Affect display

Abstract: J.P. Forgas, C.L. Wyland, S.M. Laham, Hearts and Minds: An Introduction to the Role of Affect in Social Cognition and Behavior. Part 1. Basic Approaches to Affect and Social Behavior. M.G. Haselton, T. Ketelaar, Irrational Emotions or Emotional Wisdom? The Evolutionary Psychology of Affect and Social Behavior. P. Winkielman, J.T. Cacioppo, A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Affective Influences on Social Cognition and Behavior. H. Bless, K. Fiedler, Mood and the Regulation of Information Processing and Behavior. C.A. Smith, B. David, L.D. Kirby, Emotion-Eliciting Appraisals of Social Situations. Part 2. Affect and Social Cognition. E. Eich, D. Macaulay, Cognitive and Clinical Perspectives on Mood-Dependent Memory. G.L. Clore, J. Storbeck, Affect as Information about Liking, Efficacy, and Importance. R.F. Baumeister, K.D. Vohs, D.M. Tice, Emotional Influences on Decision Making. D. Keltner, E.J. Horberg, C. Oveis, Emotions as Moral Intuitions. E.W. Dunn, S.M. Laham, Affective Forecasting: A User's Guide to Emotional Time Travel. Part 3. Affect and the Social Self. C. Sedikides, T. Wildschut, J. Arndt, C. Routledge, Affect and the Self. Y. Trope, E.R. Igou, C.T. Burke, Mood as Resource in Structuring Goal Pursuit. F.A. Huppert, Positive Emotions and Cognition: Developmental, Neuroscience, and Health Perspectives. R. Erber, S. Markunas, Managing Affective States. Part 4. Affect and Social Behavior. J.P. Forgas, Affective Influences on Interpersonal Behavior: Towards Understanding the Role of Affect in Everyday Interactions. J. Ciarrochi, J.T. Blackledge, Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Behavior: A Theory and Review of the Literature. J.R. Kelly, J.R. Spoor, Affective Influence in Groups. J.G. Holmes, D.B. Anthony, Affect and the Regulation of Interdependence in Personal Relationships.

Abstract: The affect-as-information framework posits that affect is embodied information about value and importance. The valence dimension of affect provides evaluative information about stimulus objects, which plays a role in judgment and decisionmaking. Affect can also provide evaluative information about one's own cognitions and response inclinations, information that guides thinking and reasoning. In particular, positive affect often promotes, and negative affect inhibits, accessible responses or dominant modes of thinking. Affect thus moderates many of the textbook phenomena in cognitive psychology. In the current review, we suggest additionally that the arousal dimension of affect amplifies reactions, leading to intensified evaluations, increased reliance on particular styles of learning, and enhanced long-term memory for events. We conclude that whereas valenced affective cues serve as information about value, the arousal dimension provides information about urgency or importance.

Abstract: The proposed model integrates two streams of research on affect by specifying how evaluative and regulatory mechanisms interact to guide behavior. Two experiments demonstrate that when no mood-changes are expected, the affective evaluation mechanism guides behavior, leading to a monotonic increase in behavioral intentions as affect conditions shift from negative to positive. When participants expect the behavioral activity to change their current affective states, a combination of affect regulation and affective evaluation produces a U shape pattern when a mood-lifting cue is present (experiment 1) and an inverted U shape pattern when a mood-threatening cue is present (experiment 2).

Abstract: Affective touch is a crucial element of early human development, social bonding, and emotional support. Technically and socially difficult to study, it has received little research attention. Our approach employs animal models instantiated by the Haptic Creature, a touch-centric social robot. In this paper, we examine how humans communicate emotional state through touch to the Haptic Creature and their expectations of its reactions. A user study is presented where participants selected and performed gestures they would likely use when conveying nine different emotions to the Haptic Creature. We report a touch dictionary compiled for our research; the gestures participants chose from it; and video analysis of their enactment. Our principal findings regard patterns of gesture use for emotional expression; physical properties of the likely gestures; expectations for the Haptic Creature’s response to mirror the emotion communicated; and analysis of the human’s higher intent in communication. From the latter finding, we present five tentative categories of “intent” that overlap emotion states: protective, comforting, restful, affectionate, and playful. These results can help inform the future design of social robots by illuminating details of one direction in affective touch interactions.