Emotion induction techniques Geneva Emotion Research Group

One aim - several techniques Manipulate mood/affect/emotion Is there really only one aim? Several induction techniques No generally accepted classification A priori limitations Practical limitations Ethical limitations

Classification for this presentation Displaying material selected for its emotional impact photographs movie clips music excerpts Imagination techniques recall and "reactivate" past emotional experiences read emotional scenarios or emotionally loaded sentences and "get into" the corresponding mood (Velten technique)

Classification for this presentation Preset interactions - with a computer program or a confederate computer games Wizard-of-Oz experiments interaction with human confederate(s) Facial feedback paradigm Administration of drugs

Presentation of emotional stimuli Pictures International Affective Picture System (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1999) Snakes and spiders, angry faces (Öhman, 1986) Emotional faces (Ekman & Matsumoto) With or without instructions Subliminal presentation Physiological reactions and RTs

An illustration: IAPS Presentation of pictures Often with a secondary task (e.g. react to a superimposed symbol) Examples… Caution: Due to copyright issues, some examples/illustrations have been removed from this presentation

Int. Affective Picture System Pictures are rated on two (three) dimensions Valence: very unpleasant (1) - very pleasant (9) Arousal: not arousing (1) – very arousing (9) Dominance: (control, power)

Int. Affective Picture System N= 604 pictures Arousal Valence

Presentation of emotional stimuli Music & film excerpts Complex stimuli, target specific emotion categories Sounds Less complex stimuli, target pleasantness, unpleasantness

Presentation of emotional stimuli Effective to manipulate physiological reactions, RTs and self-reports For the more complex stimuli: Impact of demand characteristics Individual and cultural differences

Imagination techniques Free recall E.g. ‘Remember/Relive a situation where you felt anger‘ (Frijda, Kuipers, & ter Schure, 1989; Mauro, Sato, & Tucker, 1992) Guided imagination (listen to stories) uses “you“-form often read by an actor describes in detail, what a person should think/feel/do in a given situation Velten technique

Imagination techniques Widely used, high level, target specific emotion categories Influence physiological reactions, emotional expressions (?) Major limitation(s): Recalled (relived) versus "actual" emotions Facilitated acting ?

Preset interactions With human confederates - examples E.g. Stemmler, Heldmann, Pauls, & T. Scherer (2001) Fear induction: 1) Preparing and giving a speech (evaluated for verbal intelligence), 2) Announcement of blood sample drawing Anger induction: 1) Difficult knowledge tests, mental arithmetic tests and anagram tests. Participants had to reply loudly, “I don‘t know“, when they had no idea of a correct response. Experimenter interrupts frequently, says that he doesn‘t understand, gives negative feedback 2) Accusation of non-compliance: Angry experimenter told participants that their movements caused artefacts in physiological data.

Preset interactions With computers – examples X-quest (van Reekum et al. 2004) GAME (Wehrle, 1996) Also: Wizard-of-Oz type interactions (the participant may be told or not that a human person controls the machine)

Preset interactions – X-quest Experimentally manipulate appraisal on different dimensions to observe main and interaction effects on physiological responding, expressions and verbal report. Computer games in which the –intrinsic un/pleasantness –conduciveness/obstructiveness –control –power (coping potential) of events are manipulated in a factorial design.

Preset interactions – X-quest Pleasantness: Pleasant or unpleasant sounds marking event Conducive: Reach next level Obstructive: Loose ship Power: Rate of bullets Control: Wobbly cursor

Preset interactions – GAME The Geneva Appraisal Manipulation Environment (GAME; Wehrle 1996) is a tool for generating experimental computer games. The creation of the scenarios is based on theoretical predictions concerning emotion antecedent appraisal and emotion specific action tendencies as postulated by different componential appraisal theorists (Scherer, 1988; Frijda, 1986). Details: Kaiser, S. & Wehrle, T. (1996).

Preset interactions – GAME Example of a maze like game level created with GAME

Preset interactions – GAME Results obtained with this approach highlight several issues: Target emotion categories are often too broad (more than one type of anger) Individual differences (in appraisal) for the same situation lead to different emotional reports (and to different expressions)

Preset interactions Closest to daily reactions: Ecological validity high (?) Not very intense emotions Controlled/regulated expressions Large individual differences in emotional reactions (?)

Production of facial expressions E.g. Ekman, Levenson, & Friesen (1990) Participants are requested to perform particular facial expressions Highly technical instructions like “Raise your upper eyebrow“ without referring to emotional terms Idea: Performance of an action characteristic of an emotion (here: facial expression) is associated with a specific subjective feeling state and capable to elicit the latter one.

Administration of drugs Examples: Blocking of beta-adrenergic receptors to reduce fear (Tyrer, 1980) Administration of Amphetamine to induce fear

Open issues / problems Ecological validity of emotions induced in a laboratory Can we generalize the results to a non-laboratory context? Specificity of the emotion induction Do we induce only the target emotion? Recognition vs. experience of emotions Particulary problematic when using pictures or production of facial expressions as induction techniques Ethical constraints