Affective disposition and cognitive processing in dysphoria: a time-frequency EEG study

To date, affective disposition and cognitive processing of emotional stimuli in individuals with depressive symptoms have not been fully explored within the same framework. Time-frequency analysis of electroencephalographic activity allows to disentangle the brain's parallel processing of information. The present study employed a time-frequency approach to simultaneously examine affective disposition and cognitive processing during the viewing of emotional stimuli in dysphoria. Time-frequency event-related changes were examined during the viewing of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures in 24 individuals with dysphoria and 24 controls. Affective disposition was indexed by delta and alpha power, while theta power was employed as a correlate of cognitive elaboration of the stimuli. Cluster-based statistics revealed a centro-parietal reduction in delta power for pleasant stimuli in individuals with dysphoria than controls. Also, dysphoria was characterized by an early fronto-central increase in theta power for unpleasant stimuli relative to neutral and pleasant. Instead, controls were characterized by a late fronto-central and occipital reduction in theta power for unpleasant stimuli relative to neutral and pleasant. The present study granted novel insights on the interrelated facets of affective elaboration in dysphoria, mainly characterized by an hypoactivation of the approach-related motivational system and a sustained facilitated cognitive processing of unpleasant stimuli.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF AFFECTIVE DISPOSITION ON 4TH-GRADE NAEP READING SCORES?

This study presented a secondary analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dataset. The paper examined the impact of affective disposition on 2019 NAEP reading scores of fourth-grade students. In order to gain a better understanding of the impact of affective disposition on the reading achievement of fourth-grade students, this study used a quantitative descriptive research design to analyze secondary data extracted from the 2019 NAEP data set. The results found in this study showed that students’ affective disposition in the areas of making a great effort after making a mistake, continuing to work hard even when they felt like quitting, paying attention and resisting distractions, and feeling happy at school had positive impact on their 2019 NAEP reading assessments scores when the students strongly agreed with the statements. The findings may indicate that improving affective disposition in students may increase reading scores.

A Angústia Existencial como Disposição Afetiva Fundamental para a Prática Psicoterápica

Anguish is a fundamental concept in the phenomenological-existential clinic. This affective disposition has in Martin Heidegger's work a privilege over other dispositions, since it, in its ontological character, is the engine of human existence. This paper aims to understand anguish as revealing the truth of Being-there in the psychotherapeutic process, based on the contributions of philosopher Heidegger and his commentators, especially exponents of phenomenological-existential psychology. Questions such as "What is the truth of Being-there?" And "What does anguish reveal about this truth?" Guided the construction of this work. The study is characterized as a qualitative research, whose methodology is bibliographic research. The results indicated that anguish reveals the truth of Being-there. What we call the truth is the essence of this being: having to be. It points to its ontological character of openness, its possibilities, its own power-being, freedom and the unveiling of the meaning of Being. Finally, the ontological anguish, not restricted to the psychotherapeutic process, moves Being-there and reveals possibilities that, by their very nature. through care makes its uniqueness possible. Thus, it is essential for the psychotherapist to understand distress, facilitating the patient's appropriation and accountability of what it reveals. Palavras-chave : Anguish; Heidegger; Truth; Being-there; Psycotherapy.

Platón y la política como cuidado de las pasiones: sobre el tratamiento de la benevolencia en el Gorgias = Politics as care of the passions in Plato: on the treatment of benevolence in the Gorgias

Resumen: Sócrates, en el Gorgias (521d) , afirma ser el único ateniense que practica en su tiempo el verdadero arte político. En este artículo se interpreta esta aserción desde el análisis del verbo θεραπεύω , que en el contexto del diálogo puede traducirse como “servir”, “cuidar” o “atender” (513e, 521a), y que alude primariamente al carácter terapéutico de la política en analogía con la medicina, aunque eventualmente también se usa para referir, por ejemplo, al entrenamiento de los caballos (516e). La tesis central es que Sócrates entiende el ejercicio de la política como cuidado de las pasiones, y de su relación con la benevolencia, que se define como una disposición afectiva básica y esencialmente política. A manera de conclusión, se plantea que el ejercicio socrático de la política depende de las posibilidades performativas del lenguaje, y está determinado por una tensión irreductible entre lo político y lo apolítico.Palabras clave: Platón, Gorgias, política, pasiones, benevolencia.Abstract: In the Gorgias (521d), Socrates claims to be the only Athenian who practices the real art of politics in his time. The present paper interprets this assertion based on an analysis of the Greek verb θεραπεύω, which in the context of the dialogue means “serving”, “caring”, or “tending” (513e, 521a). It alludes primarily to the therapeutic character of politics by analogy with medicine, but it also can refer to the training of horses (516e). Socrates understands the practice of politics as a way of taking care of the passions, and of their relation to goodwill, which is considered to be a necessary affective disposition that is inherently political. Socratic political n practice depends on the performative possibilities of language. An irreducible tension between the political and the apolitical determines it. Keywords: Plato, Gorgias, politics, passions, benevolence.

The Gordian Knot of Disposition Theory

Morally ambiguous characters are often perceived to challenge Zillmann’s affective disposition theory of drama. At the heart of this challenge is the question: “To what extent can liking be independent of character morality?” The current study examines this question with a 2 (Disposition: Positive vs. Negative) × 3 (Character Type: Hero, Antihero, Villain) between-subjects factorial experiment that induces variance in liking and morality. We assess the influence of these orthogonal manipulations on measured liking and morality. Main effects of both manipulations on the measured variables emerged, with a significant correlation between measures. Regression analyses further confirm that liking is associated with perceived morality and vice versa. Because variance in morality was induced by the liking manipulation and variance in liking was induced by the morality manipulation, the assumptions of disposition theory regarding morality and liking seem accurate. Future research directions are provided that may help reconcile and integrate the seeming challenge of morally ambiguous characters with affective disposition theory.

Interdependence of Narrative Characters: Implications for Media Theories

Affective disposition theory suggests that viewers of narratives develop dispositions toward characters through various cues, including appearance and behavior. Despite its predictive utility, the theory has yet to account for an essential component of narratives: character interdependence. Extant models treat disposition formation toward individual characters as an independent process. In the current paper, we posit that affective dispositions formed toward one character (e.g., a protagonist) are interdependent with affective dispositions formed toward others (e.g., an antagonist). We present two experimental studies that provide evidence of character interdependence. We show that dispositions toward a single character account for unique variance in dispositions toward another, and that the same character can be perceived as highly moral or immoral, depending on a comparison character. In the discussion section, we integrate our character interdependence model with extant theories to generate novel predictions for affective disposition theory and other areas of research relevant to communication.

The Embodied Spectator and the Uncomfortable Experience of Watching Romance and The Piano Teacher

In this article I investigate the embodied and multi-sensual spectator, whose film experience is not dominated by the disembodied, voyeuristic distance to the screen posited as inevitable by much psychoanalytic film theory. This is a spectator who is 'making sense' of the film through eyes that hear and ears that see, and whose affective disposition allows for an experience not limited to vision as the only sense-maker. I bring into play issues of the body, embodiment, experience, and affect in order to identify possible sources of the ambiguous, bodily discomfort engendered in the spectator by Romance (Catherine Breillat, 1999) and The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001). The reactions of discomfort to these films seem to be symptomatic of a not entirely conscious rejoinder to the visual image. I suggest that such reactions indicate that the cinematic bodies touch the spectators on a bodily and psychical level, one that cannot be divided into mind and body but which must be considered embodied. As such, my argument addresses the visual and artistic representation of bodies, but it does so by going beyond traditional ways of 'interpreting the body' as object, seeking instead to investigate the very embodied processes of creating and acquiring this spectatorial knowledge.