@phdthesis{Muenchow2016, author = {M{\"u}nchow, Hannes}, title = {I feel, therefore I learn - Effectiveness of affect induction interventions and possible covariates on learning outcomes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148432}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Affective states in the context of learning and achievement can influence the learning process essentially. The impact of affective states can be both directly on the learning performance and indirectly mediated via, for example, motivational processes. Positive activating affect is often associated with increased memory skills as well as advantages in creative problem solving. Negative activating affect on the other hand is regarded to impair learning outcomes because of promoting task-irrelevant thinking. While these relationships were found to be relatively stable in correlation studies, causal relationships have been examined rarely so far. This dissertation aims to investigate the effects of positive and negative affective states in multimedia learning settings and to identify potential moderating factors. Therefore, three experimental empirical studies on university students were conducted. In Experiment 1, N = 57 university students were randomly allocated to either a positive or negative affect induction group. Affects were elicited using short film clips. After a 20-minute learning phase in a hypertext-based multimedia learning environment on "functional neuroanatomy" the learners' knowledge as well as transfer performance were measured. It was assumed that inducing positive activating affect should enhance learning performance. Eliciting negative activating affect on the other hand should impair learning performance. However, it was found that the induction of negative activating affect prior to the learning phase resulted in slight deteriorations in knowledge. Contrary to the assumptions, inducing positive activating affect before the learning phase did not improve learning performance. Experiment 2 induced positive activating affect directly during learning. To induce affective states during the entire duration of the learning phase, Experiment 2 used an emotional design paradigm. Therefore, N = 111 university students were randomly assigned to learn either in an affect inducing multimedia learning environment (use of warm colours and round shapes) or an affectively neutral counterpart (using shades of grey and angular shapes) on the same topic as in Experiment 1. Again, knowledge as well as transfer performance were measured after learning for 20 minutes. In addition, positive and negative affective states were measured before and after learning. Complex interaction patterns between the treatment and initial affective states were found. Specifically, learners with high levels of positive affect before learning showed better transfer performance when they learned in the affect inducing learning environment. Regarding knowledge, those participants who reported high levels of negative activating affect prior to the learning period performed worse. However, the effect on knowledge did not occur for those students learning in the affect inducing learning environment. For knowledge, the treatment therefore protected against poorer performance due to high levels of negative affective states. Results of Experiment 2 showed that the induction of positive activating affect influenced learning performance positively when taking into account affective states prior to the learning phase. In order to confirm these interaction effects, a conceptual replication of the previous experiment was conducted in Experiment 3. Experiment 3 largely retained the former study design, but changed the learning materials and tests used. Analogous to Experiment 2, N = 145 university students learning for 20 minutes in either an affect inducing or an affectively neutral multimedia learning environment on "eukaryotic cell". To strengthen the treatment, Experiment 3 also used anthropomorphic design elements to induce affective states next to warm colours and round shapes. Moreover, in order to assess the change in affective states more exactly, an additional measurement of positive and negative affective states after half of the learning time was inserted. Knowledge and transfer were assessed again to measure learning performance. The learners' memory skills were used as an additional learning outcome. To control the influence of potential confounding variables, the participants' general and current achievement motivation as well as interest, and emotion regulation skills were measured. Contrary to the assumptions, Experiment 3 could not confirm the interaction effects of Experiment 2. Instead, there was a significant impact of positive activating affect prior to the learning phase on transfer, irrespective of the learners' group affiliation. This effect was further independent of the control variables that were measured. Nevertheless, the results of Experiment 3 fit into the picture of findings regarding "emotional design" in hypermedia learning settings. To date, the few publications that have used this approach propose heterogeneous results, even when using identical materials and procedures.}, subject = {Affekt}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Baur2016, author = {Baur, Ramona}, title = {Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Emotion Processing, and Emotion Regulation in Virtual Reality}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-142064}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by symptoms of inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Besides, increasing evidence points to ADHD patients showing emotional dysfunctions and concomitant problems in social life. However, systematic research on emotional dysfunctions in ADHD is still rare, and to date most studies lack conceptual differentiation between emotion processing and emotion regulation. The aim of this thesis was to systematically investigate emotion processing and emotion regulation in adult ADHD in a virtual reality paradigm implementing social interaction. Emotional reactions were assessed on experiential, physiological, and behavioral levels. Experiment 1 was conducted to develop a virtual penalty kicking paradigm implying social feedback and to test it in a healthy sample. This paradigm should then be applied in ADHD patients later on. Pleasant and unpleasant trials in this paradigm consisted of hits respectively misses and subsequent feedback from a virtual coach. In neutral trials, participants were teleported to different spots of the virtual stadium. Results indicated increased positive affectivity (higher valence and arousal ratings, higher zygomaticus activations, and higher expression rates of positive emotional behavior) in response to pleasant compared to neutral trials. Reactions to unpleasant trials were contradictory, indicating increased levels of both positive and negative affectivity, compared to neutral trials. Unpleasant vs. neutral trials revealed lower valence ratings, higher arousal ratings, higher zygomaticus activations, slightly lower corrugator activations, and higher expression rates of both positive and negative emotional behavior. The intensity of emotional reactions correlated with experienced presence in the virtual reality. To better understand the impact of hits or misses per se vs. hits or misses with coach feedback healthy participants' emotional reactions, only 50\% of all shots were followed by coach feedback in experiment 2. Neutral trials consisted of shots over the free soccer field which were followed by coach feedback in 50 \% of all trials. Shots and feedback evoked more extreme valence and arousal ratings, higher zygomaticus activations, lower corrugator activations, and higher skin conductance responses than shots alone across emotional conditions. Again, results speak for the induction of positive emotions in pleasant trials whereas the induction of negative emotions in unpleasant trials seems ambiguous. Technical improvements of the virtual reality were reflected in higher presence ratings than in experiment 1. Experiment 3 investigated emotional reactions of adult ADHD patients and healthy controls after emotion processing and response-focused emotion regulation. Participants successively went through an ostensible online ball-tossing game (cyber ball) inducing negative emotions, and an adapted version of the virtual penalty kicking game. Throughout cyber ball, participants were included or ostracized by two other players in different experimental blocks. Participants were instructed to explicitly show, not regulate, or hide their emotions in different experimental blocks. Results provided some evidence for deficient processing of positive emotions in ADHD. Patients reported slightly lower positive affect than controls during cyber ball, gave lower valence ratings than controls in response to pleasant penalty kicking trials, and showed lower zygomaticus activations than controls especially during penalty kicking. Patients in comparison with controls showed slightly increased processing of unpleasant events during cyber ball (higher ratings of negative affect, especially in response to ostracism), but not during penalty kicking. Patients showed lower baseline skin conductance levels than controls, and impaired skin conductance modulations. Compared to controls, patients showed slight over-expression of positive as well as negative emotional behavior. Emotion regulation analyses revealed no major difficulties of ADHD vs. controls in altering their emotional reactions through deliberate response modulation. Moreover, patients reported to habitually apply adaptive emotion regulation strategies even more frequently than controls. The analyses of genetic high-risk vs. low-risk groups for ADHD across the whole sample revealed similar results as analyses for patients vs. controls for zygomaticus modulations during emotion processing, and for modulations of emotional reactions due to emotion regulation. To sum up, the virtual penalty kicking paradigm proved to be successful for the induction of positive, but not negative emotions. The importance of presence in virtual reality for the intensity of induced emotions could be replicated. ADHD patients showed impaired processing of primarily positive emotions. Aberrations in negative emotional responding were less clear and need further investigation. Results point to adult ADHD in comparison to healthy controls suffering from baseline deficits in autonomic arousal and deficits in arousal modulation. Deficits of ADHD in the deliberate application of response-focused emotion regulation could not be found.}, subject = {Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-Syndrom}, language = {en} } @article{BollBartholomaeusPeteretal.2016, author = {Boll, Sabine and Bartholomaeus, Marie and Peter, Ulrike and Lupke, Ulrike and Gamer, Matthias}, title = {Attentional mechanisms of social perception are biased in social phobia}, series = {Journal of Anxiety Disorders}, volume = {40}, journal = {Journal of Anxiety Disorders}, doi = {10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.04.004}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189046}, pages = {83-93}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Previous studies of social phobia have reported an increased vigilance to social threat cues but also an avoidance of socially relevant stimuli such as eye gaze. The primary aim of this study was to examine attentional mechanisms relevant for perceiving social cues by means of abnormalities in scanning of facial features in patients with social phobia. In two novel experimental paradigms, patients with social phobia and healthy controls matched on age, gender and education were compared regarding their gazing behavior towards facial cues. The first experiment was an emotion classification paradigm which allowed for differentiating reflexive attentional shifts from sustained attention towards diagnostically relevant facial features. In the second experiment, attentional orienting by gaze direction was assessed in a gaze-cueing paradigm in which non-predictive gaze cues shifted attention towards or away from subsequently presented targets. We found that patients as compared to controls reflexively oriented their attention more frequently towards the eyes of emotional faces in the emotion classification paradigm. This initial hypervigilance for the eye region was observed at very early attentional stages when faces were presented for 150 ms, and persisted when facial stimuli were shown for 3 s. Moreover, a delayed attentional orienting into the direction of eye gaze was observed in individuals with social phobia suggesting a differential time course of eye gaze processing in patients and controls. Our findings suggest that basic mechanisms of early attentional exploration of social cues are biased in social phobia and might contribute to the development and maintenance of the disorder.}, language = {en} } @article{WieserReichertsJuravleetal.2016, author = {Wieser, Matthias J. and Reicherts, Philipp and Juravle, Georgiana and von Leupoldt, Andreas}, title = {Attention mechanisms during predictable and unpredictable threat - a steady-state visual evoked potential approach}, series = {NeuroImage}, volume = {139}, journal = {NeuroImage}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.026}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187365}, pages = {167-175}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Fear is elicited by imminent threat and leads to phasic fear responses with selective attention, whereas anxiety is characterized by a sustained state of heightened vigilance due to uncertain danger. In the present study, we investigated attention mechanisms in fear and anxiety by adapting the NPU-threat test to measure steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs). We investigated ssVEPs across no aversive events (N), predictable aversive events (P), and unpredictable aversive events (U), signaled by four-object arrays (30 s). In addition, central cues were presented during all conditions but predictably signaled imminent threat only during the P condition. Importantly, cues and context events were flickered at different frequencies (15 Hz vs. 20 Hz) in order to disentangle respective electrocortical responses. The onset of the context elicited larger electrocortical responses for U compared to P context. Conversely, P cues elicited larger electrocortical responses compared to N cues. Interestingly, during the presence of the P cue, visuocortical processing of the concurrent context was also enhanced. The results support the notion of enhanced initial hypervigilance to unpredictable compared to predictable threat contexts, while predictable cues show electrocortical enhancement of the cues themselves but additionally a boost of context processing.}, language = {en} } @article{MeulePlatte2016, author = {Meule, Adrian and Platte, Petra}, title = {Attentional bias toward high-calorie food-cues and trait motor impulsivity interactively predict weight gain}, series = {Health Psychology Open}, journal = {Health Psychology Open}, doi = {10.1177/2055102916649585}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-168504}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Strong bottom-up impulses and weak top-down control may interactively lead to overeating and, consequently, weight gain. In the present study, female university freshmen were tested at the start of the first semester and again at the start of the second semester. Attentional bias toward high- or low-calorie food-cues was assessed using a dot-probe paradigm and participants completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Attentional bias and motor impulsivity interactively predicted change in body mass index: motor impulsivity positively predicted weight gain only when participants showed an attentional bias toward high-calorie food-cues. Attentional and non-planning impulsivity were unrelated to weight change. Results support findings showing that weight gain is prospectively predicted by a combination of weak top-down control (i.e. high impulsivity) and strong bottom-up impulses (i.e. high automatic motivational drive toward high-calorie food stimuli). They also highlight the fact that only specific aspects of impulsivity are relevant in eating and weight regulation.}, language = {en} } @article{HuesteggeBoeckler2016, author = {Huestegge, Lynn and B{\"o}ckler, Anne}, title = {Out of the corner of the driver's eye: Peripheral processing of hazards in static traffic scenes}, series = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {16}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1167/16.2.11}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147726}, pages = {1-15}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Effective gaze control in traffic, based on peripheral visual information, is important to avoid hazards. Whereas previous hazard perception research mainly focused on skill-component development (e.g., orientation and hazard processing), little is known about the role and dynamics of peripheral vision in hazard perception. We analyzed eye movement data from a study in which participants scanned static traffic scenes including medium-level versus dangerous hazards and focused on characteristics of fixations prior to entering the hazard region. We found that initial saccade amplitudes into the hazard region were substantially longer for dangerous (vs. medium-level) hazards, irrespective of participants' driving expertise. An analysis of the temporal dynamics of this hazard-level dependent saccade targeting distance effect revealed that peripheral hazard-level processing occurred around 200-400 ms during the course of the fixation prior to entering the hazard region. An additional psychophysical hazard detection experiment, in which hazard eccentricity was manipulated, revealed better detection for dangerous (vs. medium-level) hazards in both central and peripheral vision. Furthermore, we observed a significant perceptual decline from center to periphery for medium (but not for highly) dangerous hazards. Overall, the results suggest that hazard processing is remarkably effective in peripheral vision and utilized to guide the eyes toward potential hazards.}, language = {en} } @article{KleihGottschaltTeichleinetal.2016, author = {Kleih, Sonja C. and Gottschalt, Lea and Teichlein, Eva and Weilbach, Franz X.}, title = {Toward a P300 Based Brain-Computer Interface for Aphasia Rehabilitation after Stroke: Presentation of Theoretical Considerations and a Pilot Feasibility Study}, series = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, number = {547}, doi = {10.3389/fnhum.2016.00547}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147929}, year = {2016}, abstract = {People with post-stroke motor aphasia know what they would like to say but cannot express it through motor pathways due to disruption of cortical circuits. We present a theoretical background for our hypothesized connection between attention and aphasia rehabilitation and suggest why in this context, Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) use might be beneficial for patients diagnosed with aphasia. Not only could BCI technology provide a communication tool, it might support neuronal plasticity by activating language circuits and thereby boost aphasia recovery. However, stroke may lead to heterogeneous symptoms that might hinder BCI use, which is why the feasibility of this approach needs to be investigated first. In this pilot study, we included five participants diagnosed with post-stroke aphasia. Four participants were initially unable to use the visual P300 speller paradigm. By adjusting the paradigm to their needs, participants could successfully learn to use the speller for communication with accuracies up to 100\%. We describe necessary adjustments to the paradigm and present future steps to investigate further this approach.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ulrich2016, author = {Ulrich, Natalie}, title = {Processing of Near Outcomes and Outcome Sequences in Gambling: Implications for the Biopsychological Basis of Problem Gambling}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-139612}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Gambling is a popular activity in Germany, with 40\% of a representative sample reporting having gambled at least once in the past year (Bundeszentrale f{\"u}r gesundheitliche Aufkl{\"a}rung, 2014). While the majority of gamblers show harmless gambling behavior, a subset develops serious problems due to their gambling, affecting their psychological well-being, social life and work. According to recent estimates, up to 0.8\% of the German population are affected by such pathological gambling. People in general and pathological gamblers in particular show several cognitive distortions, that is, misconceptions about the chances of winning and skill involvement, in gambling. The current work aimed at elucidating the biopsychological basis of two such kinds of cognitive distortions, the illusion of control and the gambler's and hot hand fallacies, and their modulation by gambling problems. Therefore, four studies were conducted assessing the processing of near outcomes (used as a proxy for the illusion of control) and outcome sequences (used as a proxy for the gambler's and hot hand fallacies) in samples of varying degrees of gambling problems, using a multimethod approach. The first study analyzed the processing and evaluation of near outcomes as well as choice behavior in a wheel of fortune paradigm using electroencephalography (EEG). To assess the influence of gambling problems, a group of problem gamblers was compared to a group of controls. The results showed that there were no differences in the processing of near outcomes between the two groups. Near compared to full outcomes elicited smaller P300 amplitudes. Furthermore, at a trend level, the choice behavior of participants showed signs of a pattern opposite to the gambler's fallacy, with longer runs of an outcome color leading to increased probabilities of choosing this color again on the subsequent trial. Finally, problem gamblers showed smaller feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitudes relative to controls. The second study also targeted the processing of near outcomes in a wheel of fortune paradigm, this time using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a group of participants with varying degrees of gambling problems. The results showed increased activity in the bilateral superior parietal cortex following near compared to full outcomes. The third study examined the peripheral physiology reactions to near outcomes in the wheel of fortune. Heart period and skin conductance were measured while participants with varying degrees of gambling problems played on the wheel of fortune. Near compared to full outcomes led to increased heart period duration shortly after the outcome. Furthermore, heart period reactions and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were modulated by gambling problems. Participants with high relative to low levels of gambling problems showed increased SCRs to near outcomes and similar heart period reactions to near outcomes and full wins. The fourth study analyzed choice behavior and sequence effects in the processing of outcomes in a coin toss paradigm using EEG in a group of problem gamblers and controls. Again, problem gamblers showed generally smaller FRN amplitudes compared to controls. There were no differences between groups in the processing of outcome sequences. The break of an outcome streak led to increased power in the theta frequency band. Furthermore, the P300 amplitude was increased after a sequence of previous wins. Finally, problem gamblers compared to controls showed a trend of switching the outcome symbol relative to the previous outcome symbol more often. In sum, the results point towards differences in the processing of near compared to full outcomes in brain areas and measures implicated in attentional and salience processes. The processing of outcome sequences involves processes of salience attribution and violation of expectations. Furthermore, problem gamblers seem to process near outcomes as more win-like compared to controls. The results and their implications for problem gambling as well as further possible lines of research are discussed.}, subject = {Spielsucht}, language = {en} } @article{KirschUllrichKunde2016, author = {Kirsch, Wladimir and Ullrich, Benjamin and Kunde, Wilfried}, title = {Are Effects of Action on Perception Real? Evidence from Transformed Movements}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {11}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {12}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0167993}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-178574}, year = {2016}, abstract = {It has been argued that several reported non-visual influences on perception cannot be truly perceptual. If they were, they should affect the perception of target objects and reference objects used to express perceptual judgments, and thus cancel each other out. This reasoning presumes that non-visual manipulations impact target objects and comparison objects equally. In the present study we show that equalizing a body-related manipulation between target objects and reference objects essentially abolishes the impact of that manipulation so as it should do when that manipulation actually altered perception. Moreover, the manipulation has an impact on judgements when applied to only the target object but not to the reference object, and that impact reverses when only applied to the reference object but not to the target object. A perceptual explanation predicts this reversal, whereas explanations in terms of post-perceptual response biases or demand effects do not. Altogether these results suggest that body-related influences on perception cannot as a whole be attributed to extra-perceptual factors.}, language = {en} } @article{WalzMuehlbergerPauli2016, author = {Walz, Nora and M{\"u}hlberger, Andreas and Pauli, Paul}, title = {A human open field test reveals thigmotaxis related to agoraphobic fear}, series = {Biological Psychiatry}, volume = {80}, journal = {Biological Psychiatry}, number = {5}, doi = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.12.016}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187607}, pages = {390-397}, year = {2016}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Thigmotaxis refers to a specific behavior of animals (i.e., to stay close to walls when exploring an open space). Such behavior can be assessed with the open field test (OFT), which is a well-established indicator of animal fear. The detection of similar open field behavior in humans may verify the translational validity of this paradigm. Enhanced thigmotaxis related to anxiety may suggest the relevance of such behavior for anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia. METHODS: A global positioning system was used to analyze the behavior of 16 patients with agoraphobia and 18 healthy individuals with a risk for agoraphobia (i.e., high anxiety sensitivity) during a human OFT and compare it with appropriate control groups (n = 16 and n = 19). We also tracked 17 patients with agoraphobia and 17 control participants during a city walk that involved walking through an open market square. RESULTS: Our human OFT triggered thigmotaxis in participants; patients with agoraphobia and participants with high anxiety sensitivity exhibited enhanced thigmotaxis. This behavior was evident in increased movement lengths along the wall of the natural open field and fewer entries into the center of the field despite normal movement speed and length. Furthermore, participants avoided passing through the market square during the city walk, indicating again that thigmotaxis is related to agoraphobia. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to our knowledge to verify the translational validity of the OFT and to reveal that thigmotaxis, an evolutionarily adaptive behavior shown by most species, is related to agoraphobia, a pathologic fear of open spaces, and anxiety sensitivity, a risk factor for agoraphobia.}, language = {en} }