Biomedical subjects

Daniel Västfjäll

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Västfjäll.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Preference for negative emotions.

This research demonstrates that preference for emotions sometimes cannot be equated with a positive-negative valence dimension. Participants were asked to make choices between pairs of affect-inducing options opposite in valence but equal in activation. The results showed that in absence of contextual cues or situational constraints, choices followed a pleasure-maximizing principle. However, when information was provided about a context cueing appropriateness of certain emotions over others, a preference reversal was observed so that negative emotions were preferred over positive emotions. These results are discussed in relation to current theories of pleasure-maximizing choice and behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Numeracy and decision making.

A series of four studies explored how the ability to comprehend and transform probability numbers relates to performance on judgment and decision tasks. On the surface, the tasks in the four studies appear to be widely different; at a conceptual level, however, they all involve processing numbers and the potential to show an influence of affect. Findings were consistent with highly numerate individuals being more likely to retrieve and use appropriate numerical principles, thus making themselves less susceptible to framing effects, compared with less numerate individuals. In addition, the highly numerate tended to draw different (generally stronger or more precise) affective meaning from numbers and numerical comparisons, and their affective responses were more precise. Although generally helpful, this tendency may sometimes lead to worse decisions. The less numerate were influenced more by competing, irrelevant affective considerations. Analyses showed that the effect of numeracy was not due to general intelligence. Numerical ability appears to matter to judgments and decisions in important ways.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Preference for current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, and experienced emotional reaction.

Two experiments investigated how preference for emotions is related to valence and activation of current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, and experienced emotional reaction. In Experiment 1, 40 undergraduates on one occasion rated valence and activation of and preference for their emotional reaction to an aircraft noise, then on a later occasion rated valence and activation of and preference for their recalled or anticipated emotional reaction to the same aircraft noise. On both occasions they also rated valence and activation of current mood. In Experiment 2, another 40 undergraduates rated valence and activation of current mood followed by ratings of preference for and valence and activation of anticipated emotional reaction to descriptions of familiar emotion-eliciting situations. The results showed that preference is related to valence and activation of current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, or experienced emotional reaction. The valence of current mood was also found to influence preference for anticipated and experienced emotions.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The subjective sense of presence, emotion recognition, and experienced emotions in auditory virtual environments.

Realistic aural rendering of events in mediated environments is becoming an increasingly important aspect in many multi-modal applications. In a between-group experiment with 45 participants, it was studied how ratings of presence (a sense of being in the mediated environment), emotional reactions to the auditory environment, and emotion recognition vary as a function of number of audio channels (mono, stereo, and six-channel reproduction). The results showed that stereo and six-channel reproduction resulted in significantly stronger changes in emotional reactions than the mono condition. Further, six-channel reproduction received the highest ratings of presence and emotional realism. Taken together, the result suggested that both emotional reactions and ratings of presence increase with spatialized sound. Further, emotional reactions and presence were highly correlated. The results are discussed in relation to theories of mediated presence and emotional reactions in an attempt to further delineate the concept of presence.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The dimensionality of anticipated affective reactions to risky and certain decision outcomes.

In three experiments, anticipated affective reactions to risky and certain decision outcomes were investigated. It was shown that the two affect dimensions, valence and activation, describe anticipated affective reactions. When combined in a nonlinear dimension ranging from elation to disappointment, the results were found to replicate previous research showing that anticipated affective reactions are influenced by both sign (loss or gain), magnitude, and probability of outcomes. Preference for the anticipated affective reactions was furthermore related to both affect dimensions.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Emotion and auditory virtual environments: affect-based judgments of music reproduced with virtual reverberation times.

Emotions are experienced both in real and virtual environments (VEs). Most research to date have focused on the content that causes emotional reactions, but noncontent features of a VE (such as the realism and quality of object rendering) may also influence emotional reactions to the mediated object. The present research studied how noncontent features (different reverberation times) of an auditory VE influenced 76 participants' ratings of emotional reactions and expressed emotional qualities of the sounds. The results showed that the two emotion dimensions of pleasantness and arousal were systematically affected if the same musical piece was rendered with different reverberation times. Overall, it was found that high reverberation time was perceived as most unpleasant. Taken together, the results suggested that noncontent features of a VE influence emotional reactions to mediated objects. Moreover, the study suggests that emotional reactions may be a important aspect of the VE experience that can help complementing standard presence questionnaires and quality evaluations.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The measurement of core affect: a Swedish self-report measure derived from the affect circumplex.

Three studies were conducted with the aim of developing a new Swedish self-report measure of core affect (the Swedish Core Affect Scale or SCAS). In Study 1,122 participants rated their current mood on 24 unipolar adjective scales. A revised set of 12 bipolar adjective scales was evaluated in Study 2 employing 96 participants who rated their current mood before and after a mood-inducing naturally occurring event. A slightly revised set of adjective scales was used in Study 3, in which another 96 participants rated several induced moods. The results showed that the adjective scale ratings could be aggregated as reliable measures of the independent valence and activation dimensions proposed in the affect circumplex, and that the aggregated measures discriminated mood differences within and between individuals.

Adolescent↗