This study investigated the electromyogram eyeblink startle response in relationship to individual differences in dimensions of attention and arousability as assessed by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (Broadbent, Cooper, Fitzgerald & Parkes, 1982) and the Arousal Predisposition Scale (Coren, 1990). Individuals (n=48) fulfilling the cutoff criteria of the questionnaires compiled three groups: High Arousal/High Cognitive Failures, High Arousal/Low Cognitive Failures and Low Arousal/Low Cognitive Failures. The eyeblink startle response was examined in two conditions, one in which participants were instructed to attend to loud, startling acoustic stimuli and a second in which they were instructed to ignore the startling stimuli by mentally counting backwards by threes. It was hypothesized that groups would differ from each other in both amplitude and latency of their startle response. More specifically, if top-down controlled attentional processes mediated the startle response under such conditions, it was expected that those with less distractibility would exhibit less startle during the ignore task than those who were more distractible. If arousal level mediated the startle response, it was expected that those with high arousability would exhibit increased overall startle response. If the ignore condition was more arousing, it was expected that those with high arousability would exhibit more startle during the ignore condition than those with low arousability. It was expected that the startle response between men and women would differ significantly. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that those participants reporting high distractibility would demonstrate a larger Stroop Effect than those reporting low distractibility. Results indicated that for mean startle response amplitude there was a significant Attention Group X Condition interaction but not an Arousal Group X Condition interaction. Post hoc tests did not reveal one condition to be greater in mean amplitude than another. When including sex as a factor, for mean onset latency there was a significant Attention X Gender interaction and a significant Arousal X Gender interaction. High arousal and high distractible men also showed significantly more significantly more startling than low distractible men and low distractible women. There were no significant differences of the Stroop Effect found between high and low distractible participants. Taken together, it appears that controlled top-down processing can influence the startle response when manipulations of the direction of attention are given. It also appears that men are more extreme in their responsivity than women. Implications for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

Economic preferences are fundamental to risky decision making and other economic decision- making. Unlike traditional economics, which routinely assumes that individuals are endowed with stable preferences and try to maximize the expected utility when facing risky decision-making problems, behavioral economics and neuroeconomics offer research strategies that help us explore the factors that influence economic preferences and risky decision-making process. This dissertation consists of three essays studying the underlying experiential influences on economic preferences and neurobiological effects on risky decision making. Chapter 2 examines whether experiences during adolescence have a long-term effect on economic preferences. Between 1966 and 1976, China's Sent-Down Movement required seventeen million urban teenagers to spend several years living and working in rural areas. The program had a number of goals for participants, including learning empathy for rural laborers and developing collectivist values. The sent-down movement can be regarded as a natural experiment, which allows us to investigate whether this government policy was successful in effecting a lasting change to economic preferences. Using a modified Global Preference Survey and employing a regression discontinuity design, we find that the experience of being Sent-Down significantly changed participants' risk preferences, other-regarding preferences, and attitudes toward government. Chapter 3 explores how the arousal system modulates attention and investment behavior. Experimental research shows that human decision making is shaped by emotions associated with an outcome's success or failure. Regret, for example, is a powerful predictor of future investment decisions in asset markets. Using a fictive learning model to capture regret, we examine changes in pupil diameter of participants performing a sequential investing task. By manipulating task uncertainty, we show that pupil dilation is positively correlated with both asset price variance and regret. In addition, pupil linked arousal is positively associated with the learning rate. We conclude that the pupil–linked arousal system helps regulate investment behavior in a dynamic market environment. Chapter 4 explores the complex process by which people make risky choices. While traditional models, like expected utility theory, model choice as the selection of the outcome with the highest probability-weighted value, research shows that in some environments these models do a poor job of describing behavior. This study explores the role of attention, pupil-linked arousal, and salience in risky choice. First, we replicate earlier findings that those choices are consistent with expected utility theory when the calculation is easy, however, as the calculation becomes harder, they make decisions by comparing unweighted payoffs and are attend to the salient option. Further, we find that pupil-linked arousal is associated with the level of cognitive effort needed to calculate expected utility. Finally, we show that arousal reflects cognitive effort associated with resisted selecting a more salient option. / Doctor of Philosophy / Economic decisions are those involving trade-offs where an individual must give up one item or possibility to get another. Economic preferences define which outcome an individual will value more, and helps explain why, for example, some people invest their money in high-risk and high- yield bonds while others keep their money in their savings account. Economists and other social scientists are interested in the differences between individuals' economic preferences, how they are formed, and how they translate into peoples' decisions. Risky decision making is one common type of economic decision that people make daily, for example, investing in the stock market, gambling in casinos, buying lottery tickets or trying a new restaurant. We know that when two people make different decisions that sometimes it is because they have different preferences, and sometimes it is because they go about making decisions in different ways. This dissertation explores whether people's early experiences have a long-term impact on economic preferences (Chapter 2), and investigate the roles that attention, emotional arousal, and information salience play in risky decision making (Chapters 3 4) using research methods from behavioral economics, experimental economics, and neuroeconomics. The scientific mission of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of how and why people make choices. We add to the evidence that economic preferences are not inborn and stable; instead, they are shaped by people's experiences. We also explore risky choices like investing money and find that while people often try to minimize regret, our emotional arousal system significantly affects our attention patterns and behavior. In addition, when faced with decisions requiring calculations that are hard to do in your head, people make different decisions than when the calculations are easy. Overall, we paint a picture of human decision-makers whose past experiences and current options determine both the nature of their choices and how they make them.

Much research has examined how rate affects visual preferences in human infants and auditory preferences in avian infants. In the visual domain, it seems that human infants prefer stimuli (e.g., flashing displays) presented at faster relative rates. Research using avian species has shown that ducklings, for example, prefer their species- specific maternal call only when it is presented at values close to the species-typical mean. These studies have shown that experience affects ducklings'­ preferences for rate in auditory events. Researchers in the areas of human infant preferences for visual rate and avian infant preferences for auditory rate have suggested that an effective window of frequencies exists for which infants show maximal attention. Unlike these two areas, little research has addressed how rate affects human infants' preferences for auditory events. A study by Cooper and Cooper (1997) was the first to find that infants attend to rates of speaking infant directed (ID) speech. Specifically, infants preferred ID speech at its normal rate to ID speech at a faster rate. The present study was intended to further investigate how rate of speaking affected infants' preferences for ID speech. More specifically, this study sought to determine whether a window of effective rates also exists for infant preferences for rate in ID speech. Using an infant-controlled preference procedure, 20 six- to eight-week old infants were presented with ID-normal speech (ID speech as its normal rate) and ID- slow speech (ID speech slowed to half the normal rate). It was found that infants looked longer to a visual display when it was paired with ID-slow speech than when it was paired with ID-normal speech. How these results relate to research and theory on visual rate preferences in human infants and auditory rate in avian species is discussed, as well as future directions for this line of research. / Master of Science

La capacité de ressentir et de réguler les émotions permettant de fournir un comportement émotionnel adapté implique l'intervention et l'interaction du système nerveux central (SNC) (dont amygdale, cortex préfrontal (CPF)) et du système nerveux autonome (SNA). Cependant, les réponses émotionnelles peuvent être influencées par différents facteurs puisque la réponse émotionnelle va dépendre de l'état du sujet, mais également de l'action du sujet, c'est-à-dire de l'intention consciente et volontaire de réguler ses émotions. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif d'étudier les mécanismes physiologiques et cérébraux impliqués dans la variabilité de la réponse émotionnelle en utilisant cinq modèles susceptibles d'influencer la réponse émotionnelle : une tâche de contrôle émotionnel, l'état de stress post traumatique (ESPT), le neuroticisme, la résilience, et l'état de stress aigu. Pour répondre à ces objectifs, nous avons sélectionné trois populations de sujets, une population de sujets témoins, une population de patients atteints d'ESPT, et une population de Marins-Pompiers. Nous avons étudié les réponses du SNA et du SNC en IRMf, en se focalisant sur l'activité de l'amygdale et du CPF dans des tâches nature émotionnelle. Nos résultats indiquent que la régulation émotionnelle volontaire a des effets spécifiques sur les paramètres psychophysiologiques, qui diffèrent selon l'émotion présentée. On observe plus précisément une augmentation de l'activité du système nerveux sympathique uniquement lorsque l'émotion de peur est induite. / The ability to sense and regulate emotions allows us to have an adapted emotional behavior towards our environment. It is regulated by an interaction of the central nervous system (CNS), including the amygdala and prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Yet, our emotional responses can be influenced by a myriad of other factors. They depend for instance on ones' subjective state, and also voluntary conscious intention to control one's emotions. The aim of this thesis is thus to study peripheral and cerebral mechanisms involved in the variability of the emotional response. To do so, we have used five different models susceptibly influencing emotional response: a first model assaying healthy controls in an emotional control task, a second one accounting for their resilience capacity, a third one focused on the impact of neuroticism, a fourth one with acutely stress participants and a last one with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. To better address our objective, we have selected three groups of participants: healthy controls, PTSD patients and fire fighters. We explored responses of the the ANS and the CNS activities using fMRI-based paradigms, specifically tackling the activation of the amygdala and PFC; using an emotional tasks. As hypothesized, our results have shown that voluntary emotional regulation in healthy controls modulates physiological parameters in an emotion-specific manner. For instance the sympathetic system is only activated under those circumstance when processing fearful clips.

Emotionale Bedeutung erleichtert die Verarbeitung geschriebener Sprache. Dies zeigt sich sowohl in Verhaltensmaßen als auch in ereigniskorrelierten Potenzialen (EKPs) und resultiert vermutlich aus automatischer Aufmerksamkeitszuweisung auf Grund der hohen intrinsischen Relevanz von emotionalen Reizen. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Mechanismen von Emotionseffekten in geschriebener Sprache, insbesondere den Zeitverlauf der Emotionseffekte, die Beteiligung des peripheren Nervensystems, sowie die Rolle der Emotionsdimensionen Valenz und Erregung. Emotionseffekte in EKPs beginnen mit einer Latenz von 100 ms nach Stimulusonset. Dies deutet auf die Existenz eines schnellen und automatischen Erkennungssystems für emotionale Wörter hin. Zeitverlauf und Verteilung der Emotionseffekte weisen große Ähnlichkeit zu Befunden für emotionale Bilder auf und lassen auf ein domänenübergreifenden System zur Emotionserkennung schließen. Übereinstimmend mit dieser Annahme zeigen sich weitere Ähnlichkeiten in der Verarbeitung emotionaler Wörter und Bilder in einer Studie, die die Interaktion von stimulusbasierter Aufmerksamkeit und Emotion in der Wortverarbeitung untersuchte. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie legen auf Grund des arbiträren Charakters von Schriftsprache den Schluss nahe, dass der Verarbeitungsvorteil für emotionale Reize zu einem geringeren Anteil als bisher vermutet auf biologischer Relevanz beruht. Neben diesen Ähnlichkeiten zeigt sich ein domänenspezifischen Unterschied in der Emotionsverarbeitung. Während die Darbietung emotionaler Bilder oft mit erhöhter Aktivierung des autonomen Nervensystems einhergeht, zeigen Befunde zur Pupillenaktivität, dass die Verarbeitung emotionaler Wörter nicht zwangsläufig zu autonomer Aktivierung führen muss; stattdessen scheint der Verarbeitungsvorteil für emotionale Wörter darauf zu beruhen, dass weniger kognitive Ressourcen für deren Verarbeitung notwendig sind. / Emotional meaning impacts the processing of written words, leading to facilitated processing that is visible not only in behavioral parameters, but also in event-related potentials (ERPs). It has been suggested that this processing benefit occurs because emotional stimuli involuntarily attract attention, possibly based on their higher intrinsic relevance. The present work investigates the conditions of emotion effects in word recognition, focusing on the time course of emotional processing, on the involvement of autonomic activation, and on contributions of emotional dimensions valence and arousal. In ERPs, emotion effects were evident from approximately 100 ms after stimulus onset, providing evidence for a fast and automatic detection and facilitation of emotional words. The time course and topography of emotion effects is in parallel to findings for affective pictures and suggests the existence of a common system for the extraction of emotional content across stimulus domains. In line with these findings, interactions of stimulus-triggered attention and emotion during word recognition are highly similar to interactions in picture processing. Due to the symbolic nature of words, this finding implies that emotion detection is less dependent on biological relevance than previously assumed. Apart from these analogies, the present results revealed a difference in emotional processing across stimulus domains. While affective pictures have frequently been reported to elicit augmented activity in the autonomic nervous system, evidence from pupillary responses indicates that emotional words do not mandatorily trigger autonomic activation. Instead, the processing advantage visible in behavioral measures seems to result from cognitive facilitation of emotional words.

Previous research suggests that the optimal time of day (TOD) for cognitive function for young adults occurs in the afternoon and evening times (Allen, et al. 2008; May, et al. 1993). The implication is college students may be more successful if they schedule classes and tests in the afternoon and evening times, but in asynchronous learning environments, “class” and tests take place at any TOD (or night) a student might choose. The problem is that there may be a disadvantage for students choosing to take tests at certain TOD. As educators, we need to be aware of potential barriers to student success and be prepared to offer guidance to students. This research study found a significant negative correlation between TOD and assessment scores on tests taken between 16:01 and 22:00 hours as measured in military time. While this study shows that academic performance on asynchronous assessments was high at 16:00 hours, student performance diminished significantly by 22:00 hours. When efforts were taken to mitigate the extraneous variables related to test complexity and individual academic achievement, the effect TOD had on assessment achievement during this time period was comparable to the effect of test complexity on that achievement. However, when analyzed using a small sub-set of the data neither GPA nor TOD could be used to predict student scores on tests taken between 16:01 and 22:00 hours. Finally, individual circadian arousal types (evening, morning and neutral) (Horne & Ostberg, 1976) and actual TOD students took tests were analyzed to determine if synchrony, the match between circadian arousal type and peak cognitive performance, existed. The synchrony effect could not be confirmed among morning type students taking this asynchronous online course, but evidence suggests that synchrony could have contributed to student success for evening types taking this asynchronous online courses. The implication of this study is that online instructors, instructional designers and students should consider TOD as a factor affecting achievement in asynchronous online courses. Results of this research are intended to propose further research into TOD effects in asynchronous online settings, and to offer guidance to online students as well as online instructors and instructional designers faced with setting deadlines and advising students on how to be successful when learning online.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka lagidrottares uppfattning av tränarens uppgiftsinvolvering och dess effekt på upplevd lagsammanhållning och idrottsprestation utifrån kön och tävlingsnivå. Kopplingar gjordes till Need Achievement Theory, Achievement Goal Theory och Multidimensional Model of Leadership. Deltagare bestod av totalt N=220 manliga och kvinnliga lagidrottare från allsvenskan till U17. Frågeformulären bestod av CSAI-2, PeerMCYSQ och LSS. Resultaten visar att elitpresterande män har mer konkurrens inom lag och uppfattar tränaren som mer demokratisk än elitpresterande kvinnor. Elitpresterande kvinnor har mer förbättring inom lag. Amatörpresterande män har mindre konkurrens och uppfattar tränaren som mindre uppgiftsinvolverad. Slutsatsen är att lagidrottares olika uppfattning av tränares beteende kan bero på idrottares ansträngning, relationer och autonomi. Resultaten diskuteras i relation till tidigare studier och teori. Förslag på implikationer och framtida studie ges. / The purpose of this study was to investigate team sport athletes perception of the coachs’ task involvement and its’ effect on perceived team cohesion and athletic performance by gender and competition level. Connections were made to Need Achievement Theory, Achievement Goal Theory, and Multidimensional Model of Leadership. Participants consisted of a total of N=220 male and female team sport athletes from allsvenskan to U17. The questionnaires consisted of CSAI-2, PeerMCYSQ and LSS. The results shows that elite performing men have more competition within the team and perceive the coach as more democratic than elite performing women. Elite performing women have more improvement within the team. Amateur performing men have less competition and perceive the coach as less task involved. The conclusion is that team sport athletes varied perception of coaches behavior can depend on athletes effort, relations and autonomy. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies and theory. Suggestions on implications and future study is given.

Narratives in the forms of music or literature have traditionally been highlightedfor their ability to evoke empathy; however, the specific features of the narrativethat serve as the underlying mechanisms responsible for this effect remain unclear.The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of a narrative’s style onempathy. An experimental repeated measures research design was used with 41participants (31 female, 10 male; age range 20-63 yrs, M=30.2 yrs) that underwentthree conditions each comprised of a different stimulus (i.e., a song, a piece ofprose and a poem), with the same narrative content but differing in style. The orderof the stimuli was randomized across participants. After each stimulus, empatheticresponses were captured via self reports, measuring valence and arousal of theparticipant, as well as their perceived valence and arousal of the main character ofthe narrative. The song had a strong correlation between participant-rating andcharacter-rating on valence and arousal, thus evoking a stronger (affective)empathetic response than the other two styles of stimuli, having moderatecorrelations. The character-rating barely differed between the style of stimuli, andthe narrative first presented lowered the participants’ valence regardless of style.These findings could possibly be explained by cognitive empathy responding to thenarrative, evoking the same understanding of another person, whereas affectiveempathy seem more prone to respond to stylistic features. Future research andpossible therapeutic implications are discussed. / Narrativ i form av musik och litteratur är kända för att kunna framkalla empati hos mottagaren; däremot är det fortfarande oklart vilka specifika aspekter av ett narrativ som ligger bakom denna effekt. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka effekten av narrativ stil på empati. En experimentell studie med inomgruppsdesign användes med 41 deltagare (31 kvinnor, 10 män, åldersintervall 20-63 år, M = 30.2 år) vilka exponerades för tre olika stimuli; en sång, en prosatext och en dikt. Varje stimuli hade samma narrativa innehåll men skilde sig åt beträffande narrativ stil. Presentationsordningen för stimulina randomiserades för deltagarna. Efter varje stimuli mättes empatisk reaktion via självskattningar av valens och arousal hos deltagarna, liksom hur de skattade valens och arousal för berättelsens huvudkaraktär. Sången visade en stark korrelation mellan deltagarnas självskattningar och skattningar av huvudkaraktären på både valens och arousal, vilket innebär att sången skapade ett starkare (affektivt) empatiskt gensvar än övriga två stimuli, vilka hade måttliga korrelationer. Skattningar av huvudkaraktärens valens och arousal påverkades ytterst lite av narrativ stil. Presentationsordningen påverkade deltagarnas skattningar då första stimulit sänkte deltagarnas valens oavsett narrativ stil. Dessa resultat kan eventuellt förklaras genom att kognitiv empati svarar på narrativets innehåll, att oavsett narrativ stil framkallas samma förståelse för en annan person, medan affektiv empati verkar påverkas utav den narrativa stilen. Framtida forskning och terapeutiska implikationer diskuteras.

Both physiological and emotional arousal can increase romantic attraction towards a desirable potential partner. Such attraction reflects relationship-initiation motivation, a connection motivation directed at a new partner, because attraction increases the drive to pursue a social interaction or relationship with another person. Therefore, arousal appears to influence the need to belong, the inherent motivation for positive social interactions. A large body of research also reveals that self-esteem influences people’s pursuit of belongingness, especially during relationship initiation. Yet the literature linking arousal and attraction and the research linking self-esteem and attraction have never been connected. The present research shows that self-esteem moderates how arousal influences relationship-initiation motivation. To examine the moderating effect of self-esteem on the relation between arousal and relationship-initiation motivation, I conducted three studies. Study 1 involved manipulating women’s physiological arousal in an anticipated social interaction. Results showed that arousal directly increased relationship-initiation motivation for higher self-esteem individuals (HSEs) but not lower self-esteem individuals (LSEs). Study 2 replicated Study 1 with men, showing that arousal increased relationship-initiation motivation for HSEs but not LSEs, but in this case, the effect wholly depended on men applying a positive emotional label to their arousal. Study 3 involved manipulating both men’s and women’s arousal in an imagined social interaction. For women, arousal directly decreased HSEs’ but increased LSEs’ relationship-initiation motivation, the opposite result to Study 1. For men, arousal directly increased HSEs’ but decreased LSEs’ relationship-initiation motivation, replicating the results of Study 2. My package of studies connects self-esteem and arousal research, unifying two formerly separate subject areas. These findings provide an underlying mechanism (i.e., arousal) that explains how social risk interacts with self-esteem to influence relationship-initiation motivation. Consequently, my research increases the breadth and depth of current self-esteem theories. / Graduate

Insomnia is a common health complaint that often becomes a persistent problem. The theoretical frameworks for understanding and treating insomnia have mostly been behavioural, yet the importance of cognitive processes has received greater attention over the years. The overall aim of this dissertation was to expand the knowledge on the processes from the Cognitive Model of Insomnia by investigating them in novel contexts. Study I examined the outcomes from cognitive therapy for insomnia on adolescents. Study II explored the relationship between cognitive processes and the association with remission and persistence of insomnia in the general population. Lastly, Study III investigated if cognitive processes mediated between cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and outcomes of insomnia and depressive severity in a sample of people with insomnia comorbid with depressive problems. The findings show that cognitive therapy for insomnia affected sleep for adolescents, thus this is a promising treatment option for this age group. Further, it was found that cognitive processes distinguished between adults with normal sleep and persistent insomnia. For people with insomnia, elevated sleep-related worry at baseline increased the risk of reporting persistent insomnia later on, whereas a lowering of selective attention and monitoring, and safety behaviours over time increased the likelihood of remission from insomnia. This has clinical implications for insomnia assessment and treatment, as well as theoretical implications, and warrants further research. CBT-I was associated with greater reductions in dysfunctional beliefs and sleep-related safety behaviours compared to control treatment. Dysfunctional beliefs mediated between CBT-I and insomnia severity and depressive severity respectively. This supports the importance of negative thought content in both insomnia and depression.