Master's Thesis. Present to

Transcription

1 Effects of Detached and Positive Reappraisal on Gaze and Mood Master's Thesis Present to The faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Department of Psychology Derek Isaacowitz, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master's Degree By Christine Platzek August 2011

2 ABSTRACT Effects of Detached and Positive Reappraisal on Gaze and Mood A thesis presented to the Department of Psychology Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts By Christine Platzek In this study, I investigated to what extent different types of reappraisal were associated with different gaze and mood patterns. Seventy participants (Mage = 20) viewed three sets of negatively valenced images, which were accompanied by a set of viewing instructions. In the first condition, just view, participants were instructed to view the images naturally. Positive reappraisal (focusing on positive aspects) and detached reappraisal (objectively reframing) instructions were counterbalanced in the second and third conditions. The dependent variables were mood and visual fixation. The first prediction was that detached reappraisal would have a more pronounced effect on mood than positive reappraisal. Secondly, I predicted the detached reappraisal and positive reappraisal would result in increases in fixation toward negative images, and that this effect would be greater for detached reappraisal. No significant differences emerged between reappraisal conditions for mood. However, participants using detached reappraisal fixated more on the most negative highly arousing areas of interest as compared with positive reappraisal, p <.001. Furthermore, when participants used positive reappraisal they tended to look away from the most arousing areas of interest. ii

3 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Cognitive Reappraisal 1 Visual Attention and Emotion Regulation. 3 The Present Student... 4 Method... 6 Participants... 6 Material. 6 Research Design 8 Reappraisal Training. 8 Procedure..10 Results Mood Data Analysis Visual Fixation Data Analysis. 12 Discussion. 14 Mood and Cognitive Reappraisal Gaze and Cognitive Reappraisal. 15 Effect of Emotion Regulation Goal on Mood and Gaze. 16 Limitations and Future Directions Conclusion Bibliography. 21 Tables 23 Figures iii

4 List of Tables Table 1. Results of Pairwise Comparisons for Gaze Data iv

5 List of Figures Figure 1. Mean mood for just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal viewing conditions. Figure 2. Mean areas of interest fixation percent by just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal viewing conditions. v

6 Introduction According to the process model of emotion regulation there are five regulatory strategies people use to minimize negative feelings: situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, cognitive change, and suppression (Gross, 1997). Each of the five regulation strategies are classified as either response focused or antecedent focused. Antecedent focused strategies are those that aim to adjust the emotional response before it has been fully elicited (Gross, 2002). They are considered successful if the strategy alters the emotion response early on. Response focused methods are used to adjust the emotional experience after a response has been elicited. Situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, and cognitive change are considered antecedent focused regulation strategies, whereas suppression is response focused. Cognitive Reappraisal The focus of the present study was cognitive reappraisal, which is a form of cognitive change. Reappraisal is the changing of ones assessment of an event in order to increase or decrease the emotional experience (Gross, 2001). For example, if an applicant is not hired for a high paying position in New York City, they can decide that it was for the best anyway because they did not want to live in a big city. If the person was able to feel better by thinking about the situation in this manner, then the reappraisal was successful. Compared to suppression, reappraisal is associated with more positive 1

7 outcomes for life satisfaction, well-being, depression, and memory (Gross, 2002; Gross & John, 2002) Although there have been many studies on cognitive reappraisal, few studies have examined the differences between positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal. In detached reappraisal the focus is on thinking about the situation from an unemotional perspective. An example of detached reappraisal would be if someone looked at an image of a dying elderly man and regarded this as just a normal part of life. In positive reappraisal the focus is on the positive aspects of the situation (Shiota & Levenson, 2009). To use positive reappraisal with the previously mentioned image, someone might believe that the dying man will be better off once he passes because he will not be in pain anymore. Shiota and Levenson (2009) differentiated between positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal, and they observed that young adults are able to successfully implement detached reappraisal while viewing negatively valenced video stimuli. Detached reappraisal had a significant effect on both self reported mood and physiological response. Positive reappraisal, on the other hand, had little effect among young adults. In contrast to Shiota and Levenson (2009), Jackson, Malmstadt, Larson and Davidson (2000) did not find a significant difference between detached and positive reappraisal. This discrepancy may have been caused by a difference in the research design. For the Jackson et al. (2000) study, participants were asked to complete a selfreport emotion regulation strategy survey after viewing negative stimuli whereas other studies have specified which strategy the participants should use. Secondly, these two studies used different dependent measures to evaluate reappraisal success. Jackson et al. 2

8 measured reappraisal success with eye blink startle magnitude and corrugator activity, whereas Shiota & Levenson (2009) used subjective emotional experience and physiological reactivity (which included 9 different measures). Additionally, the Jackson et al. (2000) study had a wide variation in age of participants. Although the mean age was 20.5, participant s age ranged from 18 to 52. Other studies have shown, age has a significant effect on emotion regulation and this may have confounded the results of the study (Isaacowitz, Toner, & Neupert, 2009; Isaacowitz, Toner, Goren, & Wilson, 2008; Kisley et al. 2007). This suggests that the effectiveness of positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal is still unclear. Visual Attention and Emotion Regulation One way researchers could further differentiate between positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal is to examine differences in visual attention. Previous studies have used eye tracking to assess looking patterns associated with specific moods and emotion regulation strategies (Isaacowitz et al., 2008). This technique is advantageous in that it allows researchers to explore the connection between information processing and affective experience in real time. Currently, the information on the relationship between gaze and cognitive reappraisal is limited. Furthermore, no studies to date have compared the gaze patterns associated with positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal. Based on one eye tracking study, it was suggested that cognitive reappraisal might be a component of attention deployment and not a unique emotion regulation strategy (van Reekum et al., 2007). In this study participants looked away from the images presented when instructed to use cognitive reappraisal. However, Urry (2010) found that cognitive reappraisal resulted in decreased emotional intensity and lower corrugator 3

9 activity (facial expressions of emotion), even when gaze was held constant. This suggested that cognitive reappraisal is indeed a distinct regulation strategy. It is important to note that these two studies are not completely comparable because the former study had used older adults and the latter study used younger adults as participants. As mentioned, previous studies have demonstrated that age influences emotion regulation (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999). As compared to older adults, young adults have a negativity bias in that they preferentially attend to negative stimuli and away from positive stimuli (Isaacowitz, et al., 2009; Kisley et al., 2007). Additionally, Urry (2010) did not assess the relationship between gaze and reappraisal, since gaze was fixed. These studies indicate that the role visual attention plays in cognitive reappraisal is still unclear. The Present Study The aim of the present study was to expand upon the previous research by determining the effectiveness of both reappraisal types and by clarifying the role visual attention plays in cognitive reappraisal. In order to do so, participants were shown three sets of highly arousing, highly upsetting images of people. For each set, participants were asked to view the images naturally, to use positive reappraisal or to use detached reappraisal. Participants were trained to follow each of these instructions. This was a within subjects study. The dependent variables were gaze fixation and self reported mood. Participants were asked to record their mood at the beginning, middle, and end of each set of images. However, only the end mood was used in the analysis. Eye-tracking was conducted throughout the study. Based on the literature previously mentioned, it was hypothesized that detached reappraisal would protect against mood declines more so than 4

10 positive reappraisal among young adults (Shiota & Levenson, 2009). The second hypothesis was that gaze would be directed towards the most negative part of the image more during the detached reappraisal condition as compared to positive reappraisal. It was also predicted that gaze will be directed towards to most negative part of the image more during positive reappraisal than just view. The rationale for these predictions was that young adults must engage with the negative stimuli in order to cognitively reappraise it. The relationship between gaze and mood depends on the emotion regulation strategy used. Gaze alone does not regulate mood, but it is useful in reappraisal. To process the images in an objective manner, such as is the case in detached reappraisal, it was thought that young adults may need to look at the most negative, highly arousing parts of the images. Emotion regulation is most needed when stimuli is very upsetting therefore we were interested in analyzing the data from only the most negative, highly arousing areas of the images. By looking at the most negative parts of the images and implementing the detached reappraisal instructions, we expected that participants would become desensitized to the stimuli. This desensitization would have resulted in a less negative mood. Although participants may also look at the image in order to positively reappraise it, the desensitization would not have occurred with the instructions provided, therefore this technique would have been less effective for young adults. Gazing toward the most negative part of the image may not assist young adults in the latter situation because they lack the life experience needed for positive reappraisal. To my knowledge, no other studies assessed gaze patterns associated with detached reappraisal. 5

11 Method Participants Seventy young adult participants (47 females, 23 males) were recruited from Brandeis University campus. Participants received course credit or 6 dollars as compensation for their participation. Respondents with hard contact lenses were excluded because the eye tracker cannot accurately collect data from these individuals. All participants passed a vision test. All persons needed to have 20/40 vision or better to be eligible for the study. The Institutional Review Board at Brandeis University approved the procedures of this experiment. Material Stimuli. Forty-two images were selected from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) database on the basis of their arousal level and affective valence. The IAPS are a compilation of affective photographs developed by the NIMH Center for Emotion and Attention (Bradley & Lang, 2007; Lang, Bradley, & Baladan, 2005). These images were normatively rated affective photographs that range in arousal from 1 to 9, where 9 is very arousing. The affective valence of the images also ranged from 1 to 9, where 9 is very pleasant. For the present study, I only used images of people. The selected images were separated into three groups semi- randomly based on their valance and arousal level. Each group of images had a mean valence of 2.33 and mean arousal of 5.5. Related studies used similar mean valence levels and mean arousal levels for groups 6

12 of negative images (van Reekum et al., 2007; Urry, 2010). Areas of Interest. The areas of interest (AOI) were the most arousing, most negative parts of all of the images. I determined preliminary areas of interest for each of the images before data collection. Seven raters scored the preliminary areas of interest on a Likert scale of 1 to 7 for arousal and valence. The areas with an average arousal rating of 6 or higher (where 7 is the most arousing) and a valence level of 2 or lower (1 being most negative) were selected as the areas of interest. There were 7 areas of interest in each picture set. Measurement of mood. A potentiometer slider was used to record mood, which was a dependent variable. The slider enabled participants to indicate their mood on a scale of 0 to 100, where a score of 100 represents the most pleasant mood. Past research has shown that the potentiometer is a valid and reliable way to assess mood. Participants were asked to record mood at the beginning, middle, and end of each set of images. Eye-tracker. The Applied Science Laboratories Model D6 504 Eye Tracker was used to record gaze patterns, which was the second dependent variable in the current study. Eye tracking is a non-invasive method of recording where an individual is visually attending. The eye tracker used bright pupil optics to identify the center of the pupil and the corneal reflection of the right eye. The bright pupil optics, head tracking camera, and computer software worked together to track the participants gaze while stimulus was presented on a computer screen. Gaze patterns were measured by analyzing the time participants spent fixating on an area of interest relative to the rest of the image. Gazetracker software (Eye Response Technologies Inc.) was used to present images. Vision test. The vision test was used to indicate if participants could adequately 7

13 view the stimuli on the computer screen. The Snellen, Rosenbaum, and Pelli-Robson vision tests were administered. Research Design This was a within subjects design. The independent variable was reappraisal. The three conditions were detached reappraisal, positive reappraisal, and control. At the end of the entire study a manipulation check was done to ensure that participants used the reappraisal instructions given. The dependent variables are gaze and mood. Participants were given the just view condition first in order to obtain accurate baseline measures for mood and gaze. The positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal conditions were counterbalanced. The blocks of images were also counterbalanced. The viewing instructions (just view, positive reappraisal, or detached reappraisal) were given directly before the set of images are shown. Reappraisal Training Participants were trained to follow a standardized set of viewing instructions directly before viewing a set of images. There were three sets of images and three sets of viewing instructions, which corresponded to the three conditions. The three conditions were: just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal. The just view condition was used as a control condition. Detached reappraisal and positive reappraisal were the experimental conditions. The instructions provided were adapted from Shiota & Levenson (2003) and the reappraisal training was adapted from Urry (2010). The instruction for the just view condition were as follows: View the images naturally, as if they were watching them at home on a 8

14 television. For the positive reappraisal condition, participants were asked to do the following: This time, while you are watching the images, please try to think about the possible positive outcomes of what you are seeing. Watch the images, but try to think about what you are seeing in such a way that you feel less negative emotions. In the detached reappraisal condition, participants were instructed to do the following: This time, while you are watching the images, please try to adopt a detached and unemotional attitude. As you view the images, try to think about what you are seeing objectivity, as if you were an unattached observer. Watch the images, but try to think about what you are seeing in such a way that you feel less negative emotions. Directly after viewing a set of instructions, the researcher provided the participants with an image that was paired with two example responses. For the positive reappraisal instructions, participants were shown an image of a baby crying alone in a high chair in what looked like a hospital. The researcher read aloud the first positive reappraisal example response. For the image described, the first example response was that one could imagine that the baby s mother will feed the child shortly, and then the baby will be happy. The second response example was that the baby is in pain right now, but she will undergo a simple surgery that will save her life. After the two example responses were given, the participants were asked to reappraise two practice images aloud. Each participant experienced the same practice images and response examples. The researcher that was the training the participants had a list of acceptable reappraisal responses for the example images. Participants were informed that they had 9

15 the option of hearing the reappraisal instructions a second time, if desired. All participants demonstrated the ability to follow reappraisal instructions before continuing with the study. Their ability to follow the instructions was determined based on their responses to the practice images. Procedure After signing the consent form, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and vision test. Participants right-eye was calibrated using the eye-tracker. Participants viewed a slideshow that contained the study instructions. After viewing the slide show, participants were given an opportunity to ask questions before starting the just view practice session. In the just view condition, participants were asked to view the images naturally, as if they were watching them on a television at home. In the positive reappraisal condition, participants were instructed to decrease their negative feelings by thinking of positive aspects of the image. In the detached reappraisal condition, participants were asked to decrease negative emotion by thinking of the image objectively. Participants were always shown the just view instructions first. The positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal conditions were counterbalanced. As stated, participants were trained to follow a set of instructions directly before viewing the set of images. After each practice session, participants viewed a set of 14 negatively valenced images. Each image was displayed for 6 seconds, and each one was followed by a.5 second fixation cross slide to realign gaze to the center of the screen. At the beginning, middle, and end of each set of images participants were asked to record their mood with the potentiometer slider. Before starting the second and third set of images, participants 10

16 were given a distracter task. The purpose of the task was to return participants to baseline mood. For the task, participants were shown a slide show of real and fake words. Participants were asked to indicate if the words were real or not real. All of the real words used were neutral in valence. Participants were given 45 seconds to complete the task. The eye-tracker calibration was checked again before starting the second and third set of images. Eye tracking took place throughout the study. At the end of the study, participants were asked if they were able to follow the reappraisal instructions as a manipulation check. All participants reported that they used the reappraisal instructions provided. Participants were then debriefed and given the opportunity to ask any additional questions. Participants were debriefed by providing them with information about study hypothesizes and the predicted results. 11

17 Results Mood Data Analysis A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the mood data. The dependent variable was self reported mood, where higher values indicated more pleasant mood. The mood scores used in the analysis were those that were recorded at the end of each of the three conditions. The independent variable was the viewing instructions (just view, positive reappraisal, and detached reappraisal). There was a statistically significant main effect for mood, Wilk s Lamba =.42, F(2, 68) = 46.25, p <.001, η 2 =.58. As is illustrated in Figure 1, pairwise comparisons indicated that young adults reported being in a significantly better mood when they used positive reappraisal (M = 44.93, SD= 1.82) and detached reappraisal (M=43.83, SD= 1.76) as compared to the just view condition (M = 24.31, SD = 2.01). However, there was not a significant difference between positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal. Visual Fixation Data Analysis To assess gaze fixation, I analyzed the data from the images that contained areas of interest. Among those images, I looked at the fixation duration percentage values, which indicated how much time an individual spent looking at the areas of interest relative to the rest of the image. I created a composite AOI fixation duration score for each of the three conditions. These values indicated the average amount of time participants spent looking at the most upsetting, most arousing parts of the images. These scores were 12

18 analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA. The independent variable was the three viewing conditions: just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal. There was a significant main effect of condition, Wilk s Lambda =.77, F(2, 68) = 10.02, p <.001, η 2 =.23. The mean differences and significance values from the pairwise comparisons are presented in Table 1. As is indicated in Figure 2, young adults looked at the areas of interest more when using detached reappraisal (M = 47.45, SD= 1.80) than when they used positive reappraisal (M = 39.40, SD = 1.55). Additionally, young adults looked at the AOI least when they used positive reappraisal. As is illustrates in Table 1, there was a marginally significant difference between the just view condition and the positive reappraisal condition. 13

19 Discussion The current study examined the mood and gaze patterns associated with positive reappraisal and detached reappraisal among young adults. In order to do so, a within subjects design was used. Seventy participants were shown three sets of negatively valenced images. Each set of images were paired with a set of viewing instructions. Participants were trained to use positive reappraisal, detached reappraisal, and to view the images naturally. The dependent variables were self-reported mood and visual fixation. Mood and Cognitive Reappraisal First, we expected that participants would feel worse during the just view condition, since they were not instructed to regulate their emotions. Secondarily, we predicted that detached reappraisal would be a more effective emotion regulation strategy than positive reappraisal. This hypothesis was based on previous research, which indicated that young adults are better at using detached reappraisal than positive reappraisal (Shiota & Levenson, 2009). Researchers suggested that young adults use positive reappraisal less effectively than detached reappraisal because they lack life experience (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999). Older adults tend to use positive reappraisal more successfully than younger adults because they have witnessed many more negative experiences that have lead to positive outcomes (Shiota & Levenson, 2009). Detached reappraisal, on the other hand, relies on executive functioning (Oscner et al., 2002). As expected, there was a significant difference in self-reported mood between both 14

20 reappraisal conditions and the just view condition. Consistent with previous studies, young adults used cognitive reappraisal to successfully regulate their emotions (Urry, 2010). However, the current study did not find a significant mood difference between detached reappraisal and positive reappraisal. The discrepancy between the results of this study and the Shiota & Levenson (2009) study could have been due to the training provided. The latter study did not train participants to use detached reappraisal or positive reappraisal. Without training, young adults were not able to use positive reappraisal as efficiently as detached reappraisal. This may indicate that young adults use positive reappraisal less in their daily lives. The results of the current study may suggest that young adults are able to compensate for their lack of ability (with positive reappraisal) through practice, which the training sessions provided. Young adults appear to be able to utilize positive reappraisal as effectively as detached reappraisal, but perhaps it takes more time, effort and thought. Gaze and Cognitive Reappraisal As hypothesized, participants looked at the most negative, highly arousing areas of the images significantly more during the detached reappraisal condition than during the positive reappraisal condition. However, there was not a significant difference in visual fixation between the detached reappraisal condition and the just view condition. A marginally significant difference existed between positive reappraisal and the just view condition for AOI fixation. Counter to the original prediction, young adults tended to look at the most arousing areas of the images more so in the just view condition than in the positive reappraisal condition. 15

21 Effect of Emotion Regulation Goal on Mood and Gaze Detached reappraisal. In assessing the gaze and mood data together, this study suggests that young adults successfully use detached reappraisal to regulate negative emotions and they tend to visually focus on the most negative, highly arousing areas of the images while doing so. Although this finding may seem counterintuitive, previous researchers have pointed out that interacting with negative material does not always lead to negative feelings and that interacting with positive material does not always lead to positive feelings (Isaacowitz & Noh, in press). Isaacowitz & Noh (in press) have highlighted research, which has suggested that age and individual differences affect the relationship between mood and gaze. Consistent with the present study, researchers have found that there are situations in which young adults are even able to emotionally benefit from visually interacting with negative stimuli (Noh, Lohani, & Isaacowitz, forthcoming). It was suggested that this is might be because young adults were using cognitive reappraisal. Why would young adults visually engage with negative stimuli when using detached reappraisal? One possibility is that young adults may need to interact with negative stimuli in order to think through or reframe their thoughts about a situation (Isaacowitz & Noh, in press). By directly engaging, both visually and mentally, with the stimuli in this manner the individual would become desensitized to the situation they are observing. In this study many of the images depicted people in physical and psychological pain. If an individual visually avoided the most upsetting part of the stimuli, this desensitization might not occur. Desensitization may prevent feelings of empathy and sympathy, which can be unpleasant to experience. In this manner, full 16

22 exposure (visual and mental) to the most upsetting parts of the image would result in young adults experiencing less negative emotions. Furthermore, if the threat of experiencing unpleasant emotions was minimized through detached reappraisal, young adults may feel more inclined to engage with the negative material. The reason for this is that young adults are thought to engage with negative stimuli as a form of information gathering (Carstensen et al., 1999). In this manner, detached reappraisal may allow young adults to gather information without emotionally suffering. Therefore, negative gaze patterns might be a result of successful detached reappraisal as well as a facilitating factor. Positive reappraisal. Reduced mood declines were also observed in the positive reappraisal condition. However, young adults tended to look away from the most negative, most arousing areas of the images when implementing this strategy. Originally, I had hypothesized that young adults in the positive reappraisal condition would look at the AOI more than in the just view condition but less than in the detached reappraisal condition. The rationale for this was that young adults would need to interact with the AOI in order to positively reappraise them but this would not lead to desensitization. I had predicted that young adults would be less likely to continue looking at the most negative areas of the images since desensitization did not occur. Seeing that the results of the study did not follow the original prediction, it is possible that positive reappraisal might occur through an alternative process. The observed gaze patterns suggest that young adults need to look for cues in other areas of the images in order to adequately use positive reappraisal. Young adults may use these cues to form a reappraisal narrative (van Reekum et al., 2007). For example, if an 17

23 image displays a boy with a serious lip injury, young adults may concentrate on the supportive hand on the boy s shoulder rather than the injury. The hand on the boy s shoulder may lead the participant to focus on the idea that this boy has a loving family, and they will help him recover. Although this idea might protect against mood declines, it would not desensitize the individual to the most negative area of the image, which would be the lip injury. In situations like the one just described, where desensitization does not occur, it is likely that young adults avoid interacting with negative stimuli in order to feel better. This study also suggests that positive reappraisal may be related to attention deployment. One possibility is that young adults in this study implemented attention deployment rather than positive reappraisal. However, this seems unlikely since all participants demonstrated that they possessed the ability to use positive reappraisal during the training session, which occurred directly before the trial began. Alternatively, positive reappraisal may be most effective in combination with attention deployment. If this is the case, this could have important implications for the process model of emotion regulation. According to the process model of emotional regulation, attention deployment and positive reappraisal are two distinct emotion regulation strategies (Gross, 1997). Attention deployment is thought to occur before cognitive reappraisal. One type of attention deployment is distraction. In distraction people shift their attention away from upsetting stimuli in order to feel better (Gross, 2006). It seems possible that participants were using distraction in combination with positive reappraisal. Future research should further investigate the relationship between positive reappraisal and distraction, which is 18

24 a type of attention deployment. Natural view. The just view condition provided baseline mood and gaze values for young adults viewing negative images. Young adults selected to look at the AOI to a greater extent in the just view condition than in the positive reappraisal condition, but the gaze patterns were not significantly different from the detached condition. Since we see a similar gaze pattern between the detached reappraisal condition and the just view condition, it is possible that young adults tend to detach themselves, to some degree, from emotionally charged images when other instructions are not provided. An alternative explanation for this result is that young adults may not have followed the instructions provided. However, this seems unlikely since all participants confirmed during the debriefing session that they were able to follow the provided instructions. Compared to the reappraisal conditions, participants in the just view condition reported feeling significantly more unpleasant. Limitations and Future Directions The current study has several limitations. First, it does not indicate if the gaze patterns observed contributed to or were the result of detached reappraisal. It is unclear if visual engagement is necessary for the mental reframing that takes place with detached reappraisal. Although I have speculated that negative gaze patterns are both a facilitating factor and a result of detached reappraisal, this hypothesis still needs to be tested. This information could provide us with new insight into the processes involved in cognitive reappraisal. Secondarily, it is unclear if the results of the positive reappraisal condition were caused by the instructions provided or attention deployment. It is possible that young 19

25 adults initially scanned the image in order to find cues that would assist them in creating a positive narrative. However, if looking away from the most negative part of the image was enough to make the participants feel better then they might have been less motivated to create a convincing reappraisal narrative. Future research can extend our knowledge of emotion regulation by further investigating the relationship between attention deployment and positive reappraisal. More specifically, it would be interesting to experimentally study the effectiveness of positive reappraisal when attention is held constant. A simple way to study this would be alter the paradigm used by Urry (2010) to include positive reappraisal. In such a paradigm, participants would view upsetting images, the images would be cropped to show only the AOI, and participants would be instructed to use positive reappraisal. Eye-tracking and mood should be recorded. If future studies find that attention deployment plays a major role in positive reappraisal, then the current structure of the process model of emotion regulation may need to be reconsidered. Conclusions In sum, this study expanded upon the previous research by providing insight into the different processes involved in cognitive reappraisal. The primary finding of this study was that detached reappraisal led young adults to look at the most upsetting areas of the images, and it improved their mood. Secondarily, positive reappraisal led young adults to look away from the most upsetting areas of the images and this too improve their mood. This study further demonstrates that young adults can visually interact with negative information without suffering emotionally. 20

26 Bibliography Bradley, M.M., & Lang, P.J. (2007). The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) in the study of emotion and attention. In J.A. Coan & J.B. Allen, Emotion elicitation and assessment (pp ). New York: Oxford University Press. Carstensen, L. L., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Charles, S. T. (1999). Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54(3), Gross, J. J. (2001). Emotion regulation in adulthood: Timing is everything. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, Gross, J.J., & John, O.P. (2002). Wise emotion regulation. In L. Feldman Barrett & P. Salovey (Eds.), The wisdom of feelings: Psychological processes in emotional intelligence. New York: Guilford. Gross, J. J. (2007). Handbook of emotion regulation. New York: Guilford Press. Isaacowitz, D., Toner, K., & Neupert, S. (2009). Use of gaze for real-time mood regulation: Effects of age and attentional functioning. Psychology and Aging, 24(4), doi: /a Isaacowitz, D., Toner, K., Goren, D., & Wilson, H. (2008). Looking while unhappy: Mood-congruent gaze in young adults, positive gaze in older adults. Psychological Science, 19(9), doi: /j x Isaacowitz, D., & Noh, S.R. (in press). Does looking at the positive mean feeling good? Age and individual differences matter. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. Jackson, D. C., Malmstadt, J. R., Larson, C. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2000). Suppression and enhancement of emotional responses to unpleasant pictures. Psychophysiology, 37, doi: /S Kisley, M. A., Wood, S., & Burrows, C. L. (2007). Looking at the sunny side of life: Age-related change in an event-related potential measure of negativity bias. Psychological Science, 18, doi: /j x Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M, & Cuthbert, B.N. (2005). International affective picture system (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual. Technical Report A- 6. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Lewick, M., Czapinski, J., & Peeters, G. (1992). Positive-negative asymmetry or When the heart needs a reason. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22,

27 Noh, S. R., Lohani, M., & Isaacowitz, D. M. (forthcoming). Deliberate real-time mood w regulation in adulthood: The importance of age, fixation, and attentional functioning. Cognition and Emotion. van Reekum, C.M., Johnstone, T., Urry, H.L., Thurow, M. E., Schaefer, H.S., Alexander, A.L., & Davidson R.J. (2007). Gaze fixation predict brain activation during the voluntary regulation of picture-induced negative affect. Neuroimage, 36(1), Shiota, M., & Levenson, R. (2009). Effects of aging on experimentally instructed detached reappraisal, positive reappraisal, and emotional behavior suppression. Psychology and Aging, 24(4), doi: /a Urry, H. (2010). Seeing, thinking, and feeling: Emotion-regulating effects of gazedirected cognitive reappraisal. Emotion, 10(1), doi: /a

28 Table 1 Results of Pairwise Comparisons for Gaze Data Condition M Difference p-value Just View Positive Reappraisal Detached Reappraisal Detached Reappraisal Positive Reappraisal -8.05**.000 * p <.05 **p <.01 ***p <

29 Figure 1. Mean mood for just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal viewing conditions. 24

30 Figure 2. Mean areas of interest fixation percent by just view, detached reappraisal, and positive reappraisal viewing conditions. 25