This dissertation explores Wittgenstein’s views on the mind-body problem. It is possible to provide an examination of Wittgenstein’s approach by tracing the evolution of the theory of mind and the mind-body problem, by considering the current ways of dealing with the mind-body problem, and Wittgenstein’s critique of the notion of the mind. Wittgenstein’s views on the nature of philosophy and the relationship between philosophy and psychology make it possible to understand and as this dissertation argues – see beyond – the conceptual confusion that has since arisen out of philosophic tradition that perpetuates a ‘myth of the mind’. Schools of thought such as the Cartesians and cognitivists have attempted, through the construction of various elaborate theories, to solve the ‘riddle’ of the mind and to address the so-called ‘mind-body problem’. Cognitive science, in particular, has used the tradition and the myth of the mind as a basis for its research. Wittgenstein shows that such thinking is particularly muddled. By examining Wittgenstein’s approach to the mind-body problem, it is argued here that theories based on the tradition of the ‘myth of the mind’ are inherently flawed. Wittgenstein uses his methods, consisting of his notions of ‘grammar’, ‘language games’ and the re-arrangement of concepts, to extrapolate meaning and to see through the conceptual confusions that the use of language causes and that give rise to the mind-body problem . / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The field of psychoneuroimmunology seeks to examine the impact of stress and other psychological processes on physical health. While some theories suggest that processes such as worry may have a significant impact on prolonging the physiological stress response and subsequently increasing risk for long-term health issues, to date, this research has not yet thoroughly examined the impact of worry on physical health processes. The current study sought to combine theories from clinical and health psychology to investigate the impact of experimentally-induced worry and relaxation on cortisol, heart rate variability (HRV), and inflammation. Participants (N = 85) were community members from the New York City area. They completed worry and relaxation inductions within the laboratory while HRV was collected continuously. Three blood samples were taken throughout the study to test for inflammation and cortisol. Results indicated changes in HRV, IL-6, and IFN-γ throughout the study conditions that were not moderated by levels of trait worry. HRV, cortisol, and inflammation did not covary throughout the different experimental conditions and changes in cortisol and/or HRV did not temporally precede changes in inflammation throughout the study. Overall, the findings from the current study offer insight into the contrasting impact that worry and relaxation have on physiological biomarkers and highlights important directions for future research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology.

Why do some people experience more emotional distress than others after spousal-death? And can we predict who will struggle more than others? While many will exhibit resilience in the wake of a bereavement, a small but notable portion ranging from 7-10% (Maciejewski, Maercker, Boelen & Prigerson, 2016; Nielsen et al., 2017) experience a prolonged period of elevated symptoms and distress (Bonanno et al. 2007; Prigerson et al., 2009). Although there is marked individual variation in the grief course, little is yet known about the mechanisms underlying grief that endures, and why some people will struggle more than others after experiencing the death of a spouse. Compelling findings have linked deficits in emotion regulation with the development of psychopathology (Buss, Davidson, Kalin, & Goldsmith, 2004; Gehricke, & Shapiro, 2000), and the study of one particular form of emotion regulation, contextually responsive emotional responding, may be particularly promising in predicting divergent individual differences in the grief course following the death of a spouse (Bonanno & Burton, 2013). Recent bereavement studies have provided preliminary evidence linking contextually responsive emotional expression to grief-related adjustment. However, these studies suffer from notable methodological limitations, such as the use of limited measures of emotional expression or cross-sectional design. The current study will use a longitudinal design to investigate whether individual differences in emotional expressions of happiness and contempt, across varied contexts, can predict long-term adjustment and psychopathology. In addition, we will employ a standardized facial coding system to investigate contextually unresponsive facial behaviors, which we operationalize as the mismatch between facial expression of emotion and four systematically varying idiographic contexts.

This thesis investigates the hypothesis that emotions play an influential role in cognition. Interference between facial emotional expression processing and selected tasks is measured using a variety of experimental methods. Prior to the main experimental chapters, the collection and assessment (Chapter 2, Exp. 1) of stimulus materials is described. Experiments 2-11 then concentrate on the likelihood of interference with other types of information from the face. Findings using a Garner design suggest that, although identity processing may be independent of expression variation, expression processing may be influenced by variation in identity (Exps. 2-4). Continued use of this design with sex (Exps. 6-7) and gaze direction (Exps. 9-10) information appears to support the (mutual) independence of these facial dimensions from expression. This is, however, in contrast to studies that indicate the modification of masculinity judgements by expression (Exp. 5), and the interaction of gaze direction and expression when participants rate how interesting they find a face (Exp. 8). Further to this, a search task (Exp. 11) shows that slower responses to an angry (cf. happy) face looking at us, may be due to the presence of an aversive mouth. Experiments 12-15 test for interference in the field of time perception: complex interactions between expression and encoder and decoder sex are indicated. Finally, Experiments 16-17 find that exposure to a sequence in which the majority of faces are angry depresses probability learning, and that prior exposure to varying quantities of angry and happy faces affects our later memory for them. Overall, there is evidence that exposure to emotional expressions may affect other (selected)c ognitive processesd ependingu pon which expressionsa re used and which experimental methods are chosen. It is suggested that future investigations would benefit from techniques that describe the temporal profile of an emotional response.

This dissertation explores Wittgenstein’s views on the mind-body problem. It is possible to provide an examination of Wittgenstein’s approach by tracing the evolution of the theory of mind and the mind-body problem, by considering the current ways of dealing with the mind-body problem, and Wittgenstein’s critique of the notion of the mind. Wittgenstein’s views on the nature of philosophy and the relationship between philosophy and psychology make it possible to understand and as this dissertation argues – see beyond – the conceptual confusion that has since arisen out of philosophic tradition that perpetuates a ‘myth of the mind’. Schools of thought such as the Cartesians and cognitivists have attempted, through the construction of various elaborate theories, to solve the ‘riddle’ of the mind and to address the so-called ‘mind-body problem’. Cognitive science, in particular, has used the tradition and the myth of the mind as a basis for its research. Wittgenstein shows that such thinking is particularly muddled. By examining Wittgenstein’s approach to the mind-body problem, it is argued here that theories based on the tradition of the ‘myth of the mind’ are inherently flawed. Wittgenstein uses his methods, consisting of his notions of ‘grammar’, ‘language games’ and the re-arrangement of concepts, to extrapolate meaning and to see through the conceptual confusions that the use of language causes and that give rise to the mind-body problem . / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The hippocampus has long been known to play a role in learning and memory as well as spatial navigation. However, studies over the past several decades have shown that the hippocampus is not just a cognitive structure, but is also involved in emotional behaviors, particularly through its ventral pole. Recent experiments, from our lab and others, have revealed that ventral CA1 neural activity is strongly modulated by anxiogenic environments. Furthermore, optogenetic manipulation of ventral CA1 cell bodies and projections modifies anxiety-like behavior in the open field and elevated plus maze. However, it is still unknown if ventral CA1 represents anxiogenic stimuli through a single cell or a population code. Additionally, whether ventral CA1 encodes the moment-to-moment behavioral state changes caused by anxiogenic stimuli is unresolved. I investigate these questions using in-vivo freely moving calcium imaging in combination with neural population decoding analysis and unsupervised behavioral segmentation. My results show that ventral CA1 encodes anxiogenic stimuli through a high dimensional, distributed population code that allows for the separation of aversive stimuli with different sensory properties. I also demonstrate that ventral CA1 represents behavioral states through a low dimensional, distributed population code that generalizes across distinct contexts. Thus, ventral CA1 possesses multiple population codes that represent different kinds of information.

Emotion has been shown to be lateralized in the brain. This study examines the individual differences influencing the patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in the perception of emotional words. This study explores how individuals’ level of depression and anxiety affects how they perceive emotional words varying in valence and arousal. Participants with a lower level of depression demonstrated more hemispheric asymmetry with a bias toward words presented to the left hemisphere, but participants with a higher level of depression had no hemispheric differences. Participants with a lower level of depression demonstrated a bias toward positive words, but participants with a higher level of depression had no difference in valence. Similarly, participants with a lower level of anxiety had a positivity bias, but participants with a higher level of anxiety had no difference in valence. These findings indicate similarities and differences in emotional perception in depression and anxiety and may represent some of the neurological underpinnings of these disorders. / Department of Psychological Science

The emotions associated with initiating, maintaining, and reinforcing hairpulling disorder (trichotillomania) were studied. Studies conducted have only looked at small community or inpatient samples, and little is known about the interplay of hairpulling subtypes and emotions. For this study, 427 participants completed an online questionnaire around their hairpulling subtype, severity, emotions experienced by hairpulling, and comorbid anxiety and depression. Using the Milwaukee Inventory for Subtypes of Trichotillomania-Adult Version (MIST-A; Flessner, Woods, Franklin, Cashin, & Keuthen, 2008), this is the first study to address the regulation of emotions across subtypes. Participants were divided as either high- or low-focused and either high- or low automatic. Significant differences between hairpulling subtypes and hairpulling severity were reported. Subtypes differed in the severity they experienced emotions; individuals with high-focused pulling reported more intense negative emotions, and a greater number of emotions regulated by pulling. Positive emotions⎯happiness, relief, and calm⎯were also found to play a significant role in reinforcing hairpulling. For high-focused subtypes, negative emotions before- and after-pulling were associated with greater severity, indicating that altering negative emotions via pulling plays an important role for high-focused subtypes. High-focused subtypes also reported higher stress, depression and anxiety than either automatic subtypes or the general population, and were found to have anxiety and depression significantly associated with hairpulling severity and experiencing negative emotions that initiated hairpulling. Clinical and treatment implications, study limitations, and areas of future research are discussed / xviii, 227 leaves ; 29 cm

M.A. / Leadership has been defined as the competencies and processes required to enable and empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the face of adversity. It is also the ability to constantly turn in superior performance to the benefit of oneself and the organisation (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Charlton, 1993; Kelly, 1986; Senge, 1991). This definition includes being skilled in emotional competencies. Emotional competence results in being attuned to those one is dealing with, as well as being self-aware. This study focusses on the emotional intelligence factors considered to be characteristic of effective leaders. The link between the management of emotions and leadership ability is gaining increasing interest in business. People who are unable to maintain a degree of control over their emotional life, fight inner battles that sabotage the ability for focussed work and clear thoughts (Goleman, 1995). Unclear thinking and a lack of focus may in turn, contribute to decreased productivity and an overall decline in organisational success. Emotionally intelligent leaders with the ability to think clearly whilst being in tune with self and others, would thus be required to lead an emotionally intelligent organisation (Cooper & Sawaf, 1997). Leaders may not necessarily occupy positions of authority in the organisation, yet even at lower organisational levels they lead others by example. Otto (1995) refers to such leaders as "little leaders". It is the purpose of this study, to identify specific emotional competencies that may be characteristic of successful "little leaders". The question to be addressed, is: Is their a statistically significant difference in factors of emotional intelligence, between a group of identified "little leaders" and a group of nonleaders at the same level in an organisational context? A leadership questionnaire (The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), (Bass & Avolio, 1990b)) consisting of 45 items was administered to managers of a large financial institution. They were asked to rate their subordinates using this scale as it identifies the presence of transformational and transactional leadership behaviour (Bass, 1985). Only the transformational leadership scores were used to identify two groups. Based on the transformational leadership scores of the MLQ, rated employees were grouped into leader and non-leader groups. Of the 220 (N=220) rating forms returned, 31 subjects fell into the leader group and 31 fell into the non-leader group based on the cutoff scores provided by the authors of the questionnaire. The middle ratings were not utilised for the present study. No participant in the study was made aware of the grouping procedure. The employee group was all English speaking, with a minimum educational level of matric. They occupied similar positions within the hierarchy and were all of non-managerial status. All 220 employees were asked to complete the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) inorder to ensure privacy regarding the group ratings (Bar-On, 1996a). The EQ-i assesses 15 factors said to be important indicators of emotional intelligence. These include; problem solving ability, social responsibility, happiness, independence, stress tolerance, self-actualisation, assertiveness, reality testing, interpersonal relationship, self regard, impulse control, flexibility, self awareness, empathy and optimism. Two additional factors, namely, positive and negative impression provide assistance in score validation. Comparative statistics (Wilks' coefficient lambda and Students t-test) were used to analyse the data. A stepwise discriminant analysis was also conducted. A comparison of EQ-i scores between the leader group and the non-leader group indicates that the factors of optimism and self-actualisation are significantly higher for the leader group than for the non-leader group. The non-leader group had significantly higher scores on the positive impression scale, indicating a possible skewing of results for that group. A total of four variables was extracted following the stepwise discriminant analysis namely, positive impression, self-actualisation, self-regard and optimism. Generally, the research data appear to support the fundamental postulates of transformational leadership theory. Transformational leaders are able to raise awareness in both self and others regarding issues of consequence (Bass, 1997). This heightening of awareness requires a leader with vision, self-confidence, and inner strength to argue successfully for what he or she sees as right or good (Bass, 1997; Charlton, 1993; Senge, 1991). The factors of self-actualisation and optimism indicate an awareness of self and an ability to influence others (Seligman, 1990). The research findings indicate that the application of emotional intelligence theory to leadership identification may assist those in the fields of recruitment, selection and training and development. Future empirical research within the same empirical framework as this investigation, may benefit from greater standardisation and broader application of the assessment instrument used, the use of larger experimental populations and a possible replication of the findings of the present investigation. A comprehensive exploration of the interaction of Emotional Intelligence factors and the contribution of other possible factors to emotional intelligence in leadership may also contribute to the accuracy of future identification of potential leaders.

Research examining social influences on pain has largely neglected the impact of friends, while studies on the social context of emotional display have demonstrated differences in expressivity in the presence of friends versus strangers. Given that pain is a universal phenomenon with both affective and sensory components, it appeared important to merge and extend research in both pain and emotions domains by examining the role of friends as determinants of pain experience and expression. An experimental investigation was undertaken to examine the impact of friendship, as a feature of audience effects and social modeling, on pain expression, as well as to examine the impact of menstrual factors that have been hypothesized to contribute to young women's current pain experience. Participants were female undergraduate students from the University of British Columbia. They were randomly assigned to undergo the cold pressor task with either a friend or a stranger, resulting in 52 pairs of friends and 52 pairs of strangers. Half of the participants had been exposed to the friend or stranger undertaking the task in advance of their own exposure to the cold pressor, so as to examine social modeling phenomenon. Measures of pain expression included self-rated pain intensity and unpleasantness, behavioural tolerance time, and facial pain activity. Robust social modeling effects were observed in all measures of pain, with the bulk of the modeling effect being expression modality-specific. A differential social modeling effect of friends vs. strangers was observed only in pain facial activity. Women's dysmenorrhea status and its severity, when evident, were unrelated to current pain expression. The presence of friends significantly facilitated expression of disgust but no significant group differences were observed for other emotions. Results are discussed from social communication model of pain and evolutionary perspectives and highlight individuals' apparent innate propensity to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with social communication. Future research is needed to elucidate factors that influence the transmission and reception of social information. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate