Research suggests that optimising affect during exercise may be key to exercise adherence (Van Landuyt, Ekkekakis, Hall & Petruzzello, 2000; Williams et al. 2008; 2012). Recent advances in this area have explored factors that contribute to affective responses in adult populations (Ekkekakis, 2003), but whilst it has been hypothesised that these factors are the same for children and adolescents they have not been explored systematically in the same way. As such, one aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationships between affect and physical activity in child and adolescent populations. Following on from this, a further aim was to explore the factors that contribute to affective responses. Given the research that suggests positive affect experienced during exercise may result in enhanced adherence to physical activity (Williams et al. 2012), the final aim of this study was to determine how to elicit the most positive affective responses during an acute exercise session. This thesis comprises a review of relevant literature, and six study chapters which were the result of three empirical studies; two acute exercise studies and one questionnaire based study. The findings of Study 1 demonstrated that, as with adults, affective responses declined after the onset of ventilatory threshold in both children and adolescents, indicating that to achieve optimum affective responses, particularly with younger children, exercise needs to be prescribed at an intensity below the ventilatory threshold. The findings from studies 2 - 4 highlighted specific factors that contribute to affective responses, reporting that preference for, and tolerance of, different exercise intensities may be an important factor to consider when prescribing exercise (studies 2 & 4). Results also showed that affective associations with physical activity played a significant role in determining overall physical activity behaviour (study 3). The findings from studies 4 and 5a and b revealed that encouraging adolescents to self-select their own exercise intensity may elicit a more positive affective response during the exercise session compared to the affective responses elicited during a prescribed exercise session. This thesis provides substantial evidence to support the link between affect and physical activity in children and adolescents. More specifically, it highlights several important factors that should be considered when attempting to enhance affective responses during an acute exercise session.

In an industry plagued by high failure rates and exorbitant amounts spent on marketing, restaurants must find ways to increase the efficiency of their advertising. Present research demonstrates linkages between human senses and emotions and affective responses to marketing stimuli (e.g. Peck and Wiggins, 2006). However, there is presently a dearth of research addressing how advertising can creatively draw upon consumers' senses to elicit the desired responses by stakeholders (e.g. increased purchase intent). In response to this apparent gap in our inquiry, the purpose of this study is to explore how verbal smell references (e.g. "You can almost smell the smoky and delicious aroma of your steak grilling to perfection" stated in the ad) and congruent cooking sounds (e.g. sizzling sounds for a steakhouse) in radio food advertisements impact consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions. In addition, since current research indicates that olfactory perceptions can vary by gender (e.g. (Doty, Shaman, and Dann, 1983; Cane, 1982), this research tested for gender-based differences in these hypothesized relationships. Regarding procedures, a sequence of two pretests were used to establish the reliability and validity of the verbal smell reference used in this research. In addition to these manipulation checks on the verbal smell reference construct, the two pretests also verified that undergraduate students would have the ability to adequately relate to the experimental setting — steakhouses. Next, a 2x2x2 between-subjects experiment was conducted in which the verbal smell reference was manipulated, congruent cooking sounds were manipulated, and gender was measured. Results indicate that a verbal smell reference in a radio ad does significantly influence a potential consumer's ability to almost smell and to almost taste the advertised product. The smell reference also significantly impacts individuals' affective responses to the ad and purchase intent of the product. Interestingly, this research also found that the level of "excitement" associated with the advertised brand perfectly mediates the relationship between the verbal smell reference and affective responses. That is, the verbal smell reference leads consumers to assess the advertised brand as being exciting which, in turn, results in positive affective responses. This research did not detect any significant outcomes associated with the use of congruent cooking sounds in radio ads or any significant interactions between cooking sounds and verbal smell references with regard to the outcome variables. Further, gender was not found to significantly intervene in any of the hypothesized relationships. Nevertheless, the significant outcomes associated with the main effect of the verbal smell references on consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions, along with the mediation of the excitement construct, are associated with formidable theoretical and managerial implications which are discussed in the concluding chapter of this thesis. / Master of Science

In seminal work, Yarbus examined the characteristic scanpaths that result when viewing an image, observing that scanpaths varied significantly depending on the question posed to the observer. While early efforts examining this hypothesis were equivocal, it has since been established that aspects of an observer’s assigned task may be inferred from their gaze. In this thesis we examine two datasets that have not previously been considered involving prediction of task and observer sentiment respectively. The first of these involves predicting general tasks assigned to observers viewing images, and the other predicting subjective ratings recorded after viewing advertisements. The results present interesting observations on task groupings and affective dimensions of images, and the value of various measurements (gaze or image based) in making these predictions. Analysis also demonstrates the importance of how data is partitioned for predictive analysis, and the complementary nature of gaze specific and image derived features. / May 2016

Background: Gaining insight into factors related to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behavior may assist development of behavior change interventions targeting older adults. Purpose: To explore direct and indirect associations between older adults’ affective responses during MVPA and future MVPA behavior via self-efficacy beliefs and self-determined motivation. Methods: Data were collected from 82 older adults before, during, and after a walking bout; MVPA behavior was measured 1 month later via telephone. Results: Increases in tranquility during MVPA were indirectly correlated with future MVPA behavior via self-determined motivation (p < .05), but not self-efficacy beliefs (p > .05). Decreases in positive engagement and tranquility during MVPA were directly and positively linked with future MVPA behavior, whereas increases in revitalization during MVPA and self-determined motivation were directly and positively linked with future MVPA behavior (p < .05). Conclusions: Changes in older adults’ affective responses during MVPA may be important correlates of future MVPA behavior.

Recent research has indicated that the pupil diameter (PD) in humans varies with their affective states. However, this signal has not been fully investigated for affective sensing purposes in human-computer interaction systems. This may be due to the dominant separate effect of the pupillary light reflex (PLR), which shrinks the pupil when light intensity increases. In this dissertation, an adaptive interference canceller (AIC) system using the H∞ time-varying (HITV) adaptive algorithm was developed to minimize the impact of the PLR on the measured pupil diameter signal. The modified pupil diameter (MPD) signal, obtained from the AIC was expected to reflect primarily the pupillary affective responses (PAR) of the subject. Additional manipulations of the AIC output resulted in a processed MPD (PMPD) signal, from which a classification feature, PMPDmean, was extracted. This feature was used to train and test a support vector machine (SVM), for the identification of stress states in the subject from whom the pupil diameter signal was recorded, achieving an accuracy rate of 77.78%. The advantages of affective recognition through the PD signal were verified by comparatively investigating the classification of stress and relaxation states through features derived from the simultaneously recorded galvanic skin response (GSR) and blood volume pulse (BVP) signals, with and without the PD feature. The discriminating potential of each individual feature extracted from GSR, BVP and PD was studied by analysis of its receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The ROC curve found for the PMPDmean feature encompassed the largest area (0.8546) of all the single-feature ROCs investigated. The encouraging results seen in affective sensing based on pupil diameter monitoring were obtained in spite of intermittent illumination increases purposely introduced during the experiments. Therefore, these results confirmed the benefits of using the AIC implementation with the HITV adaptive algorithm to isolate the PAR and the potential of using PD monitoring to sense the evolving affective states of a computer user.

Optimal responsiveness to infant cues, an integral component of parental caregiving, is thought to be determined by multiple factors including maternal mood, previous experiences of caregiving, and infant characteristics. This thesis builds on previous work and details novel investigations of brain, affective, and attitudinal responses to infants/children. In the first two studies, we investigated the effects of maternal mood and parity (previous experiences of caregiving) on brain response to affectively positive infant pictures using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found that mothers with postpartum depression showed an elevated right amygdala response to infant pictures in comparison to mothers without PPD and depressed non- mothers. Further, functional connectivity between the bilateral amygdalae and the right insular cortex was negatively correlated with clinical symptoms (self-reported depression and anxiety). Therefore, as depression and anxiety symptoms increased amygdala to insular cortex connectivity decreases and vice versa. In the third study, we developed a novel data-driven infant cuteness (DDIcute) metric using the infant pictures presented in the first two studies. In line with ethological postulations on cuteness (infant characteristics), we found that infant pictures with a higher DDIcute score were associated with increased positive/approach-related affective responses and decreased negative/avoidant-related affective responses. In the fourth study, we investigated whether the sex differences in attitudes about children and childcare were moderated by pet ownership/care (previous experiences of caregiving). We found that pet ownership and care eliminated sex differences in attitudes about children and childcare. This effect was driven by males; compared to males with low levels of experience caring for pets, males with high levels of experience caring for pets had more positive attitudes about children and childcare. / Thesis / Doctor of Science (PhD) / The work presented in this thesis adds to literature on human caregiving. In different studies we investigated brain, emotional, and attitudinal responses to human babies and children in people with and without depression as well as in people with different levels of caregiving experience. In the first two studies, we measured brain response to smiling baby pictures in depressed and non-depressed mothers and non-mothers. The amygdala is a brain region that is involved in the neurobiology underlying both depression and maternal behaviour. We found that amygdala response was the highest among mothers with postpartum depression. We also found that the coupled activity of the left and right amygdalae and another brain region called the insula was altered in mothers with postpartum depression. In the third study, we measured facial features of the baby faces presented in the first two studies to develop a measure of cuteness. We also measured emotional responses to the baby faces. We found that cuter infants elicited more positive and less negative emotional responses. In the fourth study, we measured differences in attitudes about children and caregiving between men and women who did and did not own and care for pets—specifically dogs and/or cats. We found that compared to men who did not own and/or care for pets, men who had more experience caring for pets had more positive attitudes about children and childcare.

Introduktion: Fysisk aktivitet har stor betydelse för en god hälsa när vi åldras. Trots det är en stor andel av äldre personer stillasittande. Brist på tid och obehagliga upplevelser ses som hinder till träning. Högintensiv träning kan utföras på kort tid och kan ge större hälsofördelar än medelintensiv träning. Däremot har högintensiv träning upplevts för ansträngande och olämpligt för en stillasittande population. En negativ affektiv respons kan minska följsamheten i träningen vilket belyser vikten av att anpassa högintensiv träning för äldre. Forskning om upplevelser av en anpassad högintensiv träningsregim saknas i dagsläget. Syfte: Att beskriva upplevelser av supramaximala cykelintervaller, träningsmotivation och fortsatta träningsvanor hos informanterna, sex månader efter genomförd intervention.  Metod: I studien användes en kvalitativ induktiv ansats. Sex månader efter en träningsintervention genomfördes semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Tio av de intervjuerna har analyserats i denna studie, med deltagare som hade genomfört anpassade supramaximala intervaller på cykel två gånger per vecka under tolv veckor. Materialet analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen av intervjuerna resulterade i fem kategorier: Träningen fyllde en viktig plats i livet, Att uppleva kroppen genom träning, Gemenskap som ger drivkraft, Träningen som stärkande upplevelse, och Att förändra eller falla in i gamla vanor. Konklusion: Supramaximala anpassade intervaller i grupp är en träningsform som verkar passa äldre personer. Träningen har upplevts lättsam och tidseffektiv. Gruppen har varit viktig och bidragit med glädje och motivation i träningen. Trots ökad motivation till träning har många fallit tillbaka i gamla vanor efter träningsperioden. Individuellt motstånd möjliggör träning på rätt intensitet i en grupp med blandad träningsvana. Dessa insikter kan komma att bli viktiga för att implementera träningsformen.

Le rôle de l’attraction des éléments extérieurs du point de vente physique demeure une problématique complexe pour les commerçants. De plus, l’expérience en point de vente physique est en pleine évolution, due en partie à une présence accrue des nouvelles technologies. Cette thèse répond à la problématique suivante : comment la vitrine du point de vente influence-t-elle l’expérience de magasinage anticipée ? Nous nous focalisons sur l’influence de la technologie interactive et du niveau de représentation (construal level) en vitrine sur la perception de l’atmosphère, les réponses attentionnelles, les réponses affectives, la valeur de magasinage anticipée et les intentions comportementales. Nous testons les effets modérateurs de la motivation de magasinage et de la tendance exploratoire du consommateur. Nous adoptons une approche hypothético-déductive et nous procédons à deux expérimentations afin de répondre à notre problématique.Les résultats de la première expérimentation in situ (n=251) révèlent un effet stimulant et hédonique de l’utilisation de la technologie interactive en vitrine. La deuxième expérimentation, en laboratoire (n=144), a mobilisé une méthode d’eye-tracking pour collecter les données sur l’influence du niveau de représentation des éléments en vitrine. Les résultats montrent une influence significative du niveau de représentation sur l’atmosphère globale perçue et sur les intentions comportementales. Les résultats des cartes de chaleur montrent que la motivation de magasinage utilitaire renforce l’attention visuelle sur les produits en vitrine. Aucun effet modérateur de la tendance exploratoire n’a été détecté dans les deux expérimentations. / One of the relevant issues for retailers in this dissertation is the role of marketing mix elements outside the physical store in attracting customers. Another relevant issue is the evolution of the physical retailing experience which is partly due to the ever increasing presence of new retail technology. The aim of this dissertation is to answer the following question: how do store windows influence anticipated shopping experience? We focus on the influence of interactive technology and construal level in store windows on perceived global atmosphere, visual attention, affective response, anticipated shopping value and patronage intentions. Shopping motivation and exploratory buying behavior tendency were tested for moderating effects. Two experiments were conducted for this doctoral research. The results from the in situ field experiment (n=251) reveal a hedonic and arousing effect from usage of the interactive window display. The second experiment on store window construal level (n=144) was conducted using eyeLtracking equipment in a controlled laboratory setting. The results show a significant influence of store window construal level on perceived global atmosphere and on patronage intentions. The results from the heat map analysis show that utilitarian shopping motivation reinforces visual attention to products in the window display. No moderating effect was found in either study for exploratory buying behavior tendency.

L’activité physique (AP) induit des nombreux bénéfices sur la santé. Cependant, le niveau d’inactivité reste important : 42% des Français ne pratiquent aucune AP de loisir. Plusieurs facteurs déterminent l’engagement durable dans l’AP. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’évaluer certains des facteurs susceptibles d’améliorer cet engagement : modalité d’exercice, réponse affective à l’exercice, motivation pour l’AP, et d’optimiser les réponses physiologique et affective à l’exercice.L’oxydation des lipides joue un rôle important dans la prévention et le traitement de certaines pathologies cardio-métaboliques. Des travaux récents montrent l’intérêt potentiel d’un programme d’exercice intermittent intense (EII) sur la diminution de la masse grasse. Nous avons tenté d’optimiser l’oxydation lipidique survenant au cours d’un exercice combiné (COMB : 10-min d’EII + 35-min d’exercice d’intensité modérée continu, EIMC) comparé à une séance d’EIMC prolongé. Ce protocole original induit une oxydation lipidique plus importante (1,5 fois) dans la phase de 35-min d’EIMC au cours de COMB que celle obtenue au cours d’un EIMC prolongé isocalorique. Cette étude montre l’intérêt de l’EII pour augmenter le métabolisme lipidique.La modalité d’exercice ainsi que la réponse affective à l’exercice sont importants pour l’engagement durable dans l’AP. L’étape suivante de ce travail de thèse a consisté donc à évaluer la réponse affective aux différentes modalités d’exercice aigus (EIMC vs EII, avec pic d’intensité au début, au milieu et à la fin, avec ou sans soutien de l’autonomie) chez les individus en surpoids/obèses et chez la personne âgée. Ces populations ont été choisies car elles sont peu enclines à faire de l’AP régulière, alors qu’elle est importante pour eux. Les résultats de ces études montrent que la réponse affective diminue progressivement au cours de l’exercice dans toutes les conditions. Cependant, cette diminution est moins importante dans les conditions avec soutien de l’autonomie (chez la personne âgée et chez les sujets sains) indiquant l’importance de ce facteur. D’autre part, le moment auquel le pic d’intensité apparait détermine la réponse affective qui est plus négative quand la séance se termine avec l’exercice le plus intense.Après avoir évalué les effets de l’exercice aigu sur la réponse affective à l’exercice chez la personne en surpoids/obèse, nous nous sommes intéressés aux effets de l’entraînement sur la condition physique, les variables cardio-métaboliques, la réponse affective et la motivation. Ainsi, la dernière partie de travail de recherche a consisté alors à examiner les effets à court et long terme de l’entrainement (exercice intermittent intense sans : EII, et avec soutien de l’autonomie : EII+SA vs EIMC et groupe contrôle). Les résultats montrent qu’après les deux modalités d’entrainement intermittent intense la condition physique était améliorée après 24 séances. Ce type d’exercice influence positivement la composition corporelle. Cependant, les indicateurs de santé cardio-métabolique n’ont pas été modifiés. L’EII induit un moindre niveau de difficulté perçu de l’effort quand il est combiné avec un soutien de l’autonomie.Cette thèse montre que certaines modalités d’exercice (EII et/ou exercice qui se termine avec une intensité moins importante) ainsi que le soutien de l’autonomie favorisent une réponse affective positive qui pourrait influencer un engagement durable à l’AP. Ceci reste cependant à être démontré. / Regular physical activity (PA) induces many health benefits. However, the level of inactivity remains high: in France 42% of the population do not engage in any sport or leisure time PA. Many factors are responsible for the long-term involvement in PA. The main objective of this thesis was to evaluate some of those factors (exercise modality, affective response to exercise, PA motivation) and to optimize the physiological and affective responses to exercise.Lipid oxidation plays an important role in the prevention and in the treatment of metabolic diseases. Recent studies show the effectiveness of high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) on body fat. In this study we sought to optimize the lipid oxidation during a combined exercise (COMB: 10-min HIIE + 35-min prolonged moderate intensity continuous exercise, MICE). The results of this innovative study shows that fat oxidation can be increased (1.5 times) during 35-min MICE of COMB compared to the same period of a prolonged MICE if it’s performed after high intensity interval exercise (HIIE) vs an isocaloric MICE alone. This study shows the importance of HIIE to increase fat metabolism.The type of exercise, as well as affective response to exercise are important in order to increase regular PA participation. In the next part of this thesis, we assessed the affective response to different exercise modalities (MICE vs HIIE, peak of intensity at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of exercise, exercise with or without autonomy support) in overweight/obese subjects and in older adults. These populations were chosen because of their low PA participation level despite of its importance for health. The results show the decrease of affective response in each type of exercise. However, this decrease was lower in all autonomy supportive conditions (in older adults and in healthy subjects) showing the importance of this factor. In addition, the peak intensity time influenced the affective response: more negative feelings were observed when the session ended with the peak of intensity.After examining the effects of acute exercise sessions on affective response in overweight/obese subjects, we focused on the effects of exercise training on physical fitness, cardio metabolic health, affective response and motivation. Hence, in the last part of this thesis we examined the short and long-term effects of HIIE training vs MICE and control group. The main results showed the increase in physical fitness after two high intensity conditions. In addition, HIIE improved body composition. However, the cardio metabolic health variables remained unchanged after 24 sessions. In addition, HIIE induced a lower level of perceived exertion during exercise when it was combined with autonomy support.The results of this thesis show that some of exercise modalities (HIIE and/or exercise that ends with lower intensity) and autonomy support promote more positive affective response and can potentially influence the long term PA engagement. But the latter needs to be demonstrated.