fernández-Dols ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Information Theoretic ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
Dynamic Facial Expressions ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Affective Experiences ◽  
New Research

Real-world studies show that the facial expressions produced during pain and orgasm—two different and intense affective experiences—are virtually indistinguishable. However, this finding is counterintuitive, because facial expressions are widely considered to be a powerful tool for social interaction. Consequently, debate continues as to whether the facial expressions of these extreme positive and negative affective states serve a communicative function. Here, we address this debate from a novel angle by modeling the mental representations of dynamic facial expressions of pain and orgasm in 40 observers in each of two cultures (Western, East Asian) using a data-driven method. Using a complementary approach of machine learning, an information-theoretic analysis, and a human perceptual discrimination task, we show that mental representations of pain and orgasm are physically and perceptually distinct in each culture. Cross-cultural comparisons also revealed that pain is represented by similar face movements across cultures, whereas orgasm showed distinct cultural accents. Together, our data show that mental representations of the facial expressions of pain and orgasm are distinct, which questions their nondiagnosticity and instead suggests they could be used for communicative purposes. Our results also highlight the potential role of cultural and perceptual factors in shaping the mental representation of these facial expressions. We discuss new research directions to further explore their relationship to the production of facial expressions.

Cannabis use and schizotypy: The role of social anxiety and other negative affective states

2012 ◽  
Vol 200 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 660-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina M. Najolia ◽  
Julia D. Buckner ◽  
Alex S. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Negative Affective States

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Job Loss, and Mental Health Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dara Mojtahedi ◽  
Neil Dagnall ◽  
Andrew Denovan ◽  
Peter Clough ◽  
Sophie Hull ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mental Toughness ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Mental Health Effects ◽  
The Relationship

Concerns toward public well-being and mental health are increasing considering the COVID-19 pandemic's global societal and individual impact. The present study builds on the current body of COVID-19 literature by examining the role of mental toughness (MT) in predicting negative affective states (depression, anxiety and stress) during the pandemic. The study also examined the effects of changes in employment on mental health and MT. Participants (N = 723) completed a battery of questionnaires including the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48-item, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items. Participants reported relatively higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety in comparison to pre-COVID-19 samples from previous research, with respondents who had lost their jobs during the pandemic reporting higher levels of negative affective states. Despite this, mentally tough individuals appeared to report lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Moreover, moderation analyses identified some interaction between MT and employment status when predicting depression, anxiety and stress. Our findings suggest that MT may have some utility in reducing the adverse mental health effects of the pandemic on individuals, however, further longitudinal research is needed to support these implications.

Does CWB repair negative affective states, or generate them? Examining the moderating role of trait empathy.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Koopman ◽  
James M. Conway ◽  
Nikolaos Dimotakis ◽  
Bennett J. Tepper ◽  
Young Eun Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective States ◽  
Trait Empathy ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Moderating Role

A Multi-Level Examination of Personality, Exercise, and Daily Life Events for Individuals with Physical Disabilities

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Giacobbi ◽  
Brent Hardin ◽  
Nancy Frye ◽  
Heather A. Hausenblas ◽  
Sam Sears ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Cognitive Appraisals ◽  
Exercise Behavior ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Moderating Role

We assessed within- and between-person associations among appraisals of daily life events, positive and negative affective states, and exercise behavior and the moderating role of personality for the exercise/affect relationship with individuals with physical disabilities. Forty-eight individuals with physical disabilities completed measures of personality and daily assessments of affect, exercise, and cognitive appraisals of life events for eight consecutive days. The results revealed that exercise behavior was associated with increased positive and decreased negative affect even when associations between daily events and affect were statistically controlled. Finally, aspects of personality, especially Neuroticism, significantly moderated the exercise/affect relationship for both positive and negative affect.

Exploring exploration: the role of affective states as forces that hinder change

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-223
Author(s):  
Stefano Brusoni ◽  
Daniella Laureiro-Martínez ◽  
Nicola Canessa ◽  
Maurizio Zollo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
The Past ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Negative Affective States

Abstract In this article we argue that in order to understand failure or success in adapting to environmental change, we should better understand why people hesitate to pursue novel choices. This article asks: what forces hinder individuals’ exploration choices of different alternatives, and hence their ability to learn from them? To answer this question, this article looks to the cognitive sciences to identify a set of plausible mechanisms that hinder people’s tendency to explore. So far, “exploration” has been studied as a relatively monolithic behavior. Instead, we propose that exploration can be characterized in terms of some distinctive forces behind it. On one hand, agents experience “attachment” to choices that proved successful in the past, and hence comfort when sticking with them. On the other hand, they also experience concerns about less familiar options, as they lack knowledge about “distant” choices that have not been tried for a long time, or ever. We propose that high attachment is related to anxiety, and high distance to fear. Both these negative affective states hinder exploration. We find and discuss preliminary and tentative evidence of this effect.

The role of glucocorticoid receptor phosphorylation in the model of negative affective states

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milica Jovicic ◽  
Nadja P. Maric ◽  
Ivan Soldatovic ◽  
Iva Lukic ◽  
Sanja Andric ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucocorticoid Receptor ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Receptor Phosphorylation ◽  
Negative Affective States

scholarly journals Digital interface design and power: Friction, threshold, transition

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1136-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ash ◽  
Ben Anderson ◽  
Rachel Gordon ◽  
Paul Langley
Keyword(s):  
Interface Design ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Human Response ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity

This paper draws upon the example of High-Cost Short-Term Credit products accessed via digital interfaces and devices to examine practices of interface design and the operation of digitally mediated power. Utilising interviews with High-Cost Short-Term Credit website designers and users of these products, the paper shows how these interfaces are designed and tested to manage frictions: practical, affective or emotional contestations that interrupt or stop users from applying for these products and entering into credit and debt. We suggest that the key role of interface design is to manage these frictions by guiding action in such a way to minimise negative affective states at key thresholds of the application process. The management of friction is enabled by practices of data-driven design, where the contingency of human response is engineered through analytics in order to increase rates of application. Working through the example of High-Cost Short-Term Credit, the paper complicates a notion of control as a smooth or automatic operation of power, instead emphasising the necessity of both continuity and discontinuity as key to modulating action in a digital age. To understand the specificity of interface interactions and move beyond existing work on control, we offer a vocabulary of friction, thresholds and transitions.

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