Emotional Regulation

i

University of Sheffield

A critical analysis of the quality of research of eight randomized controlled trials with objective outcomes supporting the Broaden

and Build Theory of Emotions

MSc Psychotherapy Studies

August 2013

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Title

A critical analysis of the quality of research of eight randomized controlled trials with objective outcomes supporting the Broaden

and Build Theory of Emotions

Name

Degree

MSc Psychotherapy Studies

School

Health and Related Research

Supervisor

Chris Blackmore

Submission Date

August 2013

Word Count

20,692

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Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to employ a critical analysis methodology on the

quality of research of eight randomized controlled trials with objective outcomes

supporting the Broaden and Build Theory of Emotions. This study employed a

systematic review to search for RCTs, which included outcome measures that did not

rely solely on self-evaluation measures. The search found eight studies. These eight

studies were then critically analysed based on the following: sample composition, self-

assessment, objective metrics, blinding, randomisation, emotion induction, neutral

induction and neutral control. The critical analysis uncovered areas of concern. These

areas of concern included: over reliance on samples of convenience, measurement

issues related to self-assessment, under reporting of blinding, faulty randomization

and allocation, obscure reporting of active controls, and issues of measurement when

using a neutral control. The objective of this study was to highlight these deficiencies

so that future researchers would be aware of them and thus limit their reoccurrence.

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Dedication Page

To Charlotte Molly

and

Christopher Grantham

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Table of Figures

Figure 1 Filter Selection..........................................................................................................- 27 -

Figure 2 Author Journal Abstract............................................................................................- 28 -

Figure 3 Study Selection.........................................................................................................- 29 -

Figure 4 Validity......................................................................................................................- 30 -

Figure 5 Sample Composition.................................................................................................- 33 -

Figure 6 Reliance on Self-assessment.....................................................................................- 36 -

Figure 7 Objective measures..................................................................................................- 39 -

Figure 8 Blinding.....................................................................................................................- 42 -

Figure 9 Randomization in RCTs.............................................................................................- 44 -

Figure 10 Induction................................................................................................................- 46 -

Figure 11 Induction control....................................................................................................- 50 -

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Table of Contents

Abstract....................................................................................................................................... iii

Dedication Page........................................................................................................................... iv

Table of Figures............................................................................................................................v

Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................vi

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................- 1 -

1.1 Aim of the Study.............................................................................................................- 1 -

1.2 Overview........................................................................................................................- 1 -

1.3 Literature Review-Historical Context..............................................................................- 3 -

1.31 Positive Psychology..................................................................................................- 3 -

1.32 The Development of the Broaden and Build Theory................................................- 7 -

1.33 Emotions.................................................................................................................- 12 -

1.34 Self-Evaluation: Likert scale and Measurement......................................................- 14 -

1.35 Issues in self-reporting scales and measurement...................................................- 15 -

1.36 Blinding in RCTs......................................................................................................- 16 -

1.37 Randomization in RCTs...........................................................................................- 18 -

1.38 Mood Induction......................................................................................................- 20 -

2. Methods...........................................................................................................................- 25 -

2.1 Methodology for Search Strategy.................................................................................- 25 -

2.2 Methodology for Analysis.............................................................................................- 25 -

2.3 Search Strategy.............................................................................................................- 25 -

2.4 Final Search Strategy....................................................................................................- 26 -

2.41 Rationale................................................................................................................- 26 -

2.42 Flow chart-Selection-filters.....................................................................................- 27 -

2.43 Chart: Study Selection Criteria form......................................................................- 29 -

2.44 Chart: Sample of Validity Assessment Chart...........................................................- 30 -

2.5 Criteria used for a Summary of Study Chart.................................................................- 31 -

2.6 Methodological Issues..................................................................................................- 31 -

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3. Findings and Results...........................................................................................................- 32 -

Chart 3.1 Critical Analysis: Sample Composition................................................................- 33 -

Chart 3.2 Critical Analysis: Self-Assessment.......................................................................- 36 -

Chart 3.3 Critical Analysis: Objective Outcomes.................................................................- 39 -

Chart 3.4 Critical Analysis: Blinding....................................................................................- 42 -

Chart 3.5 Critical Analysis: Randomization in RCTs.............................................................- 44 -

Chart 3.6 Critical Analysis: Induction..................................................................................- 46 -

Chart 3.7 Critical Analysis: Neutral Induction as Control....................................................- 50 -

4. Conclusions........................................................................................................................- 56 -

4.1 Summary of Findings and Remedial Recommendations..............................................- 56 -

4.2 Recommendations for further research.......................................................................- 59 -

4.3 Limitations to the study................................................................................................- 60 -

4.4 Summary......................................................................................................................- 61 -

References.............................................................................................................................- 62 -

Appendix................................................................................................................................- 67 -

Please note: The information contained in some of the charts should be considered as

paraphrasing or as direct quotes from the actual studies. This process allows the integrity of

the authors’ statements to be maintained.............................................................................- 67 -

Study 1...................................................................................................................................- 68 -

Study Selection Form..........................................................................................................- 68 -

Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 69 -

Schemata of experiment....................................................................................................- 70 -

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTs....................................................................................- 71 -

Email correspondence........................................................................................................- 71 -

Study 2...................................................................................................................................- 72 -

Study selection form..........................................................................................................- 72 -

Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 73 -




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Study 3...................................................................................................................................- 76 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 77 -




Study 4...................................................................................................................................- 80 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 81 -



Email correspondence: None.............................................................................................- 83 -

Study 5...................................................................................................................................- 84 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 85 -



Email Correspondence.......................................................................................................- 87 -

Study 6...................................................................................................................................- 89 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 90 -



Email Correspondence.......................................................................................................- 92 -

Study 7...................................................................................................................................- 94 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 95 -



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Study 8...................................................................................................................................- 98 -


Summary of study..............................................................................................................- 99 -

Schemata of experiment..................................................................................................- 100 -

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTs..................................................................................- 101 -

Email correspondence......................................................................................................- 101 -

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1. Introduction

1.1 Aim of the Study This study looks at the quality of research developed in Applied Positive Psychology

(APP). Originally APP research centred on correlational studies and self-evaluation

measures for outcomes. This quality of research was satisfactory for building research

questions and developing testable hypothesis, but it was limited as the research was

correlational. RCTs were then utilized in APP studies in order to test for causality.

However, the fact that the final outcomes still relied on self-evaluation measurements

limited the rigour of the studies. In this dissertation, a systematic search was used to

find studies that had objective outcomes that were free from the subjective influence

of self-evaluations. Eight studies were found to meet the search criteria. The aim of

this study was to critically analyse the quality of the research of these eight studies

based on the following seven criteria:

sample composition (population) reliance on self-assessment (study integrity) objective metrics (outcomes) the execution of blinding (study integrity) the quality of each of the randomly controlled trials (RCT) (study design) the use of induction (intervention) the use of neutral induction as control (control)

These seven criteria were selected based on information presented in the literature

review.

The research question is: Are there issues of quality in the research of these eight

studies, and if so, what are they, and how can they be reduced or eliminated?

The objective of this dissertation is to highlight current problems in APP research in

order to raise the quality of future APP research.

1.2 Overview Chapter 1 includes a brief introduction, the aims, the research question and the

objective of the study. Chapter 1 also includes the literature review, which is much

more than simply a presentation of the literature as the literature review presents the

historical context that shaped and developed the science relating to APP and BBT. This

context is vital when using a critical analysis methodology as there needs to be an

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understanding of the personalities and the motivations of the time and how this links

to the present.

The numerous sections in the literature review also broaden understanding of specific

aspects of research listed in the aims of the review including: the nature and

characteristics of emotions, the challenge of defining the term emotions, the concepts

of state and trait, intensity and duration, discrete and collaborative emotions and

positive and negative emotions. In addition, issues of measurement were considered

including such tools as Likert Scales, Likert-Type Scales, Multi-Scales and objective

measures. A review of studies on emotions highlights their complexity and the

challenge in measuring them.

Chapter 2 is the Methodology. Two methodologies were used. The first methodology

is based on a systematic review as presented in The Cochrane Handbook for

Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 edited by Higgins and Green (2011).

Once the studies were selected, the information was then analysed using the second

methodology: a critical analysis approach defined by Scriven and Paul (2003).

Chapter 3 is the Analysis. Here the findings were unearthed using a critical analysis

approach. In this chapter, each of the eight studies was analysed on the bases of:

sample composition, reliance on self-assessment, use of objective metrics, the

execution of blinding, the quality of the randomization, the use of mood induction and

the role of the neutral control. The analysis takes the form of comprehensive charts

followed by a written presentation.

Chapter 4 is the Conclusion. This chapter includes: issues and deficiencies in the

research, suggestions on mitigating deficiencies in the research, recommendations for

future research, limitation of the study and the summary.

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1.3 Literature Review-Historical Context This section presents an historical narrative from the roots of Applied Positive

Psychology (APP) to the development of the Broaden and Build Theory (BBT) This is

followed by a review of the development of the BBT based on specific studies that

charted its inception as a model to its full development as a central theory within APP.

It should be stated that there are other theories that have been developed with

regard to emotions, but it is not within the scope of this work to include them or to

critique the BBT. This literature review helps to place these eight studies and APP

within the broader context of social science research methods.

1.31 Positive Psychology

Although Martin Seligman popularized the term APP, the term ‘positive psychology’

was presented decades earlier in Abraham Maslow’s 1954 book, Motivation and

Personality. In this book, he uses the term ‘positive psychology’ as a chapter title,

writing:

The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side. It has revealed to us much about man’s shortcomings, his illness, his sins, but little about his potentialities, his virtues, his achievable aspirations, or his full psychological height. It is as if psychology has voluntarily restricted itself to only half its rightful jurisdiction, and that, the darker, meaner half (Maslow 1954, p. 354).

Even before Maslow, ‘William James argued that in order to study optimal human

functioning thoroughly, one has to consider the subjective experience of an individual,

for that belief and others James, is considered by some to be America’s first positive

psychologist’ (Taylor 2001, p. 15).

However, PP in its current form was created on August 21, 1998, when then President

of the American Psychological Association, Martin Seligman announced:

Our mission is to utilize quality scientific research and scholarship to reorient our science and practice toward human strength …. To encourage and foster the growth of the new science and profession of positive psychology…. The creation of a new science of positive psychology can be the Manhattan Project for the social sciences (Seligman 1998, pp. 561- 562).

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Following this pronouncement, Csikszentmihalyi & Seligman went to great lengths to

differentiate positive psychology from humanistic psychology. They criticised

humanistic psychology for its lack of scientific rigour, including ‘its use of unscientific

methodologies and its inadequate empirical foundation’ (Csikszentmihalyi & Seligman

2000, p. 7).

They went even further in their position, stating, ‘Unfortunately, humanistic

psychology did not attract much of a cumulative empirical base’ (Csikszentmihalyi &

Seligman 2000, p. 7). However, according to Froh, ’Seligman defined research in a very

limiting way, as it was based solely on positivistic methodologies; phenomenological

methods were discounted’ (Froh 2004, p. 19).

This schism between humanism and Positive Psychology was both clear and

deliberate. Seligman was going much further than a mere rebranding; he was creating

a new powerful entity—positive psychology. It would not be subsumed by pre-existing

psychology or become a branch of humanistic psychology. This was a stand-alone

edifice that would chart new horizons, unencumbered by pathologies of the past, but

only if a substantial body of sound empirical research was established. If the research

was not based on empirical studies Positive Psychology could simply be dismissed as a

fad.

The importance of Seligman to the formation of PP cannot be ignored. He was an

eminent researcher and his work in learned helplessness was instrumental in

undermining the dominance that behaviourism had on much of the research of the

time (Mair & Seligman 1976). His larger than life persona, his academic

accomplishments, his vision, his energy and his connections moved the disparate

strands of positive psychology to coalesce and develop into a coherent entity. Others

were involved, but none, at that time, seemed as integral to the process as Seligman.

In the early days, his persona permeated the very essence of PP to the point that he

appeared, at times, to be the Guru. This was most clearly seen by the hero worship of

some of his students who would breathlessly run from their classes and blog in awed

tones about what their awesome professor had just said (Ruark 2009, p. 2).

This frothy enthusiasm, highly prevalent in the early years, tainted the significance of

the science of PP. With little knowledge of the subject, but armed with access to blogs,

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and social media such as YouTube and Facebook, the world was bombarded by a PP

that seemed little more than a series of quick fixes, lists, smiley faces and gushing

praise, all based on affirmations and being happy. National Public Radio did a special

on positive psychology. ‘Its prime example of the field was the best seller, The Secret

in which television producer Rhonda Byrne argues that everything in the universe

vibrated on a particular frequency. If people attune their thoughts to the same

frequency as… money…they will attract wealth’ (Ruark 2009, p. 2). Barbara

Fredrickson, a significant researcher and developer of the BBT lamented, ‘The curse of

working in this area is having to distinguish it from Chicken Soup for the Soul’ (Ruark

2009, p. 2).

APP ran the risk of being delegitimised through the process of Pop Psychology. Caught

up in the hype, PP was seen as a source of income instead of a gold mine of research

to help humankind. Internet sites would pop up with the ubiquitous lists on seven

steps to happiness or seven steps to resiliency, all accomplished in seven minutes.

Fortunately, APP is much more than emoticons and instant happiness. At its inception,

APP was seen as an extension of the current-day psychology: taking up were it left off.

While most current psychology was defined within limits articulated in Freud’s maxim:

‘Much will be gained if we succeed in transforming…hysterical misery into common

unhappiness’ (Breuer & Freud 1895, p. 305). APP saw its role in helping clients move

from common unhappiness to some aspect of happiness. APP was the upside to the

downside of regular psychology.

Although current psychology has much to recommend it and had in developing new

therapeutic processes, improved many people’s lives, it was limited to minimizing

misery. Unfortunately, the ability to relieve emotional distress is not the same as

creating well-being. APP critiqued current psychology as it was, for the most part,

based on pathologies and the medical model. Clients were patients who had

deficiencies that needed to be fixed. They were victims seeking to be cured. Gillham

and Seligman, stated, ‘these fixations on pathology led to psychology becoming

“victimology”; instead of viewing individuals as proactive, creative, self-determined

beings, psychologist viewed individuals as passive individuals subjected to external

forces’ (Gillham & Seligman 1999, pp. 163-164).

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An excellent example of client as victim was presented in a biography on Franklin

Eleanor Roosevelt. In analysing Roosevelt’s motives for helping minorities, the author

presents it as a means to compensate ‘for her father’s alcoholism and mother’s

narcissism’. This negative perspective dismissed any idea of virtuous behaviour or

strength of character and presented ‘a pessimistic view of human nature’ (Gillham &

Seligman 1999, pp. 168).

One of the criticisms levelled at APP was that it was unrealistic and overly optimistic to

the point of being ‘Pollyannaish’, yet APP’s research in depression indicated a firm

grasp on reality. The increase in depression was, to a certain extent, a function of

increased awareness and testing. However, APP saw the rise in depression as a result

of the inability of individuals to cope with failure and unrealised expectations. These

two issues were a function of the unremitting, unauthentic, unbridled use of self-

esteem building. Self-esteem does not prepare students for the inevitable failures in

life or for unrealised expectations that had no bases in reality. When girls were told

they could do anything, and classrooms have posters plastered all over the walls about

how special one is: failure to meet expectations became almost inevitable. The

inability to deal with failure and the resultant lack of resilience, created by unrealistic

self-esteem building, resulted in significant hardship. Failure inevitably happens,

disappointment follows, and for some depression is the result (Gillham & Seligman

1999, pp. 163-173).

One of the greatest strengths of APP is its focus on being an applied social science. In

that regard, it has researched and developed programs that help people use their

strengths to develop resilience in order to prevent depression from developing and in

using an individual’s strengths to create greater well-being. APP has researched and

developed ‘undoing’ processes that help individuals reduce unpleasant emotions and

increase pleasant emotions. Much of the work done with the BBT is focussed on the

nature of emotions and this ‘undoing’ process (Cohen & Fredrickson 2010, pp. 355-

366).

Given the relative newness of APP (1998) there have been teething problems,

including the wholesale dismissal of humanistic and health psychology, and the

confusing terminology occasionally used in APP. One of the most unfortunate choices

was to use the word ‘happiness’ when the term actually meant was ‘well-being’. Well-

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being is a much more comprehensive term than happiness. Using this happiness

moniker was to invite derision.

In addition, the terms ‘negative emotions’ and ‘positive emotions’ are confusing.

Simply stated, people may see negative emotions as making them feel bad and

positive emotions making them feel good. However, the terms negative and positive

emotions in the Broaden and Build theory and in APP research in emotions, have very

specific attributes.

Another ongoing problem is the actual definition of PP. Some definitions of PP are lists

of characteristics, others refer to the ancients and use terms such as ‘hedonics

(pleasure) and ‘eudaemonia’ (well-being), and others use their own personal

definition. To add to the confusion, Seligman published the book Flourishing in 2011,

and changed his original definition of PP. In this dissertation, the definition of PP is as

follows: ‘Positive Psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning’

(Linely 2006, p. 8).

Given the newness of PP and the fear of it becoming nothing more than glib pop-

psychology Seligman made it abundantly clear that the randomly controlled study was

the way to develop a sound empirical base. Not only did this methodology separate

APP from most other forms of psychology, especially humanist, it also reflected his

positivistic background and his desire/need for positive psychology to appear to be a

hard science. (Linley 2006, p. 11).

1.32 The Development of the Broaden and Build Theory

The BBT was included in this study because it was used as a limiting filter in the

search, and more importantly, it was integral to all the selected studies. The impact of

the Broaden and Build Theory is significant. Its growth in importance is clearly

illustrated in a two Google searches. The first search was from 1957-1997 (the year

before Frederickson published her first article on broadens and build, and a year

before Seligman formally announced the formation of APP), using the term ‘broaden

and build’ the search generated two journal articles: both miscategorised. The second

search, using the same term for the years 1998-2013 generated 3830 journal articles.

It is also interesting to see how the scientific method on building theories was

reflected in the development of the BBT. Fredrickson did not create this theory in a

vacuum. At her disposal were the previous research studies of many scientists that

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had explored events relating to emotions. Fredrickson also worked with a dedicated

peer group that did much to add to this theory. In order to show the development of

the BBT it is important to show the current research (1998-present day) and

acknowledge the past research (before 1998). This section looks at five studies by

Fredrickson that track the development of the BBT, as well as past works of others

that Fredrickson incorporated into her studies. It is this body of historical data that

allowed her to create her theory in such a relatively short time.

The first time the term, ‘Broaden and Build’ was introduced it was presented as a

model, not a theory. The Broaden and Build Model was unveiled in Fredrickson’s

paper (sole author), What Good are Positive Emotions? (1998b). Prior to this was

another paper authored by Fredrickson and B. Levenson entitled, Positive Emotions

Speed Recovery from the Cardiovascular Sequelae of Negative Emotions, (1998a). This

earlier paper, 1998a had been rejected numerous times over a span of seven years

(Fredrickson 2013, p. 5).

Possible reasons for this long delay included that negative emotions dominated the

research. Negative emotions dominated because they tended to reflect the medical

model of psychology. Fear, anger and depression highlighted deficiencies that needed

to be addressed. Positive emotions such as joy and gratitude were not seen as

deficiencies, so there was little interest in studying something that was not a

deficiency. The other issue was that most of the scientists studying emotions would

try to shoehorn positive emotions into the existing model designed for negative

emotions. When it was seen that positive emotions did not fit that model, there was

little interest in pursuing this research any further (Fredrickson 1998b, pp. 301-303).

It is clear that negative emotions elicit actions. Anger is associated with attack, fear

with flight and sexual jealousy with domestic violence. All of these negative emotions

trigger the autonomic nervous system (ANS). On the other hand, joy may be

associated with a smile but then so can a number of other positive emotions and none

of the positive emotions triggered the ANS. So if positive emotions did not elicit

actions or trigger the ANS, what was their function (Fredrickson 1998b, p. 300)?

Ekman (1994, pp. 15-19) suggested that it was possible that the structure of the

negative emotion model was not suitable. Given the different characteristics of the

emotions, a different model needed to be developed for positive emotions. Levenson

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(1998) supported this position: ‘The evolutionary meaning of positive emotions such

as happiness might be to function as efficient “undoer” of states of ANS’ (Levenson

1988, p. 25). The hypothesis was that negative emotions elicit actions, which then

activate the ANS in order to accommodate the requirements of the emotion. When

the elicit action is completed positive emotions will help adapt the ANS back to its

prior state before the action was elicited.

The study done by Fredrickson and B. Levenson (1998a) indicated that positive

emotions did calm the ANS. The experiment consisted of showing a fear-eliciting film

to 60 participants. All were connected to a series of measures of the ANS. After the

induction of fear, each group was shown a second film meant to induce a second

emotion, which was either, contentment, amusement, neutral or sadness. ‘Compared

to Ss [subjects] who viewed the neutral or sad secondary films, those who viewed the

positive films exhibited more rapid returns to pre-film levels of cardiovascular

activation’(Fredrickson & Levenson 1998a, p. 191).

Their paper had suggested an additional answer to the question on what good are

positive emotions. The authors believed ‘it is not a good idea to assume the adaptive

value of positive emotions is simply isomorphic to the adaptive value of the negative

emotions’ (Fredrickson & Levenson 1998a, p. 200).

Many of Alice Isen’s studies (1984, 1985, 1987, 1992) related to aspects of the BBT.

They dealt with the relationship of positive emotions and cognition, research design

for inducing emotions using a neutral control and studies in the area of positive

emotions and cognition. These studies were instrumental in Frederickson’s

development of the BBT. Isen’s study looked at the influence of effect on selection.

The study indicated, ‘positive words create a more complex cognitive context by

cueing more associates relative to individuals in a neutral control condition’ (Isen et al.

1985, p. 1414). This reflects an important axiom of the BBT, that positive affect

broadens cognition. Other studies using word association in Mednick’s Remote

Associates Test indicated that individuals in a positive affect scored better on this task

than people in a neutral or negative emotional affect (Isen et al. 1987, pp. 145-154).

Another of her studies indicated that people experiencing positive affect used more

inclusive categories in problem solving (Isen et al. 1992, pp. 65-78). Isen’s work gave

Fredrickson the empirical support that underwrote the broaden aspect of the BBT.

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The build part of Fredrickson’s model refers to the building of personal resources. As

with the broaden part of her model, previous researchers guided her work and helped

shape her hypotheses. An example of building resources is demonstrated in the rough

and tumble of children at play. The importance of this interaction around play as

explained by ethnologists Boulton and Smith was a universal activity for both humans

and animals. Rough and tumble play helped strengthen and increase agility, and being

able to avoid danger, a key personal resource (Boulton &Smith, 1992, cited in

Fredrickson 1998b, p. 309).

Not only do positive emotions build physical resources they also enhance intellectual

resources. In studies relating to intrinsic interest in learning it has been shown that

intrinsic learning ‘is linked to greater conceptual understanding, higher levels of

academic achievement, lower drop-out rates, and greater psychological adjustment’

(Deci et al. 1991, p. 337). Studies with school age children asked to recall a joyous

event or a time of contentment were able to master a math problem more quickly

than the neutral or negative groups (Bryan 1991, p. 493). In an experiment by

Carnevale and Isen, (1986) they determined that:

The use of positive affect may be a very useful tactic that may help negotiators discover optimal solutions. These results also imply that basic cognitive processes, such as those recently found to be facilitated by positive affect…those involved in categorization, similarity judgments, associations, and creative problem solving-are important (Carnevale & Isen 1986, p. 12).

At this stage in 1998, there was some indication that positive emotions had a broaden

and build function but ‘this empirical base remains thin, and direct tests of hypothesis

derived from the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions are needed,

especially experimental tests that can establish causality’ (Fredrickson 1998b, pp. 311-

312).

These two papers by Fredrickson and Frederickson and Levenson, published in 1998,

illustrate the dynamics of the scientific method. Published studies by numerous

scientists working at different labs and in different decades leave a body of knowledge

for others to pursue. Fredrickson was able to coalesce different strands of research

into a model. In the next few years and after significant empirical study from

Fredrickson’s lab and other labs, the model evolved into the Broaden and Build

Theory.

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Part of building a theory is the need to replicate the studies, Fredrickson et al. (2000),

replicated the study of 1998a with The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotion (2000). This

study not only confirmed the previous findings but also added to the body of

knowledge. The study had a different demographic mix, so the undoing effect could be

expanded to a larger population. Also in the original study, the positive emotions may

have replaced the negative emotions. However, in this study, the neutral and positive

groups showed no change in ANS arousal. Only the group that had negative emotional

arousal showed ANS activation; therefore, the undoing process of positive emotions is

only elicited in the presence of negative emotional arousal (Frederickson 2000, pp.

237-255).

In the introduction of the paper entitled, The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive

Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, Fredrickson (2001)

summarises the BBT. ‘The Broaden-and-Build Theory posits that experiences of

positive motions broaden people’s momentary thought-action repertoires, which in

turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and

intellectual resources to social and psychological resources’ (Fredrickson 2001, p. 218).

Fredrickson’s research not only indicates that positive emotions create resources she

identifies one of the main concepts in Positive Psychology—resilience— as one of

these resources. It was found that ‘more resilient participants exhibited significantly

faster returns to baseline levels of cardiovascular activation…this difference in time

needed to achieve cardiovascular recovery was mediated by differences in positive

emotions’ (Fredrickson 2001, p. 216). Fredrickson makes the observation that the use

of positive emotions ‘could build psychological resilience, not just reflect it’. She goes

on to suggest, ‘The broadened attention and cognition triggered by earlier experiences

of positive emotion should facilitate coping with adversity, and this improved coping

should predict future experiences of positive emotion’ (Fredrickson 2001, p. 216-217).

The paper, Positive Emotions Trigger Upward Spirals Toward Emotional Well-Being, by

Fredrickson and Joiner, was cited as an unpublished manuscript in 2000 and referred

to in the 2001 article. However, for the purposes of this work the paper is cited as

2002, to reflect the year it was published.

In this study, Fredrickson and Joiner (2002) introduce another key component to the

BBT: the spiral. This dynamic is a key factor that encompasses a major aspect of

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emotion and mood regulation. Studies conducted by Basso (1996) and Derryberry and

Tucker (1994), indicated that participants who had negative emotions such as anxiety

and or depression had an attentional focus that was narrowed. This spiralling process

reflected research on depression by Peterson and Seligman (1984). Their studies

indicated a downward spiral due to constant negative emotions that created a

constant narrowing of view with increasing pessimism and eventually resulting in a

chain reaction that over time created clinical depression (Basso, 1996; Derryberry &

Tucker, 1994; Peterson & Seligman, 1984; cited in Fredrickson & Joiner 2002, pp. 172-

175).

Frederickson and Joiner posed the question: ‘Does the broaden-and-build theory of

positive emotions predict that positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and

cognition, and, by consequence, initiate upward spirals toward increasing emotional

well-being’ (Fredrickson & Joiner 2002, p. 175)? The study used the Positive and

Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure positive and negative affect. They then

used the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) to ascertain what coping measures

participants used to deal with the most challenging problem they faced during the

past year. The scale consisted of eight measures: cognitive analysis, positive

reframing, seeking alternative rewards, problem solving, emotional discharge,

avoidance, acceptance/resignation and seeking counsel. At T1, information was taken

and PANAS and CRI were completed. Five weeks later at T2, the same measures were

repeated. The study found that Positive Affect (PA) and not Negative Affect (NA) led to

enhanced broad-minded coping. It was also found that at T1 broad-minded coping

significantly predicted increased PA. ‘Taken together, this sequence of findings

indicates that PA predicts itself partly via broad-minded coping, and that broad-

minded coping predicts partly via PA, PA and broad-minded coping, then, mutually

build on one another’ (Fredrickson & Joiner 2002, p. 174).

These five published studies present the development of the BBT. The article: What

Good are Positive Emotions? has been cited in 2319 publications, and the article: The

Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden and Build Theory of

Positive Emotions, has been cited 3281 times. Since the inception of the BBT, over

three thousand academic articles have been published on this theory and a substantial

amount of that research is devoted to creating a sound empirical body of evidence for

the BBT.

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1.33 Emotions

In order to understand the tools for measuring emotions it is necessary to understand

the nature and characteristics of emotions. The following is a brief overview on the

nature and characteristics of emotions. It is not exhaustive and is limited to some of

the basic characteristics of emotion, as it relates to the BBT.

There are over ninety definitions for the term ‘emotions’ (Larsen & Fredrickson 1999,

p. 41). This number reflects the complexity of the subject; therefore, it is not

surprising that there is a disagreement on the definition of this term. In order to

eliminate confusion scientist usually present their working definition of emotions

when writing up their study. It is hoped that these working theories will, overtime, be

refined and developed into a coherent theory.

Although research into emotions is now prevalent in psychology, this was not always

the case. In the mid-1900s, the dominance of behaviourism in the social sciences

limited research done on emotion. Behaviourists such as Skinner dismissed emotions

‘as irrelevant and misleading epiphenomena and derided those who studied them as

mentalists’ (cited by Fredrickson 2013, p. 4).

It was not until the 1980s that the study of emotions was recognized as a subspecialty.

Even then, the study of emotions focussed on such emotions as fear or anger. The

idea of studying joy or gratitude would have seemed to be frivolous, and funding

would have been difficult to get. Since the advent of APP, the study of emotions has

grown exponentially. Studying positive emotions such as joy and gratitude is

generating significant findings and having a direct positive influence on peoples’ lives.

Emotions have a number of characteristics that are important to understand. The first

is duration and intensity. The duration of emotions can be fleeting and hard to

measure, or it can last for a significant time. Intensity of emotions can be considered

on the bases of such measures as blood pressure and heart rate.

Another characteristic of emotions is that they may be discrete or diffuse. Discrete

emotions refer ‘to classical emotion theory which emphasizes the importance of…

specific types of affect, such as anxiety, hostility and depression’ (Watson & Clark

1997, p. 268). However, the trend in emotional theory is to see emotions as diffuse.

Diffuse (also known as dimensional) looks at emotions in which there are sets of

associated emotions such as fear and guilt or love and joy.

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Emotional characteristics also include the concepts of state and trait: ‘Long lasting

responses that may not be associated with anything specific, are seen as traits,

whereas, a state is associated with something specific and is shorter in duration’

(Lucas et al. 2009, p. 142). Although state is an emotion and trait is a mood, common

usage is to use the term emotion for both state and trait and differentiate between

the two when it is required (Lucas et al. 2009, p. 142).

1.34 Self-Evaluation: Likert scale and Measurement

The Likert scale and the Likert type scale are ubiquitous in social science research.

There are three reasons for its prevalence: the first is that it is cheap, the second is it is

simple to present and the third reason is it is the only way, without equipment, to

measure directly, aspects of attitude and emotion.

There are some concerns with this form of testing. First, there is the problem of

terminology. When searching for the distinction between the Likert and Likert type

there was little clear agreement. One researcher posits that it is as Likert presented it

in his 1932 paper, which is a horizontal scale. Yet if one checks Likert’s 1932 paper, he

use four examples, two are horizontal scales and the other two are multiple-choice

questions. The formats are different, but all the constituent parts were incorporated in

both examples (Likert 1932, p. 236).

Secondly, there are structural issues with the Lickert scale that influences how

answers are selected. If a Lickert scale has an odd number of selections then the

middle choice will be the one that many may select in order to avoid stress or thinking

(central variance). If there are an even number of choices in a Likert scale the

individual might be forced to give an answer that does not allow for neutrality when

that would be the participant’s preference (Larsen & Prizmic-Larsen 2004, p. 346). On

the other hand, an individual may take the extreme position: reporting the highest or

lowest number on the scale (extreme responding). This has been seen with children as

they tend to take extreme positions, but as they grow older, they take the extreme

position less often (Chambers & Johnson 2000, p. 33).

Thirdly, is the question about the type of data presented and what type of statistical

tests can be performed from that data? On the one hand, the argument is that the

data is ordinal which means that the numbers of the scale usually 1-5 or 1-7 are an

order of ranking but not a measure of distance. Therefore, one cannot say the

difference in value between 1 and 2 is the same as the difference in value between 4

15

and 5. Given this limitation only certain statistical manipulations can be done including

calculating the median the mode and the range. Inferential techniques would include

only non-parametric methods (Jamieson 2000, p. 1212).

There are those who argue: ‘The weight of empirical evidence…clearly supports the

view and position that Likert scales…produce interval data, particularly if the scale

meets the standard psychometric rule-of-thumb criterion of comprising at least eight

reasonably related items’ (Carifio & Perla 2008, p. 1150). In that case, more powerful

parametric processes, such as factor analysis, structural equation models and ANOVA,

can be used. On the other hand, the non-parametric techniques related to ordinal

data have a very limited ability as the ‘rank methods like Spearman’s Rho, Kruskal-

Wallis, appear frozen in time and are used rarely’ (Norman 2010, p. 627). This is a

significant issue, as the Likert scale is used heavily in the social sciences, and the use of

the more robust parametric measures allows for analysis that is more powerful.

Carifio and Perla argue that there is significant empirical evidence to show that

parametric analysis can be used with a collection of Likert items, but not with

individual Likert items (Carifio & Perla 2008, pp. 1150-1151). This situation remains

unresolved.

1.35 Issues in self-reporting scales and measurement

As with many measurement tools there are concerns that may limit the effectiveness

of its data. Some of the more obvious issues for self-reporting would include the

ability to complete the test properly, due to age or language restrictions. Cultural

issues, other than language, would include experiencing different emotions and

responding to emotions in a way that may be culturally different from expected. For

example, reacting in anger may be culturally inappropriate and the need to answer in

a conciliatory manner may be culturally appropriate. Individuals may react in a way

that reflects a traumatic experience in their past or a need to repress certain emotions

for their well-being.

Certain patterns of answering questions may be formed and the pattern may influence

which answer the participant selects (non-content variance). Test repetition of

emotion elicitation and measurement may create a pattern of answers, which do not

change from one test to the next (stereotypic responding) (Larsen & Prizmic-Larsen

2006, p. 346).

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Another form of non-content variance would be social desirability, which is a frequent

issue in the use of questionnaires. In this situation, a participant answers the

questions on the bases of making a positive impression, rather than the actual

emotion that they were experiencing. This may be a conscious choice or an

unconscious process. In addition, it can be based on the participant presenting what

she/he would like to be, rather than on what he or she actually is.

The period for assessment also may have a significant impact on what the scale is

measuring. If the event is precipitated by a specific stimulus and measured over a

short time, then an emotion will most likely be measured. If measurement relates to

long-lasting feelings that tend to be unrelated to specific objects and events then a

mood is most likely being measured (Mauss 2009, p. 212). Another aspect of time is

the dynamic nature of emotions. If one’s anger is precipitated because of a particular

event, usually the anger will subside over time, but will still have an effect on mood.

However, the intensity of the emotion will most likely have lessened within 24 hours.

The longer the time interval is from the event to the measurement, the more

problematic the result. In addition, because of the length of time involved before

measurement of an emotion, it is possible that a person’s underlying personality will

begin to shape and change the emotional response (Lucas et al. 2009, p. 145).

Self-report is also open to measurement reactivity if the process of measurement

shapes the outcome. For example, a participant completing a self-evaluation may view

a set of emotions in the scale and on seeing this list they might, in some form,

reprioritize or replace the actual emotions originally elicited.

It is important to understand: ‘Reliability is not an intrinsic property of an instrument

but rather a quality that varies depending on the characteristics of the instrument in

combination with the particular sample in which it is used’ (Messick 1995, p. 741). So

when using self-referencing scales do measurements properties change based on the

composition of the sample? It would appear from the limited research that is the case.

Youngstrom and Green’s paper (2003) concludes: ‘It is imperative that future studies

not assume that the published reliabilities based on college samples (or other

middle/high SES groups) will generalize to low-income samples’. Not only are there

questions about Socioeconomic Status (SES) but also with age, as older individuals’

emotions tend to be more moderate than young peoples’ emotions. There are also

17

differences in gender (Youngstrom & Green 2003, pp. 280-281). This issue will be

discussed further in Ogden and Lo’s study (2011) in Chapter 3, Chart 3.2.

1.36 Blinding in RCTs

Blinding refers to ‘keeping trial participants, investigators (usually health-care

providers), or assessors (those collecting outcome data) unaware of the assigned

intervention, so that they will not be influenced by that knowledge’ (Schultz & Grimes

2002b, p. 696). The purpose of blinding in clinical trials is to reduce effect bias, ‘an

overview of empirical studies of bias in meta-analyses found that beneficial effects on

subjective outcomes were, on average, 25% lower in trials labelled “double blind”

compared with similar trials that were not “double blind”’(Hrobjartsson et al. 2009, p.

967). In addition,’knowledge of the intervention received, and perceptions of that

treatment, can affect the psychological or physical responses of the participants.

Knowledge of treatment allocation can also affect compliance and retention of trial

participants’ (Schultz & Grimes 2002b, p. 696). Participants are not the only individuals

who may react to prior knowledge; it is also possible that investigators in the study

may be influenced this could include trial designers, participant enrollers,

randomization implementers, health care providers, intervention counsellors and data

collectors. ‘If investigators are not blinded, their attitudes for or against an

intervention can be directly transferred to participants’ (Shultz & Grimes 2002b, p.

696). This transfer of attitudes could be of particular concern when dealing with the

study and measurement of emotions.

Given that the correct use of blinding reduces effect bias and the lack of its correct use

increases effect bias, it is imperative that the individuals structuring the research

understand when and who should be blinded in the study. It is also important for the

value of the research that the researcher correctly report not only that there was

blinding but who was blinded.

Unfortunately, it becomes apparent in both meaning and application that blinding is

neither well understood nor accurately reported. The confusion with regard to

blinding occurs in text books and with instructors, which is then reflected in their

studies. In one survey responders provided 15 different meanings for the term ‘double

blind’, and believed that their definition was the most commonly used definition

(Haahr & Hrobjartsson 2006, p. 362). In another study on blinding terminology the

authors found, ‘83 studies reported as double-blind, 41 made no mention of which

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groups were blinded, 29 studies identified 1 group as blinded, 11 studies identified 2

groups as blinded, 1 study identified 3 groups as blinded, and 1 study identified 4

groups as blinded’ (Devereaux et al. 2001, p. 2000).

Another frustration is created when blinding has been incorporated in the

researchdesign, stated in the protocol and followed in the study, but is not written up

in the final paper. This not only unnecessarily limits the value of the study, but when

other researchers might wish to include their work in a systematic review, the review

authors have to spend time trying to track down the primary author and/or the

protocol. In fact a useful study may even be discarded because it does not conform to

the parameters set in the systematic review because blinding was not reported.

1.37 Randomization in RCTs

Stolberg states:

Randomised controlled trials are quantitative, comparative, controlled experiments in which a group of investigators studies two or more interventions by administering them to a group of individuals who have been randomly assigned to receive each intervention (Stolberg 2004, p. 1539).

Although random allocation is a common occurrence in clinical trials , much like

blindness, it seems to be both misunderstood and misreported. This undermines the

very core of clinical research. In fact, the combined issues relating to blindness

coupled with the issues relating to randomization would suggest that many findings

using RCT are suspect (Schulz 1995, p. 410).

As with the section on blindness, it is necessary to place the research in positive

psychology within the framework of current research in clinical trials and the use of

randomization. Clinical trials using random allocation were first developed in the

1940s under the guidance of Sir Austin Bradford Hill and became commonplace in the

1970s in creating evidence based research (Stolberg 2004, p. 1539).

Although random allocation may seem to be quite straight forward, a lot can go wrong

between the development of the study design and the completion of the study. Some

areas of concern include, study design, sequence generation, form of randomisation

allocation selected, sample composition, allocation concealment, blindness and report

write up.

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Random allocation is the only method that can suggest causality, as it has the ability to

deal with unknown bias in samples. The use of randomisation is to create groups that

have similar characteristics. Other processes can eliminate known differences or they

can be taken into account because they are known. However, random allocation,

because it is random, is able to randomise the unknown differences between/amongst

groups. In so doing random allocation will create similar groups; therefore, the

difference between control and experimental groups will not be based on the

confounding of differences in sampling. The importance of this process is that the

difference between the groups will, if all else is done correctly, be due to the

intervention which would indicate causality. In addition, the strength of RCTs is that

the numerical results can be statistically manipulated in order to ascertain the

significance of the results (Shultz & Grimes 2002a, p. 516).

There are numerous methods of randomization, from free randomization, which is as

simple as flipping a coin, to more complex systems using stratification and multiple

blinded block sizes. Although flipping a coin might seem like the most elegant solution,

there are problems with this type of randomisation. Unfortunately, this could create

very unevenly sized groups, and if there was a small sample size this would limit the

ability to see small differences between sample groups. It is also possible that the

researchers could see an imbalance in the groups and decide to change the outcome

of the toss (Shultz & Grimes & 2002a, p. 517).

In order to set and control sample size, restricted types of random allocation can be

used if the number of participants is limited. This can be done by blocking, but the

blocking itself must be blinded in order not to expose the allocation process. The

random allocation rule can be employed when a predetermined sample size is desired.

An example of this is to have 25 black and 25 white balls drawn blind from a hat; in

that way sample size can be controlled (Schultz & Grimes 2002a, p. 517).

It is unfortunate, given the importance of randomization to the integrity of the study

and to those researchers who wish to build on their research, especially those

developing systematic reviews and meta-analysis, the reporting of information about

random allocation in scientific studies is problematic.

Reports and quotes by authorities in the field indicate a significant problem in the

understanding and write up of the randomization and allocation process. In one study

20

on allocation concealment, 96 of 102 trials had unclear allocation concealment. In 39

of these trials, ‘neither the protocol nor the publication provided any attempt to

conceal allocation’ (Pidel 2005, p. 1.) To compound this issue, ‘empirical studies have

shown that publication of trials in which allocation of concealment is unclear or

inadequate are associated with, on average, 20-30% exaggeration of the treatment

affect…compared with trials of the same interventions with adequate concealment’

(Pidel 2005, p. 2). ). Here the lack of blindness or the lack of reporting blindness or of

listing those who are blind in the study severely limits the usefulness of the study.

Not only is concealment of allocation limited the actual randomisation process is also

questionable. In many cases, there is not enough information to be able to know how

randomization was developed. ‘In one study of 206 studies 129 or 63% of the reports

did not specify the randomization process which would then hide not only the process

but the value of the process’ (Schultz & Grimes 2002a, p. 516).

Some of this confusion comes from using the oxymoron quasi-random, which has

been compared to quasi-pregnant. These studies are in fact non-random studies and

calling them quasi-random is obfuscation. Some researchers use systematic allocation

thinking that the process is random, when that is not the case: ‘Groups using such

methods as groups based on preintervention tests, last names, or admission date, are

systematic and not random.’ The problem is amplified as, ‘ systematic allocation

usually precludes adequate concealment, since it results in previous knowledge of

treatment assignment among those who recruit participants to the trial” (Schultz &

Grimes 2002a, p. 516).

1.38 Mood Induction

When studying the development of mood induction, a logical place to begin is with

Emmet Velten’s study titled: A Laboratory Task for Induction of Mood States. The

following is a summary of his study (1968, pp. 473-482). Velten’s experiment is the

foundation for mood induction processes as used in Positive Psychology research and

was developed from his PhD dissertation. Obviously since this report was published in

1968, there have been numerous studies dealing with mood induction. It is interesting

to see the scientific method at work, supporting some hypothesise and challenging

others as gradual changes and refinements helped develop and improve mood

induction research. Velten’s study is important, as it was the most popular induction

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process from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s. It is the foundation for the

methodology of current practice in mood induction.

His study of 100 female college students included an initial assessment of suitability

for mood induction. Seventeen of the women were removed, as they scored low on

the hypnotic induction scale. The remaining 83 participants were given a pretest for

baseline data. These tests consisted of an ability to make decisions and a perceptual

ambiguity test.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups. The first three groups

consisted of elation (EL), depression (DE), and neutral (NU). For these three groups the

induction process consisted of reading silently and then aloud their induction

statements, which consisted of 60 self-reference statements. All started with neutral

statements and gradually moved to elation, depression or remaining neutral

statements. An example of an EL statement was: ‘This is great. I really do feel good—I

am elated about things.’ For DE statements an example was: ‘Every now and then I

feel so tired and gloomy that I’d rather just sit then do anything.’ For NU an example

was, ‘Utah is the Beehive State’ (Velten 1968, p. 475).

The fourth and fifth groups respectively were the elated demand characteristics (EDC)

group and the depressive demand characteristics (DDC) group. The two groups ‘serve

as controls for conscious role-playing or unconscious influence of the S. by the obvious

demand characteristics’. During their induction process they received the same

statements as their non-demand group as well as a few synonyms for elation or

depression and read the instructions to, ‘believe that way’. These two groups were

also shown samples of the words used in the EL or DE groups. The last instruction was,

‘to always remember to act as if I were (elated) or (depressed)’ (Velten 1968, p. 475).

Seven tests were given to the participants to see if induction had taken place. These

tests were, writing speed, distance approximation, decision time, perceptual

ambiguity, word association, (MAACL) Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, and

Spontaneous Verbalization. This was followed by a post-experimental questionnaire

‘designed to indicate awareness of effects induced by the treatment and awareness of

E’s hypotheses regarding the critical measures’. Results were that EL, NU and DE

groups performed as anticipated, but EDC and DDC groups’ dominant emotion was

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limited. In two groups subjects tended to overplay there subjective mood but

underperformed on the objective tests (Velten 1998, 476).

This difference in behaviour to the mood induction was a demand bias, as the

participants were acting in a manner to please the experimenters. The nature of

demand effect and its influence on mood induction continues to be a challenge.

Building on Velten’s methods, Izzard presented a more complex issue on mood

induction. He questioned the idea that Velten’s study was actually dealing with

discrete emotions. It was Izzard’s contention that these were not discrete emotions

but associated emotions. ‘One emotion can almost instantaneously elicit another

emotion that amplifies, attenuates, inhibits or interacts with the original emotional

experience’ (Izzard 1972, p. 177). The issue of discrete versus associated emotions is

an ongoing debate but the tendency currently is to state in each study the author’s

definition of emotions.

Polivy’s 1981 study, employing Velten’s methodology, studied the question of discrete

and associated emotions following up on Izzard’s contention that the emotions are

not discrete. Her results ‘indicate that inducing elation or depression causes

significant increases in tranquillity or anxiety and goodwill or hostility’ (Polivy 1981, p.

808). Another study based on fear of a painful electric shock not only indicated fear

but also depression and hostility (Polivy 1981, p. 811). She concludes her paper

stating: ‘We should be aware that our investigations of “an emotion” are most

probably investigations of several stimulus emotions’ (Polivy 1981, p. 816).

Frost and Green (1982) then question the duration of induced emotions and the

apparent lack of debriefing and removal of latent emotional residue: ‘(1) Do subjects

leave VMIP (Velten Mood Induction Process) experiments with residual negative

moods? And (2) Do VIMP effects last long enough for investigators to rely on them’

(Frost & Green 1982, p. 342)? Frost’s concern highlighted the fact that his research

indicated that 13 of 17 studies using VMIP did not indicate ‘any strategies to remove

negative moods’ (Frost 1982, p. 342). Clearly, there would be some concern of letting

participants leave the study in a depressive state due to an induction experiment.

Other discussions centered on the nature of the participant and their individual

susceptibility to depressive mood induction. This individual susceptibility using the

Velten induction method was a significant concern as, ‘between 30-50% of subjects

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failed to respond to it’ (Clark 1985, p. 45). This low rate raised ‘doubts about the

generalizability of any results that may be obtained using it’ (Clark 1985, p 45). This

percentage of failed inductions was too high. It was becoming apparent that the

Velten method had a failure rate that was higher than many other forms of induction.

Another concern was on how to administer the induction process. During the

induction phase in VMIP, should the induction just be on the sixty phrases or the

twenty phrases and should the explicit instructions to feel the emotion deeply be

included in the instructions or should there be no mention of the emotion?

This last issue dealt with demand or the social desirability bias. The issue here was

that some participants were faking the emotion in order to satisfy the demands of the

experimenters. In addition, the participants would try to enhance the mood induction

by creating thoughts and expressions that would deliberately enhance the mood so

efficacy of the mood induction process was minimised by the demand and the

participants’ active participation. Fortunately it was becoming clear that demand bias

was easily identified, as participants who ‘fake it’ overemphasized the

expected/known behaviours, but underscored in the unknown measures associated

with that particular mood induction (Kenealy 1986, pp. 321-327).

For Blackburn et al. (1990), the viability of the Velten’s mood induction was

questionable. Blackburn’s study investigated Velten’s mood induction and the

individual differences and responses to the Velten Mood Induction Procedure.

Although this study added to the evidence that cognition was associated with

depression, it also confirmed ‘the variable and low rate of response to a mood

induction procedure’ (Blackburn et al. 1990, p. 730). Given that the variable rate of

response was based on the nature of the participants, it was clear that the reliability

of the Velten induction process was low and difficult to generalize.

Astrid Gerrards-Hesse’s (1994) article, Experimental inductions of emotional states and

their effectiveness: A review, looked at mood induction procedures from 1979-1994.

This study ranked the effectiveness of an induction process to create an effective

mood induction. The ratings of effectiveness of an elation induction were, film/story

with explicit instructions as to mood (100%), Drugs (100%), film/story no instructions

to mood (92%), and gift (83%). For depression: imagination (100%), film/story (94%),

success and failure (92%), and Velten, which includes specific mood instructions (80%)

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(Astrid Gerrards-Hesse 1994, p. 66). In conclusion: ‘If the same procedure is to be used

for both elation and depression induction the film/story MIP should be the first

choice’. Velten’s mood induction ranked fourth in depression and did not rank for

elation. (Astrid Gerrards-Hesse et al. 1994, p. 70).

Westermann’s study, Relative effectiveness and validity of mood induction procedures:

a meta-analysis focuses on 250 induction studies, points out that, ‘effects are

especially large when subjects are explicitly instructed to enter the specified

mood….Effects tend to be smaller when demand characteristics are controlled or

subjects are not informed about the purpose of the experiments’ (Westermann et al.

1996, p. 557). This study concludes by stating: ‘If demand effects are considered to be

a serious threat to the validity of an experiment, MIPs that do not inform subjects may

be preferable’ (Westermann et al. 1996, p. 578). As the Velten mood induction was

not effective for elation, and it required stating specific self-referent statements about

mood the demand bias could not be removed resulting in lower validity. Because of

this, more effective MIP’s replaced the VMIP.

25

26

2. Methods

In this chapter the two methodologies are presented. The first methodology is the

systematic search strategy based on the Cochrane Handbook. This methodology is

implemented in this chapter in order to select the appropriate studies. The second

methodology critical analysis will be used in Chapter 3.

2.1 Methodology for Search StrategyThe search strategy for the studies was based on the Cochrane Handbook for

Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011]. A systematic

review has clearly stipulated inclusion and exclusion criteria combined with an explicit

search strategy, as well as systematic structures including: flow charts, data extraction

charts, assessment of RCTs charts, selection criteria charts, and key search indicators

(Higgins & Green 2011).

2.2 Methodology for AnalysisOnce the studies were selected, the information was analysed using the second

methodology: a critical analysis approach. A critical analysis methodology is: ‘ the

intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying,

analysing, synthesising and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generalised

by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to

belief or action [or argument]’ (Scriven & Paul 2003, p. 3).

2.3 Search StrategyA number of exploratory searches, including Data Bases such as MedLine, Psych Net

and search engine Google Scholar were used in order to help refine search parameters

and terms. Google Scholar was found to be more comprehensive in its search and in

some circumstances more flexible than the other databases. Search parameters for

this study included articles from peer reviewed journals, translated from any language

into English, from 1998-2011.

The selection of 1998 was when Frederickson published her first paper on the

‘broaden and build’ concept. In addition, this was the year that Martin Seligman

became President of the APA and announced, at their annual general meeting the

new focus to be placed on APP. The final search was initiated May 5th 2012. The end

of 2011 was the cut-off date as numerous previous searches had been completed with

that cut-off date.

27

Only RCTs were selected, as causality was important (Seligman 2011, p. 32). These

RCTs had to be about positive emotions within the BBT, given that this study was

concerned with research on the BBT. An additional criterion was to have at least one

outcome measure that was not based on self-assessment. In this work, outcome

measures refer to an outcome that can be used to support or refute a hypothesis and

the outcome must be in measurable units. The unit of measurement must be specific

and concrete, not a subjective construct. This layer of measurable objective outcomes

added depth to the studies, as most research in this area is self-assessment. In order

to clarify information on blinding and randomization all authors were contacted.

Searching Google Scholar, the phrase ‘Broaden and Build’ was mandatory as were the

terms: ‘random’, ‘controlled’, ‘experiment’ and ’induction’. These terms were chosen,

as they were integral to the process of creating an RCT study. Broaden and Build was

the theory and random, controlled and experiment were integral parts of a RCT.

Induction was included as it was used as an intervention and as an active control.

Other terms relating to RCT including ‘blind’ and ‘double blind’ were tried but found to

be too limiting. It would have been useful to add ‘objective metrics’ to limit the

search; however, this term was not found in any of the studies and a manual search

was carried out.

2.4 Final Search Strategy

2.41 Rationale

Google Scholar search returned 153 studies. The term ‘Broaden and Build’ was

included in the literature review section of many studies, but was not integral to the

paper. This led to the elimination of 54 studies. Two duplications in the search were

also eliminated. Books were clearly labelled in the search results and all 30 were

eliminated, as they did not meet the criteria of being in a peer-reviewed journal.

Forty, theses, dissertations and working papers were also eliminated for the same

reason. Three studies had functional magnetic resonance imaging f(MRI) outcomes

and were not included, as they did not have objective outcomes as defined in this

study. Twenty-four papers made it into the final selection. At this stage, a hand search

using a basic data extraction form was utilized and the objective outcome criteria

were included. In this exclusion: one study did not deal with BBT, two were not

experiments, one did not have a control group, and twelve studies did not have

objective outcomes. The total studies remaining were eight RCTs with objective

measures. After receiving the emails from the researchers’ it was found the one study

28

that was reported as random was in fact a systematic process. This study was not

eliminated, as it was a good example of the issues associated with appropriate

reporting of randomization.

2.42 Flow chart-Selection-filters

A diagram that shows the filters for inclusion and exclusion

Figure 1 Filter Selection

Literature Search

Search engine Google Scholar

Terms: ‘Broaden and Build’, ‘random, controlled’, ‘experiment’, ‘induction’, 1998-2011, No language limits, Peer reviewed journals.

Articles screened on bases of

title and abstract

Excluded (n=129)

Duplicates=2

fMRI Studies=3

Books=30

Not in a Peer Reviewed Journal=40

Off Topic= 54

Total Search Results (n= 153)

Included (n=24)

Manuscript review and

application of inclusion criteria

Included (n=8 papers)

(n=8 studies)

Excluded (n=16)

Not Broaden and Build=1

Not experiment= 2

No random control=1

Subjective outcomes= 12

29

2.43 Author Journal Abstract

Authors and Journal AbstractAnderson, E. et al. (2011)Journal of experimental social psychology, 47(4), 856-860.

This experiment, demonstrates that the affective state of a perceiver influences the contents of visual awareness.

Biss, R. & Hasher, L. (2011) Emotion, 11(6), 1474-1478.

In this study the authors examine the impact of emotional state on irrelevant information.

Falkenstern, M. et al., (2009)The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 365-371.

The goal of the current study was to extend the undoing hypothesis to the cognitive domain to determine whether positive emotion can undo the cognitive effects of negative emotion.

Fredrickson, B., et al., (2000) Motivation and Emotion, 24(4), 237-258.

Positive emotions are hypothesized to undo the cardiovascular after effects of negative emotions.

Lee, G. (2011)Personality and Individual Differences, 50(5), 717-722.

This study examined relationships between positive affect and jumping to conclusions (JTC) in delusional thinking.

Sakaki, M. & Kazuhisa, N. (2011) Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioural Neuroscience, 11(4), 526-540.

To study the effects of the brief viewing of positive and negative pictures on reaction times for understanding solutions to insight problems.

Shmueli, D. & Judith, P. (2012) Psychological Addiction Behaviour, 26, 157-161.

Positive affect elicited with a video was able to counteract the detrimental effects of self-control depletion on smoking behaviour.

Wadlinger, H. & Isaacowitz, D. (2006)Motivation and Emotion, 30(1), 87-99.

The goal of the study was to evaluate whether a positive mood induction would broaden the visual attention of individuals using images that varied on level of emotional valence from very negative to neutral to very positive.

Figure 2 Author Journal Abstract

30

2.43 Chart: Study Selection Criteria form

For all study selection forms please see Appendix Study Selection Criteria Form

Reviewer Andrew SmithDate April 15-16 2012Details of PublicationAuthor: Kuhbander, Christof, et al.Title: Effects of Mood on the speed of conscious perception: behavioural and electrophysiological evidenceJournal: SCAN (2009) 4, 286-293

Filters If yes, continue If no, remove study

Published 1998-2011Yes

Peer reviewed journal Yes

Has positive affect/effect/emotion as part of the intervention Yes

Has a control Yes

Has random assignment Yes

At least one outcome must be an objective outcome

No

One or more outcomes supports or contradicts the Broaden and Build theory

Figure 3 Study Selection

31

2.44 Chart: Sample of Validity Assessment Chart

For all study selection forms please see Appendix All RCT studies were appraised for study quality after the initial selection process.Figure 4 Validity

Random sequence generation Low risk Stated that computer randomized participants into one of two conditions

Allocation concealment Low risk This was a web-based experiment so controlled allocation.

Blinding of participants and personnel

Low risk This was a web based experiment so not likely that participants aware of intervention. As limited interaction with personnel little chance of influencing participants

Blinding of outcome assessment Low risk There was no mention of blinding but given the form of the experiment, outcomes unlikely to be influenced. In addition, outcome, number of questions asked, was an objective outcome.

Incomplete outcome data Low risk No missing outcome dataSelective reporting Unclear Insufficient information to make a

judgementOther bias Unclear Sample is one of convenience consisting of

young participants average age 22.8 S.D. (6.0) attending university.

As these forms, combined with the information in the studies did little to clarify the

validity of the studies. The primary researchers were contacted by email. They were

asked the following two questions: ‘What was the process of randomization’? and

‘Were the participants and experimenters blind’?

With the information from the emails, there were now three levels of information

relating to randomization and blinding. These levels of information are: what was

written in the study (using a key word search), what could be deduced from

Cochrane’s protocol and charts, and finally the actual email replies from the scientists.

All three levels presented different evidence.

32

2.5 Criteria used for a Summary of Study ChartFor all summary of study charts please see Appendix.

Identification and Citation

Location

Abstract

Study Design

Hypothesis

Sample Composition

Control

Blind

Induction

Intervention

Outcomes

2.6 Methodological IssuesProblems of searching using key terms. Certain terms, although part of the criteria for

the search, were not included in the searchable information. For example, searching

the phrase ‘objective outcomes’ returned no hits, and putting the words in individually

resulted in numerous papers with the word ‘objective’ or ‘outcomes’ but never

‘objective outcomes’. The search term ‘blind’ was not effective as the concept of

‘blinding’ or ‘masking’ was, in most cases, either non-existent or presumed but not

stated in the studies. The term ‘Positive Psychology’ was too broad until other filters

were applied and the term ‘Broaden and Build’ was too broad as many studies

included this theory in their literature search of their experiment without using it

further.

Another issue was the use of the term random control. This was a straightforward

search item; however, in reading the studies, filling in the Cochrane classification chart

and then contacting the researchers there appeared to be a number of discrepancies.

The use of the term ‘control’ was unclear. In many of these studies, the control group

was given an induction designed to create a neutral emotional state. There is one

study that had both a neutral induced control as well as a no action taken control.

Another had only a no action taken control and no neutral control. In some cases, the

control was simply categorised as a neutral induction.

33

3. Findings and Results

In this chapter a critical analysis methodology is used to analyse the quality of

research of each of the eight studies. This critical analysis is based on seven specific

criteria developed from the literature review. Each chart covers one of the following

categories:

Chart 3.1: Sample composition (population) Chart 3.2: The use of self-assessment measure (study integrity) Chart 3.3: The use of objective measurement (outcomes) Chart 3.4: The nature of emotions and blinding (study integrity) Chart 3.5: The quality of the RCTs (study design) Chart 3.6: The use of induction (intervention) Chart 3.7: The use of neutral induction as control (control)

Each chart contains information on all eight studies. Although there is a significant amount of information included in each chart, it is descriptive information. The critical analysis of this study is presented directly following each of the charts.

34

Chart 3.1 Critical Analysis: Sample CompositionLead Author

Sample Composition

Anderson 50 undergraduates from Boston College.35/15 female/malemean age 20.64 (range 17-32)sample of convenience

Biss 64 students from the University of Toronto (Canada)43/21 female /malemean age 19.4 (SD 2.7; range 17-33) 12.9 yrs. of educ. (SD 1.2)sample of convenience

Falkenstern 86 undergraduates from a liberal arts college (U.S.)41/21 female/male, 72 Caucasian 84%mean age 19 (range 18-22),sample of convenience

Fredrickson Sample 1 Sample 295 university students (U.S.) 75 university students (U.S.)48/47 female/male 38/37 female/male71 European 75% 58 European 77%sample of convenience sample of convenience

Lee 189 students from University of Manchester (U.K.)140/49 female/male), 140 white 74%mean age 22.8 (range 18-55, SD 6.0)sample of convenience

Sakaki 31 undergraduates from U of Tokyo (Japan)19/12 female/malemean age 20.2 (SD 0.83)sample of convenience

Shmueli 193 smokers from the San Francisco area (U.S.) local ads118/67/8 female/male/transgender, 69 white 26%, 85 African 44%heterogeneous sample from the San Francisco area

Wadlinger 58 undergrads from Psych course at Brandeis University (U.S.)30/28 male/femalemean age 19.69 (range 18-26, SD 2.06)sample of convenience

Figure 5 Sample Composition

When looking at dominant themes in sampling of these studies there were some clear

areas of concern. Of the eight studies, five were from the United States. The other

countries were Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. All studies except Shmeuli’s

were in lab settings. All studies, except Shmeuli’s, used convenience sampling, were in

a university setting, and were predominately comprised of undergraduate students

enrolled in a psychology class. All studies, except Sakaki’s had more females in the

studies. The largest imbalance in a single study was a sample size of 189 students, 140

females and 49 males. This gender imbalance reflects, to an extent, the changing

demographics in enrolment, as nearly 72 per cent of new PhD and PsyDs entering

35

psychology are women (Cynkar 2007, p. 1). The total count from all studies totalled

607 females and 339 males. From this information, the dominant participant would

be an eighteen to twenty-two year old middle class, white female psychology

undergraduate university student living in the United States.

This very narrow demographic band skews outcomes. Differences in Socioeconomic

Status (SES), age, ethnicity, and gender create different outcomes even when using

identical testing methods. These differences in results are amplified when the testing

has a subjective or self-evaluation component, as life experience shapes an

individual’s point of view. This will be readily apparent in the study by Jane Ogden and

Jessica Lo (2011).

Choosing convenience sampling was both cost and time efficient, but as a non-

probability study it excluded random selection and severely limited generalization to a

larger population. Because of these choices, the studies had a limited external validity.

Also, all but Shmueli’s study were clinical studies, so there were concerns relating to

ecological validity.

However, as in any scientific study there have to be trade-offs relating to time, money

and external and internal validity. Although not explicitly stated, the majority of these

studies were clinical trials developed in order to add information to Frederickson’s

Broaden and Build theory. For example in Wadlinger and Derek’s (2010) paper the

abstract opens with the following statement: ‘ In an attempt to investigate the impact

of positive emotions on visual attention within the context of Fredrickson’s (1998)

broaden-and-build model, eye tracking was used in two studies to measure visual

attentional preferences of college student’s’ (Wadlinger & Derek 2006, p. 87). Another

study concludes: ‘The current study provides preliminary support for the application

of the undoing hypothesis (Fredrickson & Levenson, 1988) to the cognitive domain’

(Falkenstern et al. 2009, p. 370). This is repeated in another study: ‘This relative

positive congruence effect is consistent with the research in the attention literature

showing that positive affect biases attention toward rewarding information

presumably in the service of approach-related decision making and behaviour

(Frederickson, 2001)’ (Anderson et al. 2011, p. 859). Given this focus on developing

studies related to the BBT, external validity was not the priority.

36

Unfortunately, many of the papers did not acknowledge the issue of having a limiting

homogeneous grouping. In some papers the only time the composition of the sample

was stated was in the methods section under the heading ‘Participants’. Group

composition was never stated in any of the titles so you have an article titled: Positive

mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli. More accurately the title for this

paper should have been: Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli in

undergraduate students. This lack of clarity was reflected in the discussion part of

many of the papers. Some studies simply referred to participants or made no mention

of the participants at all. Sahaki’s paper did not even mention the term participants

but concludes: ‘These results suggest that the effects of emotional pictures on

understanding solutions to insight problems do not depend on similar mechanisms as

do the effects of emotional pictures on memory’ (Sakaki & Niki 2011, p. 535). The

sample used in this study was thirty-one undergraduate students. Other studies did

acknowledge that their samples were problematic. Two authors went further than

that. Falkenstern’s (2009) paper stated:

Although the current study provides tentative support for the undoing hypothesis on cognitive processing, it utilized a homogeneous convenience sample of general psychology students at a small liberal arts college. Therefore, it is difficult to determine how the results of this study would generalize to different populations (Falkenstern et al. 2009, p. 370).

Lee’s study added another limitation. He wrote: ‘Replication in real world settings

would be critical to supporting the ecological validity of present results…. From this

point of view; the following suggestions are presented speculatively’ (Lee et al. 2011,

p. 721). Clearly some of the authors realized the need to acknowledge the limitations

of their findings, other authors may have known the limitations but failed to make

them clear.

37

Chart 3.2 Critical Analysis: Self-Assessment Lead Author

Subjective self-assessment

Anderson Nine-point Likert scale: After each induction condition T1,T2,T3,T4, participants reported their core affective state in terms of valence and arousal using a 9-point scale

Biss Likert Scale: 4 self-ratings for mood and arousalFalkenstern Emotion Report Form (ERF): Participants completed an Emotion Report Form (ERF)

developed by Fredrickson. The ERF contained nine different emotions including amusement, anger, anxiety, contentment, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and serenity. Participants rated the amount of each emotion they felt in response to the films they watched on a 9-point scale ranging from 0 (none) to 8 (a great deal). The ERF was used after two different inductions. Format of ERF is a self- reporting Lickert-like scale test.

Fredrickson Emotion Report Form (ERF): At the end of the experiment participants completed one (ERF) to describe how they felt while preparing their speech and a second ERF to describe how they felt viewing the randomly assigned film clip. Format of ERF is a self- reporting Lickert like scale test. Tests were done at the end of the experiment.

Lee The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): Consists of twenty adjectives describing current affect. There are ten adjectives forming a positive affect scale (e.g., “interested” and “proud”) and ten for a negative affect scale (e.g., “nervous” and “jittery”). Each item is rated 1–5, reflecting the degree to which that adjective is felt (1 = “very slightly or not at all”, 5 = “extremelyThe Peters Delusion Inventory (PDI-21): consists of 21 items measuring delusional–proneness in non-clinical populations. Each item is answered yes/no with, three subscales rated: distress (1 = “not distressing at all”, 5 = “very distressing”), preoccupation (1 = “hardly ever think about it”, 5 = “think about it all the time”) and conviction (1 = “don’t believe it’s true”, 5 = “believe it’s absolutely true”).Two single-item Likert scales Self-evaluation of performance/task difficulty consists of two single-item Likert scales that measured how well participants thought they had performed compared to other people, and how difficult they had found the JTC and creativity tasks. Both items were scored 0–10 (0 = “performed much worse than others/very easy”, 10 = “performed much better than others/very difficult”). These evaluations were included on two occasions (t1 and t2.)

Sakaki No self-assessment.Shmueli Participants completed a set of pre-experimental measures.

Immediately following the cue exposure task, participants completed a manipulation check assessing perceived interest, difficulty, and pleasantness of the task, two items each.Type of test unknown.Participants then underwent the affect induction portion of the study using one of two procedures—video or writing exercise—allowing for examination of the impact of different forms of positive affect induction.

WadlingerStudy 1

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): The following measures tested for positive and negative affect, anxiety, optimism, and depressive symptoms: the PANAS inventory was used as a self-report measure of trait positive and negative affect.CES-D depression scale. Depression was measured with the CES-D depression scaleSpeilberger State/Trait Anxiety Scales (STAI-S and STAI-T): Anxiety was measured12-item Life Orientation Test: Measured optimism

Figure 6 Reliance on Self-assessment (Information in this chart taken directly from the written studies)

38

The Reliance on Self-Assessment chart lists and explains the self-assessment measures

used in the eight studies. The Likert scale was used by Anderson, Bliss and Lee. In all

three cases, the test measurements preformed, fell within the capabilities of the Likert

scale single item measure of mood in Anderson and Bliss’s studies and the single

measure of performance in Lee’s study. Sakaki’s study only had an objective

measurement and no self-assessment. Shmueli described a number of

preexperimental questionnaires and after the mood induction relied on an objective

measure to study the effect. This was an interesting study design, but the inability to

measure the mood induction created issues when it was demonstrated in the results

that aspects of the mood induction had been ineffective.

The self-reporting Likert like scale test- Emotion Report Form (ERF) was used by both

Falkenstern and Fredrickson. Both Lee and Wadlinger used the Positive and Negative

Affect Schedule (PANAS.) Lee also used the Peters Delusion Inventory (PD-21) and

Wadlinger used the CES-D depression scale, the Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Scales

(STAI-S and STAI-T) and the 12-item Life Orientation Test. All of these tests were multi-

scale self-assessment tests.

However, a paper written by Jane Ogden and Jessica Lo, How meaningful are data

from Likert scales? An evaluation of how ratings are made and the role of the response

shift in the socially disadvantaged, admirably highlights the problems of using Likert

scale on different SES groups. Ogden and Lo’s (2011) study includes both quantitative

data from the scales, and qualitative responses initiated by open questions. The

qualitative responses were explanations that the participants gave in order to explain

their quantitative selection. This study focussed on quality of life and includes three

samples: a homeless group N=75, first year students living away from home N=301

and individuals that live in the town, N=72. Questions were the same for all groups

and focused on mood and health ‘right now’ and satisfaction in the ‘last few days’. The

authors used a five point scale ranging from: not at all (1), to rarely (2), somewhat (3),

fairly (4), very much (5). Open questions related to a description of their

accommodation and their eating behaviour. The qualitative data were summarized

into two groups: accommodation, mood and social interaction, and eating drinking

and feeling healthy (Ogden & Lo 2011, pp. 350-361).

39

In summation, the homeless quantitative data ranked higher than either the students

or individuals living in the town. The people living rough reported feeling less tired and

more healthy that the others and in a better mood than the others, in relation to

frustration, loneliness and anger (Ogden & Lo 2011, p. 356). However, their qualitative

answers reflected problems with sleeping and a host of medical and health issues

including a wide range of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and

problems with drug and alcohol addiction. ‘Such inconsistencies between different

forms of data may reflect measurement error and the psychometric limitations of the

Likert scales’ (Ogden & Lo 2011, p. 359).

These discrepancies reflect a difference in the interpretation of the focus of the

question. Students discussed their accommodation on the bases of social aspects,

whereas the homeless focused on the physical aspects of their lodging. On the subject

of food both townies and students focused on the regularity and healthiness of their

eating, the homeless responded with descriptions such as: ‘I never get hungry…but I

haven’t eaten for days’. ‘I don’t really need to eat much’. ‘I don’t get hungry…I haven’t

eaten since Friday’ (Ogden & Lo 2011, p. 359).

The conclusion of this study presents three issues that may have influenced decision

making. The first issue is ‘the frame of reference’ which reflects how an individual’s

answers are shaped on the bases of what is important to that individual. The second is

‘the different methods of comparison’. In this case the homeless group were using

within-subject comparisons and not between subject comparisons. For the homeless

they would refer to situations that had been worse for them. The third aspect is

‘different time frames’. In the case of the homeless their positive ranking of their

experience could be that: ‘Participants who have been deprived of an aspect of life for

a sustained period of time, habituation rather than sensitization may be the response’.

In the conclusion the authors suggest Likert scales ‘have their limitations and that data

derived from their use should be understood within the broader context of

participants’ decision making processes’ (Ogden & Lo 2011, p. 360).

40

Chart 3.3 Critical Analysis: Objective OutcomesLead Author

Objective Outcomes

Anderson Participants completed a series of binocular rivalry trials in which a face (smiling, scowling, or neutral) was presented to one eye and a house to the other. The percepts ‘competed’ for dominance in visual consciousness.

Biss Participants ability to recall and complete primed word fragmentsFalkenstern The dependent variable was response latency as measured by the time in

milliseconds that the participant took to press the button after the letter appeared on the screen.

Fredrickson Cardiovascular Measures(1) Heart rate (HR (ECG)(2) Finger pulse amplitude (FPA)(3) Pulse transmission times to the finger (PTF)(4) Pulse transmission time to the ear (PTE )(5) diastolic blood pressure (DBP(6) systolic blood pressure (SBP)

Lee The key variable was the number of comments requested before a decision was made.

Sakaki Participants were faster to report that they understood the solutions following positive images, and were slower to report it following negative images.

Shmueli Participants were given a 10-min recess. Whether or not participants smoked during the recess, assessed by self-report and biochemical verification, served as the primary dependent variable.

Wadlinger The eye tracker specifically records the duration and location of the participant’s left eye sixty times per second. The total viewing time can be calculated. The data derived from the eye tracker was recorded as percent gaze fixation times

Figure 7 Objective measures

In the early stages of research in APP many studies were correlational studies using

subjective self-evaluation measures. These studies were useful in helping to develop

potential testable hypothesis. From this process then developed research that

included RCTs, but as in most psychological studies, much of the data was still

generated from self-evaluations. As has been discussed, self-evaluations are useful but

they have limitations.

The inclusion of objective metrics in these eight studies is very useful as the major

focus on objective metrics is to add a process of measurement that does not use self-

assessment in the outcome. In this work, outcome measures refer to an outcome that

can be used to support or refute a hypothesis and the outcome must be in measurable

units. In the following discussion, the unit of measurement and the method of

obtaining that measurement are presented.

41

In Anderson’s study (2011) the unit of measurement was time in milliseconds.

Participants were given a mood induction and then completed a series of binocular

rivalry trials in which a face (smiling, scowling, or neutral) was presented to one eye

and a house to the other eye. When subjects were induced into a pleasant affective

state, the faces dominated over the house and the participants spent more time

looking at the pleasant faces. When participants were induced into an unpleasant

affective state the pictures of the faces dominated over the house and the participants

spent more time looking at all pictures but scowling faces dominated.

In Bliss’s study (2011) the objective metric was the number of word fragments

remembered. After mood induction, participants were shown a series of pictures and

overlapping words. They were instructed to focus on the pictures. Following a timed

interval, they were then given a word completion task on the words that were in the

original pictures. Those with a positive induction remembered more words than those

in the neutral induction.

In Falkenstern’s study (2009) the unit of measurement was time in milliseconds. When

a letter appeared on the screen, participants were to press that letter on the

keyboard. The time from seeing the letter to pressing the keyboard was measured.

After a negative induction to all participants, the letter recognition test was repeated.

Then three randomly selected groups were given a positive, a negative or a neutral

induction. Participants were then given a letter identification task for the final time.

Negative induction decreased reaction times.

Frederickson’s study (2000) used six measurements related to the cardiovascular

system to measure time in seconds to recover to base line. An initial stress induction

was given to all participants. Then a neutral, positive or negative mood induction was

given to each group. The time for the individual to return to base line was measured.

Those in the positive mood induction were the fastest to return to base line, followed

by the neutral group and then the negative group.

In Lee’s study (2011), the unit of measurement was the total number of questions that

each participant asked before reaching a decision. Mood induction was induced by

positive or neutral feedback. The task was to reach a conclusion by asking questions.

Participants given the positive induction asked more questions than the neutral group.

42

In Sakai’s study (2011), the unit of measure was the time to understand a riddle.

Participants were told a riddle. Then they were shown a positive, neutral or negative

image, after which they were given the solution. They were then asked to push a

button when they understood the riddle. Participants were faster in understanding

the riddle when shown a positive image.

In Shmueli’s study (2012), the objective measure was the number of participants (all

smokers) who went out for a cigarette during a break in the study. This study dealt

with the self-regulation and depletion. A depletion process took place as participants

were exposed to either cookies or vegetables but were not allowed to eat them. After

that, participants were then given a positive or neutral induction. After that there was

a break. The positive video group, who were depleted because of the cookies, were

nearly as likely not to smoke as the non-depletion vegetable group.

In Wadlinger’s study (2006), the unit of measurements consisted of percentage of

time in gaze fixation on peripheral images and the number of saccades (fixing on a

point) participants made per slide. Units of measurement were generated from an eye

tracker. The positive induction group fixated more on peripheral images with high

positive valence and made significantly more saccades than the neutral group.

43

Chart 3.4 Critical Analysis: BlindingLead Author

Blinding

Anderson Participants were completely blind to condition. The staff were not blind to the condition because as part of the "induce positive" condition, participants were presented with a small gift immediately prior to eye-tracking (thus staff knew the condition, but were instructed not to deviate from the prepared scripts). Control participants received the gift immediately after tracking. Participants were not debriefed until after the study and from informal conversations afterward none connected that the candy gift related to their attention patterns (that we were tracking).

Biss Participants were blind to the purpose of the experiment and to the fact that we were manipulating mood, however, as our mood manipulation conditions involved listening to emotional music and viewing emotional pictures, it is always possible that some figured out which condition they were in (although none reported this to the experimenter).Staff were not blind to condition

Falkenstern Participants obviously knew what video they saw, but they were not told that the purpose of the video was to induce a specific mood and were not aware that there were other conditions seeing a different video until they were debriefed.Staff were not blind to the condition, but all of the data were collected on a computer, so there really wasn’t room for bias in data collection.

Fredrickson No informationLee Participants and staff were blind to assignment condition.Sakaki Participants were run by my undergraduate RAs that did not know the

hypothesis.Shmueli The groups were not blind to the depletion condition, in the sense that they

knew they would be asked to resist eating either vegetables or sweets, and were then asked to resist one of those foods. However, they were not aware of the intent of this manipulation (i.e., to deplete self-control). The groups were unaware of the replenishment manipulation, or that there was more than one condition (i.e., positive vs. neutral).

Wadlinger No informationFigure 8 Blinding (Information in this chart is verbatim from email correspondence with researchers)

Using the results from a computer generated key word search none of the studies

mentioned blinding or masking. As there was no information contained in the studies

about blinding, Cochrane’s protocol and chart were used in order to create a

systematic approach for gathering information. These charts are in the appendix of

this work. Unfortunately, in this case, the charts were little more than a systematic

way of guessing and did not provide information that was reliable. The only viable

process was to communicate directly with the researchers.

Most researchers kindly responded to the author’s email requesting clarification about

blinding. This information is contained in Chart 3.4. The actual copies of the emails are

listed in the Appendix. To summarise: Anderson, Biss, Folkenstern, Lee, and Shmuli

44

stated that the participants were blind to the condition or purpose. Anderson, and

Biss, stated that none of the staff were blind as they were responsible for inducing the

mood. Falkenstern stated staff were not blind, but as data was collected by computer

there would not be data bias. Lee was the only one that stated that both participants

and staff were blind to assignment condition. Sakaki’s response to the question of

blinding was unclear: ‘participants were run by my undergraduate [Research

Assistants] RAs that did not know the hypothesis’.

Although when asked, all researchers’ stated that the participants were blind, it would

be much more useful if this was recorded in the study. The fact that blinding is not

reported in the actual studies, when it is actually used in the studies, is unfortunate, as

it could bias the study and limit its use in systematic reviews.

It is possible that there was less concern for blinding as the objective outcomes were

opaque to the participant. Also if the research was self-contained on a computer and

there was no direct interaction between participant and researcher, blinding would be

built into the research design. However, it should not be up to the reader to search

this out, and this would not answer the question if other areas of the study were

blind.

45

Chart 3.5 Critical Analysis: Randomization in RCTsLead Author RCTAnderson Randomization of trial order was done using the presentation

software, Eprime.Biss In our study, participants were randomly assigned to condition using a

randomized block design. The blocks were randomized using the random function in Excel.

Falkenstern We just used a “draw the numbers out of a hat” approach to ensure roughly equal numbers of participants across conditions.

Fredrickson No replyLee Randomisation was achieved by using the first letter of the person's

surname: if it began with a letter between A-M, they were assigned to the neutral condition and N-Z to the positive condition. When the first 100 participants had fully completed the study, the assignment was reversed (i.e. A-M assignment to positive condition, N-Z to neutral).

Sakaki Randomization in Study 1 was performed by random numbers generated by Excenumber l.

Shmueli Predetermined randomization order was based on an online random number generator: http://www.randomizer.org/form.htm

Wadlinger I believed we used a random online number generator (i.e. ResearchRandomizer - http://www.randomizer.org/) to assign experimental conditions.

Figure 9 Randomization in RCTs (Information in this chart is verbatim from email correspondence with researchers)

Using the results from a computer generated key word search all of the studies

mentioned some form of the term ‘random’ with the most common phrase being,

‘randomly assigned’. What was lacking was an explanation on how the randomisation

was accomplished. Without this information, the process of randomization is suspect.

In order to rectify this deficit the next course of action was to use Cochrane’s protocol

and chart in order to create a systematic approach in gathering information. These

charts are in the Appendix. Unfortunately, in this case, the charts were little more than

a systematic way of guessing and did not provide information that was reliable. The

only viable process was again to communicate directly with the researchers.

According to their emails, both Anderson and Shmueli used a computer generated

random number system and included a link to the site. Biss and Sakaki used Excel

software as a random number generator. Wadlinger used an unnamed random

number generator, and Falkenstern used ‘draw out of a hat’ in order to develop equal

groups. The use of recognized number generating software has its advantages. Not

only is it replicatable, and reliable, it also effectively limits the number of people who

would know the allocation procedure. Citing the software or the link adds another

layer of transparency. Falkenstern’s ‘draw out of a hat’ is effective when size of groups

http://www.randomizer.org/

46

needs to be balanced; however, its hands on procedure is open to manipulation of the

allocation procedure.

Lee’s study states, ‘The computer randomised participants into one of two conditions’

(Lee et al. 2011, p. 719). This appears to be at odds with his email: ‘Randomisation was

achieved by using the first letter of the person's surname’ (Appendix p. 105). It is

possible that the computer was programmed to randomise on the bases of last

names. If this was the case, what appears as a randomisation process in the study

appears to be a systematic process in the email. ‘Groups using such methods as

groups based on pre-intervention tests, last names, or admission date, are systematic

and not random’ (Schultz & Grimes 2002a, p. 516). In addition, using alphabetization

of the participant’s last name makes the allocation process highly visible and open to

manipulation.

47

Chart 3.6 Critical Analysis: InductionLead Author Induction

TypeInductionProcess

AndersonWhat you feel influences what you see

PleasantNeutralUnpleasant

Ten pleasant images were shown for each inductionTen neutral images were shown for each inductionTen unpleasant images were shown for each induction

BissDelighted and Distracted

PositiveNeutral

Pictures and music-jazzed up version of Brandenburg ConcertoPictures and music-ambient street noise

FalkensternMood over matter

SadnessPositiveNeutralNegative

Shown to all. The ChampHumorous film clipTwo men talking film clipFriend’s death movie clip

FredricksonThe undoing effect

Stress

ContentmentAmusementNeutralSadness

Presented to all. Video instructions write a speech that will be evaluated.Film clip of waves breaking on a beachFilm clip of puppies playingFilm clip abstract scene of sticks piling upFilm clip from The Champ death scene

LeeThe influence of positive affect on jumping to conclusions

PositiveNeutral

False taped positive feedback was presentedFalse taped neutral feedback was presented

SakakiEffects of the brief viewing of emotional stimuli

PositiveNeutralNegativeControl

Positive picture shownNeutral picture shownNegative picture showNo picture was shown

ShmueliA test of positive effect induction for countering self-control depletion

Positive (v)Neutral (v)Positive (w)Neutral (w)

Five minute comedy videoFive minute video about building bridgesWriting and emotionally feeling the happiest time in one’s lifeWriting a detailed description of one’s room

WadlingerPositive mood broadensVisual attention

PositiveControl

Given a small bag of candy.No action (not aware of the candy)

Figure 10 Induction

48

The studies included in this particular research used various forms of induction

including: giving candy, film and video clips, still pictures, false feedback and pictures

combined with music. The emphasis in this section is on the induction process and an

analysis of the failed inductions.

In Wadlinger’s study, the induction process was reasonably straightforward. In order

to induce a positive mood a small bag of candy was given to a randomly selected

group. They were told that they had to wait until the completion of the test before

they could eat the candy. This may have been a precaution as the ingredients in

chocolate could give a chemically induced positive mood and not a cognitively induced

mood. Control did not receive any candy until after the experiment was over. Giving

candy is a straight forward way of creating a positive induction as it ‘has been found to

be an effective means of inducing state positive effect in past research’ (Carnevale &

Isen, 1986; Isen et al., 1987).

In Shmueli’s induction process one of her inductions failed. Her study included two

sets of positive or neutral inductions. The first set of inductions used a positive video,

which showed a five-minute comedy skit, or a neutral video, which showed a five-

minute video on building bridges. The use of video clips is quite common in mood

induction studies. The other two inductions were induced by writing about a time the

participant was most happy, for the positive induction, and writing a description of the

room for the neutral induction.

Shmueli’s study looked at self-control depletion and replenishment. It was thought

that the positive induction group’s self-control would be replenished, but the neutral

control would indicate no replenishment:

Participants were presented with a large plate of either tempting desserts…or raw vegetables and instructed to resist eating the food while the experimenter left the room. Participants followed a 5-min pre-recorded tape with a series of bell rings, every time the bell rang, they were to lift the plate and smell the food while thinking about the temptation involved in resisting eating the food (Shmueli 2012, p. 159).

This process is not ideal as there is no way one could ascertain if the participants

followed instructions. Some did not follow instructions, as six of the participants ate

49

some of the food during the five-minute cueing. Clearly, this group had a difficult time

with self-control. Data from this group was deleted, as it was incomplete.

The findings of the study indicated that in the groups that received the positive

induction of a comedy sketch video, only 10.5 per cent of the dessert group went out

for a cigarette and of those in the vegetable group, 0 per cent went for a cigarette

break. In the groups that received the positive induction of writing about their

happiest event, 69.7 per cent of the dessert group went out for a cigarette and those

in the vegetable group, 68.8 per cent went for a cigarette break. This was a higher rate

than even the neutral groups with 65 per cent for desserts and 50 per cent for the

vegetables, going for a cigarette (Shmueli 2012, p. 161).

One explanation for the failure of the writing induction was that having to write a

paper about an event was stressful and stress increased the desire for a cigarette.

Another issue could be that watching a video is a passive exercise whereas writing is

an active process. In addition, it is possible that there were members in the group that

did not like to write or felt that what they wrote might be studied, which could cause

embarrassment for them.

Sakaki and Anderson used images for induction. Both selected their images from the

International Affective Picture System (IAPS; Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1997, 2008).

Anderson used pleasant and unpleasant affect. Sakaki’s inductions consisted of a

positive, negative, neutral and control. Standardized images were rated for valence

and arousal.

Although Bliss used images based on valence ratings in his study, following the same

protocol as Anderson and Sakaki, he added a sound track to the showing of the

pictures. For the positive induction he used ‘a jazzed up version of Bach’s Brandenburg

Concerto No.3’ (Bliss 2011, p. 1474), which had been used by Rowe (2007, p. 387). For

the neutral induction he added ambient street noise. There was no supporting history

of using this soundtrack. Bliss gave no explanation on why he added the sound track,

although one would assume he thought it enhanced the induction process. It would

have been helpful if Bliss had gone into this in more detail. In using two processes of

induction for the same mood at the same time, is it not possible that instead of

reinforcing the induction it could interfere with the induction?

50

Lee used feedback as the inductive process. For the positive induction he gave a

recorded positive feedback message, for his neutral induction he used the same

process but the message was neutral.

Falkenstern’s study used movie/film clips. An initial induction mood was played to all

participants. This general induction was then used as a base line and then other

inductions were introduced. From T1 to T2 speed of word recognition was faster for all

groups. From T2 to T3 both the negative and neutral groups the speed in word

recognition was faster compared to T1 to T2; however, for the positive induction

group their T2 and T3 times were the same. This was not expected.

Fortunately, Falkenstern spends sometime on this issue. She presents two

possibilities. First is that although the positive induction was statistically significant

‘the ratings of the intended emotions were only slightly above or at the midpoint on

the response scale’ (Falkenstern 2009, p. 369). The other factor relates to the

sadness induction process, which did induce sadness but also induced anger and fear

which the positive induction did not contain: ‘It is possible that the presence of anger,

fear or disgust, is responsible for the faster reaction times associated with the

negative affect condition’ (Falkenstern 2009, p. 370).

51

Chart 3.7 Critical Analysis: Neutral Induction as ControlLead Author

Neutral Induction as Control

Anderson Ten neutral images were shown using International Affective Picture System (IAPS) based on normative ratings

Biss Neutral images-( IAPS selected) and music-ambient street noiseCavanagh Neutral aquatic film clip shown to all.

Neutral induction clip of Gosford Park for neutral group. All film clips had been previously evaluated for specific mood induction.

Falkenstern Neutral two men talking from All the President’s Men film clip. Specific film clips selected as they had been used in previous experiments

Fredrickson Neutral film clip abstract scene of coloured sticks piling up.All film clips were played without sound.

Lee Neutral false, taped feedback was presented. Tone was pleasant and the participant was told they outperformed 50% of the public.

Sakaki Control no picture shown.Neutral pictures IAPS selected of mundane items such as mushrooms shown. Within-participants study.Only study with both a control and neutral film clips

Shmueli Neutral (v) Five minute video about building bridges.Neutral (w) Writing a detailed description of one’s room.

Wadlinger Control, no action taken.Figure 11 Induction control

In clinical trials ‘the randomized, placebo controlled trial is the gold standard of clinical

research’ (Freedman 1996, p. 243). This particular form of orthodoxy has, until

recently, been a mandated requirement for clinical trials. Without the use of a placebo

control, experimenters would jeopardize their research. However, this orthodoxy of

the placebo has been challenged on both moral and statistical grounds in that an

active control relating to best practice should be utilized as the participants are then

not denied treatment (Freedman 1996, p. 243).

There are a number of types and categories of control. The largest category is the

‘active’ control in which the participants are given an intervention leading to

treatment that is different from the experimental group. There is the ‘best available

practice’ control when participants are given the best available treatment while the

experimental group is treated with the experimental procedure. There is a ‘do

nothing’ control in which one might just sit for ten minutes looking at a blank screen.

Clearly there are different methods of control that reflect different situations and

requirements. So where does neutral control fit into this research design? A neutral

control which is commonly used in studies on emotions is a process that creates an

active control. The reason it is called a neutral control is to define its purpose, which is

to induce a temporary neutral emotional state.

52

The argument for using a neutral control group is presented in two articles entitled:

Do Positive Emotions Facilitate Recovery More Efficiently than ‘Nothing’? (Fredrickson

& Levenson 1998); and a follow up article; The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions

(Fredrickson et al. 2000).

In these articles the authors suggested that giving the control an induction process in

exactly the same manner as the experimental group would facilitate blinding as there

would be less perceived difference in the process amongst the different groups. It was

also felt that an induction process would override the control participant’s normal

emotional process. If the participants were left to do nothing each of the individuals

in the control group would be in varying emotional states; therefore, the

experimenters would be faced with trying to measure the relatively homogeneous

experimental groups against a relatively emotionally heterogeneous control group.

Inducing a neutral emotional state to the control group would assist in creating more

uniform control measurements (Fredrickson 1998, p. 206-207) and (Fredrickson et al.

2000, p. 244).

To clarify further, the neutral induction is considered to be midpoint between

languishing and thriving. This central position is reflected in Waugh and Fredrickson’s

2008 paper, Adapting to life’s slings and arrows: Individual differences in resilience

when recovering from an anticipated threat. They used a measuring device that had

an affective scale that translated to discrete integers from (0-9) and, ‘there were labels

for “negative”, “positive”, and for each number from 0 to 9. There was no label for

‘neutral; however, neutral implicitly corresponds to a rating of about 4.5‘(Waugh

&Fredrickson 2008, p. 1037).

In Fredrickson and Branigan’s 2005 study, Positive emotions broaden the scope of

attention and thought action repertoires, this midpoint of 4.5 is categorised as

‘emotional neutrality’ and reflects an emotional report eliciting ‘zero for all nine

emotional terms, in this study.’ The study goes on to differentiate that ‘positive

emotions broaden the scope of attention relative to a neutral state’ and that

‘comparisons to neutral states provide more stringent tests of the broaden hypothesis

and less ambiguous results than do comparisons to negative states’ (Fredrickson &

Branigan 2005, pp. 8-9).

53

Before moving on to the use of the neutral state in the eight studies under

consideration, it is necessary to consider and clarify both the meaning and implication

of the neutral induction. The first is the midpoint of 4.5. The authors’ stated: ‘neutral

implicitly corresponds to a rating of about 4.5’ (Waugh &Fredrickson 2008, p. 1037).

One of the concerns with this is that the number can give a sense of precision when

there is no such precision. Emotional neutrality refers to the absence of positive

emotional characteristics and the absence of negative emotional characteristics; it

does not refer to a midpoint equidistant from the negative and positive. Also by

placing neutral in the midpoint it gives the appearance that this is a form of emotional

continuum with a positive pole, a negative pole and a neutral central point. Individuals

have the ability to hold many emotions with differing characteristics and intensity

simultaneously. One can be having a pleasant thought about one’s childhood yet at

the same be sad because one’s parents are no longer living. A continuum is not a

representative model for emotions. Admittedly the need to measure and quantify

requires simplification, but at times there is a risk of oversimplification and

misdirection.

Another area of concern is based on the positivity bias. For example,’ 86% of the 43

nations for which nationally representative samples are available, mean subjective

well-being (SWB) response was above neutral’ (Diener & Diener 1996, pp. 181-182). A

possible reason for this bias is the need to be primed in order to get through the day.

If we were not positively primed we would have difficulty being productive and in

some cases more prone to depression. The two of the most effective positive primers

are optimism and hope.

However, when a neutral induction is given this positive bias would be neutralised for

a brief time, as previously mentioned in Fredrickson and Branigan (2005). So it could

be said that in the majority of cases the neutral induction is likely to lower the positive

affect of most of the participants in a study. In many of the studies the neutral

induction group is considered the control. Presenting the control as neutral gives the

impression of the control being benign when in fact the induction has lowered the

overall positivity of the sample group. The consequence for measurement would be

that the difference between the positive group and the neutral control group would

be greater because the positivity of the neutral control group had been decreased by

induction and the positivity of the positive group had been increased by induction.

54

However, in written studies, the increase in the positivity of the positive group

compared to the neutral control group is only explained on the bases of the positive

induction and not with regard to the decrease in positivity of the neutral control. The

reduction of positivity by the neutral control needs to be stated.

Given the discussion earlier, the neutral induction was decided upon because the ‘no

film’ ‘do nothing’ control was not appropriate (Fredrickson et al. 2000, p. 244) so the

active control, the neutral induction, was utilized. This use of the neutral induction

was employed in seven of the eight studies in this paper. One of the concerns is that

the authors’ of these studies do not explicitly state that the neutral induction is an

active control. For some of the studies, it is only by reading the studies carefully that it

becomes clear that the specific emotional inductions are the interventions and the

neutral induction is the control.

Wadlinger’s study used a gift of candy to induce a positive mood. The control group

here was not an active control as they did not receive candy until after the experiment

as a thank you. Current affective state was measured using a Lickert Scale. The group

that received the candy as an induction showed a significantly higher positive state

than did the control. This was the only study that did not have a neutral induction or

other active control (Wadlinger & Isaacowitz 2006, pp. 87-99).

In Shmueli’s study there were two neutral inductions. Shmueli never refers to the

neutral inductions as controls even though she does refer to this study as a ‘controlled

randomised experiment’ the inference being that the neutral inductions were the

controls. All interventions were categorised as either neutral inductions or positive

inductions. One neutral induction was to write a description of the room, the other

neutral induction was a video on building bridges. (Dikla & Prochaska 2012, pp. 157-

161).

Sakaki’s study referred to the terms: positive, negative, neutral and control. She was

making a distinction between a control and a neutral induction. So in this situation

there was a ‘take no action’ control. That is, a picture was not shown. In the neutral

condition, neutral photographs were shown. For other studies this neutral state

would have been considered the control. The objective measure was time of reaction.

The neutral induction slowed the reaction time compared to the non-active control. In

this case a neutral induction control did not create the same result as a no action

55

control. The difference between these two was not addressed in the study, perhaps

because the sample size of 31 participants was too small to draw conclusions. The

difference might be explained by Frederickson’s understanding of the function of a

neutral control. She stated that the neutral category was designed to be midway

between depression and thriving. There is, however, still an issue which is not made

clear. Does the author view both the neutral induction and the no action control as

controls, or is she seeing the no action control as the control and the neutral induction

as an induction related to a balanced emotional state and not as a control (Sakaki, &

Niki 2011, pp. 526-540)?

In Lee’s study the use of a computer programme standardised the delivery of the

induction process. The positive induction was a preprogramed positive feedback. The

neutral induction was accomplished in the same manner, but with a neutral feedback

delivered in a neutral voice saying participants had done as well as 50% of the

population. Although the delivery was standardised the nature of the feedback was

open to wide interpretation by the participant. As most people believe they are better

than average (positivity bias) someone who was presented with a 50% feedback

would see this as a negative result and not a neutral result. If the idea of a neutral

control is to be midway between depression and thriving could this induction have

been a negative induction and not a neutral induction (Lee et al. 2011, pp. 717-722)?

Falkenstern’s study contained a neutral induction created by watching a 65-second

video clip of two men talking. The neutral induction group were significantly less

happy than the positive induction group but significantly less sad than the negative

group. There is no mention of the neutral group as being the neutral or active control

group. As with other studies, however, the write up was focussed on the results of the

positive and negative induction with no mention of the neutral induction except in

relation to the other two inductions (Falkenstern et al. 2009, pp. 365-371).

Biss’s induction used pictures. The neutral condition pictures had a valence ranging

from 4.5-5.5. Sound clips were also used in the induction. In the case of the neutral

induction the sound clip was of ambient street noise. The discussion refers to the

positive induction group and there is no mention of the neutral group being an active

control (Biss & Hasher 2011 pp. 1474-1478).

56

In Anderson’s study all participants looked at three series of pictures. Each series of

pictures represented a positive, negative or neutral affect mood induction. As in the

other studies the neutral affective mood fell between the positive and negative

affective moods. Anderson did spend some time on the neutral state, but findings

were not significant. There was no mention of the neutral state being an active control

(Anderson et al. 2011, pp. 856-860).

57

4. Conclusions

This introduction to Chapter 4 restates the intentions of this dissertation. First, the

aim of the study was to critically analyse the eight studies based on seven criteria

developed from the literature review. Second, this analysis was done in order to

answer the following research question: Are there issues of quality in the research of

these eight studies, and if so, what are they, and how can they be reduced or

eliminated? Third, the objective of this dissertation was to highlight current problems

in APP research in order to raise the quality of future APP research.

4.1 Summary of Findings and Remedial RecommendationsIn this section of the conclusion, the summary of individual findings (SF) is followed by

suggested remedial recommendations (RR). These findings and recommendations

reflect both the literature review and the critical analysis of the seven aims of the

study listed in the aims section of Chapter 1.

Chart 1: Sample composition:

(SF) The use of samples of convenience is a significant issue. As with all samples of

convenience there is a problem with external validity. But the issue goes further than

that as most of the samples are not only homogenous within samples but also

between samples, as the sample population is predominantly comprised of universitiy

students. Given that personal experience shapes a participant’s reality and many

studies rely on self-evaluations, a very limited and privileged segment of society

unknowingly shapes outcomes and disenfranchises others.

(RR) The issue of sample composition could be mitigated if researchers would move

out of the lab and out of the university. Take the research to the participants. Go to

seniors’ residences, community centres, sports arenas; advertise in Craigslist or social

media. One would still get a sample of convenience, but it would be less homogenous.

If there is a need to stay on campus then broaden the search and give a cash reward.

Soliciting Psychology students on the bases of giving them credit borders on the

incestuous. There are different SES groups on campus. Even moving outside of the

Psychology department would be useful.

58

Chart 2: The use of self-assessment measure:

(SF) It was clear from Ogden and Lo’s powerful 2011 study, that self-evaluations have

limitations. In their study the statistical measures using the Likert scale indicated that

people analysed their situation in context with their experiences. The study also

demonstrated that statistical self-evaluation differed significantly from written self-

evaluation.

(RR) There is a greater need to understand the limitations of Likert scales and self-

assessment. It is best, when using self-evaluations, to use an RCT approach going

from a single emotion Likert measure to a multi mood scale and then to an objective

measure. It would also be a good idea to use both quantitative and qualitative

measures when using an emotion scale. This would give greater context and meaning

to what appears to be an arbitrary selection of a number.

Chart 3: The use of objective measurement:

(SF) In this work, objective outcome measures refer to an outcome that can be used to

support or refute a hypothesis and the outcome must be in measurable units. The

inclusion of objective metrics in these eight studies is very useful as the major focus on

objective metrics is to add a process of measurement that does not use self-

assessment in the outcome.

(RR) More emphasis should be placed on developing study designs that have objective

outcomes.

Chart 4: The nature of emotions and blinding:

(SF) Considering the discussion in the literature review on the importance of the

correct use of blinding, the lack of reporting is cause for concern. The fact that

blinding is not mentioned in the studies is a problem of poor reporting, but it could

also indicate a lax attitude to the blinding process. If blinding is not rigorously followed

the whole study could be compromised. Even the appearance of lack of blinding limits

the possibility of the study being used by other studies. Another frustration is created

when blinding has been incorporated in the research design, stated in the protocol

and followed in the study, but is not written up in the final paper. This not only

unnecessarily limits the value of the study, but when other researchers might wish to

include the study in a systematic review, the review authors have to spend time trying

59

to track down the primary author and/or the protocol. Unfortunately, a useful study

may even be discarded because it does not conform to the search parameters set in

the systematic review because blinding was not reported. This wastes everyone’s time

and money.

(RR) Clear protocols on the use of blinding have been developed in the CONSORT 2010

Explanation and Elaboration (Moher et al., 2010) and CONSORT 2010 Statement

(Schulz, et al. 2010). Given that these protocols are constantly ignored, voluntary

compliance seems to be lacking. As many journals are peer reviewed, one of the

responsibilities of the reviewer should be to see that these protocols have been

followed. This should be a precondition for publishing.

Chart 5: The quality of the RCTs:

(SF) Unlike blinding, randomization is stated in every study. Unfortunately,

information about how the randomisation was accomplished is seriously

underreported. All researchers had to be contacted by email, as neither the study nor

the Cochrane assessment of risk of bias presented sufficient information. In addition,

some researchers have a relaxed view of what randomisation is and use systematic

methods, which may appear to be random but are not random. This use of a

systematic method can then expose the random allocation process. Without adequate

information, randomisation is suspect, as is the random allocation process and the

results of the study. This limits the studies use for other studies, and wastes

everyone’s time and money.

(RR) As with blinding there are clear protocols on the use of randomisation presented

in the CONSORT 2010, Explanation and Elaboration (Moher et al., 2010) and CONSORT

2010, Statement (Schulz et al., 2010). Given that these protocols are constantly

ignored, voluntary compliance seems to be lacking. As many journals are peer

reviewed, one of the responsibilities of the reviewer should be to see that these

protocols have been followed. This should be a precondition for publishing.

Chart 6: The use of induction:

(SF) The use of inductions in these studies was proficient. There were a few inductions

that were not effective. In one case, a neutral induction was presented at the same

60

time ambient street noise was added to the induction. There was no supporting

history of using this form of induction soundtrack and no explanation on why it was

added. In using two processes of induction for the same mood at the same time, it is

possible that instead of reinforcing the induction it interfered with the induction. In

another case because of the research design, the effectiveness of the induction was

not measured until the intervention had taken place. Results in two cases were

unreliable, as the inductions had failed.

(RR) The effectiveness of a mood induction should be measured immediately following

the induction in order to test the effectiveness of the induction. Where possible, mood

inductions should be passive such as watching a video. Using written mood inductions

can cause stress and anxiety for the participants and is a biased towards higher SES

groups such as university students. Induction methods should have a record of

accomplishment cited from previous studies. If unusual inductions are presented the

author should explain them.

Chart 7: The use of neutral induction as control:

(SF) The reporting and the use of neutral induction in some studies was not clearly

reported or explained. The use of the term ‘neutral induction’ is not synonymous with

the term ‘neutral control’ yet some studies did not make that clear. The most

significant concern, which seems to have been overlooked, is that the neutral

induction, given the positive bias of most individuals, tends to reduce the positive bias

of the induction group. This has measurement implications if the neutral induction is

the control. There has been no acknowledgement of this issue in the literature.

(RR) The implementation of a neutral control is understandable; however, there needs

to be more research and understanding of its meaning and its implications for

measurement. There also needs to be clearer reporting in the studies and a clear

identification of the control.

4.2 Recommendations for further research In general there should be more research carried out on the under twenty, the

over forty, and the socially and economically disadvantaged.

There need to be more studies done in the area of emotions and gender. The

research in this area is contradictory. Some of this type of research is agenda

driven.

61

The use of technology should be developed or enhanced in order to help

facilitate blinding and randomization.

As positive psychology is an applied science there is an expectation that research

will be focussed on studies in the field in order to increase effectiveness of

interventions.

The relationship generated by positive psychology, neuro-plasticity and neuro-

imaging is of great interest. It is challenging to see just how much potential there

is in this triad. There should be a significant amount of research done in this

area.

4.3 Limitations to the study A possible limitation in this study may have occurred in the initial search process.

One of the deciding factors for inclusion was the use of a control. It is possible

that in my selections process, I eliminated studies that had a control. This may

have happened because the control was reported as a neutral induction and not

as a control.

Another concern was that this study started off as a systematic review. This was

found to be very restrictive. A hybrid study was developed, in which much of the

search and format reflected a systematic review. This was then followed by a

critical analysis based on summary, synthesis and evaluation for the data

analysis.

I can be faulted for not doing a statistical analysis. There are a number of reasons

for my choice. There seems to be a propensity to focus on the statistics over the

written word. This might explain some of the imprecise reporting in the studies.

It should also be understood that if randomisation or blinding is not correctly

implemented, or the study design is flawed the statistics become meaningless.

Words shape meaning; statistics reflect meaning.

62

4.4 SummaryIn answering the research question, there is little doubt that there has been

significant improvement in the depth of the research in Positive Psychology. Seven of

the studies included here were RCTs incorporating multi-layered measuring protocols

using single and multi-scale self-evaluation tests and supported by objective

measurements. On the other hand, this study has shown that there are serious

deficiencies in the quality of the research especially in randomization and blinding.

However, these deficiencies are not isolated to just these eight studies. According to

the literature review in the Introduction, these types of deficiencies are prevalent in

the larger research arena. Although there are numerous protocols in place for correct

research procedures, these protocols seem to be underutilised.

The objective of this dissertation was to highlight current problems in APP research in

order to raise the quality of future APP research. This dissertation has highlighted

current problems in APP research. But will this raise the quality of future APP

research? It seems unlikely.

63

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Appendix

Please note: The information contained in some of the charts should be considered

as paraphrasing or as direct quotes from the actual studies. This process allows the

integrity of the authors’ statements to be maintained.

69

Study 1

Study Selection FormReviewer Andrew Smith

Date April 15-16 2012

Details of Publication

Authors: Anderson E., Siegel, E., Barrett. L.Title: What you feel influences what you see: The role of affective feelings in resolving binocular rivalry

Journal: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 856-860. (2011)


Published 1998-2011 Yes


Has positive affect/effect/emotion as part of the intervention

Yes

Has a control Yes


At least one outcome must bean objective outcome

Yes


Yes

70

Summary of studyIdentification and Citation

Authors: Anderson E., Siegel, E., Barrett, L.Journal: Exp Soc Psychol. 2011 Jul; 47(4):856-860.MID:21789027[PubMed]

Location Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Fax: +1 617 373 8714.E-mail address: [email protected] (L.F. Barrett). Language: English

Abstract This experiment, demonstrates that the affective state of a perceiver influences the contents of visual awareness.

Study Design and Location

RCT in university lab

Hypothesis That the affective state of a perceiver influences the contents of visual awareness.

Sample Composition

Participants were 50 (15 male) naïve young adults ranging in age from 17 to 32 (Mean=20.64years).

Control As this was an induction process the control was an induction designed to be neutral. This was done by showing a selection of pictures selected as creating neutral mood.

Blind There was no mention of any participants being blind. The authors state that given the nature and complexity of the intervention it would be most unlikely that the subjects would have any understanding of the process.

InductionCategories

Unpleasant affective state, Neutral affective state, Pleasant affective state

Intervention Used ten images to initiate induction of unpleasantness or pleasantness. Subjects looked at pictures through a stereoscope. Pictures were of a house and a face that was neutral, scowling or smiling. Visual dominance of the image was indicated by pushing a button.

Outcomes When subjects are in an unpleasant affective state there was face dominance especially of the scowling face. In a pleasant state smiling faces dominated. In a neutral state neither types of faces dominated. This is the first direct evidence that a perceiver’s affective state helps to select the contents of consciousness.

(This chart contains close paraphrasing or direct quotes from the actual study)

71

Schemata of experiment

What you feel influences what you see: The role of affective feelings in resolving

binocular rivalry.

1-----2-----R-----3-----4-----5-----R-----6-----7-----8-----R-----9-----10-----11-----R-----12

Clarification: All participants had three inductions: positive, neutral and negative.

Faces depicted as neutral, smiling, or scowling face were randomized across the

three trials.

1. Induction-IN

2. Core affective state-CAS

3. Binocular rivalry trial-BRT

4. Induction

5. Core affective state

6. Binocular rivalry trial

7. Induction



10. Induction



72

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTs

Domain Reviewer’s judgement Support for judgmentRandom sequence generation

unclear Insufficient information

Allocation concealment unclear Insufficient informationBlinding of participants and personnel

Low risk Outcome not likely to be influenced by lack of blinding

Blinding of outcome assessment

Low risk Outcome is on the selection of particular pictures which is an objective outcome

Incomplete outcome data Low risk Nine participants removed from study due to poor eye sight. This was likely done at the beginning of the study so no data generated.

Selective reporting Unclear risk Insufficient informationOther sources of bias Unclear risk Insufficient information

Email correspondenceAnderson, Eric 27 Feb to AR, Lisa

Hi Andrew,

I'm happy to answer your questions.

What method was used for randomization?

Randomization of trial order was done using the presentation software, Eprime.

What groups were blind in the study?

Not exactly sure what you mean by this question. There was no between participant treatment condition, so there was no double blinding. PPs were blind to the hypothesis.

How were the participants selected, and where were they from?

PPs were Boston College undergraduates. They signed up to take part in the study through campus advertising.

Best of luck with your project. Eric~

73

Study 2

Study selection formReviewer Andrew Smith


Details of PublicationAuthors: Biss & HasherTitle: Delighted and distracted: Positive affect increases priming for irrelevant informationJournal: Emotion, 11(6), 1474-1478. (2011)Filters If yes, continue If no, remove

studyPublished 1998-2011

Yes



Has a control Yes


At least one outcome must be an objective outcome Yes

One or more outcomes supports or contradicts the Broaden and Build theory YesIdentification and Citation

Author: Renée, Biss and Hasher, LynnJournal: Emotion. Vol. 11(6), Dec, 2011. P. 1474-1478

Location Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rene´e K. Biss, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Emotional states are known to influence how people process relevant information. In this study the authors examine the impact of emotional state on irrelevant information


Participants were randomly assigned to a neutral or positive mood induction, and then completed a task that involved viewing a sequence of overlapping pictures and words. Lab setting.

Hypothesis The purpose of the present study was to determine whether positive affect has a causal effect on the broadening of attention to distracting information, ultimately resulting in facilitated transfer of this information to a later task.

Sample Composition 64 students from the University of Toronto (Canada)43/21 female /malemean age 19.4 (SD 2.7; range 17-33) 12.9 yrs. of educ. (SD 1.2)sample of convenience

Control As this was an induction process the control was an induction designed to be neutral. Pictures used for the neutral condition

74

had valence ratings between 4.5 and 5.5. Sound clips in the neutral condition, consisted of ambient street noise

Blind There was no mention of any individuals being blind.InductionCategories

There were four combinations of induction in two categories:For desserts: positive video, neutral video, positive written, neutral written. For vegetables same as for desserts.

Intervention Both subjects in the neutral group (control) and the positive induction group completed a task that involved viewing asequence of overlapping pictures and words. They were instructed to attend to the pictures and ignore the distracting words. Following a filled interval, implicit memory for the distracting words was tested using a word fragment completion task

Outcomes Priming for distraction was calculated by subtracting control completion rates for each group from each participant’s primed completion. Priming for previous distraction was greater for the positive group compared to the neutral mood group. This was consistent with predictions that positive mood broadens attention

Summary of study(This chart contains close paraphrasing or direct quotes from the actual study)

75


Delighted and distracted: Positive affect increases priming for irrelevant information

2a----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10

1----Randomization--

2b----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10

1. Self-rated current mood and arousal

2. Six minute induction: 2a positive mood, 2b neutral

3. Self-rated current mood and arousal after induction

4. 1-back task (pictures randomized)

5. Nonverbal filler task


7. Fragment completion task


9. Awareness questionnaire completed by students

10. Filled in background questionnaire and debriefed

76

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsDomain Reviewer’s judgement Support for judgment

Random sequence generation

Unclear Insufficient information

Allocation concealment



High risk Four participants admitted they were able to ascertain the second part of the experiment. Their data was removed.


Low risk Completion of word fragment test was an objective outcome

Incomplete outcome data

Low risk No missing outcome data

Selective reporting Unclear Insufficient informationOther sources of bias

High risk Sample of convenience

Email correspondenceDear Andrew,

Thank you for your interest in our article. In our study, participants

were randomly assigned to condition using a randomized block design.

The blocks were randomized using the random number function in Excel.

Participants were blind to the purpose of the experiment and to the

fact that we were manipulating mood, however, as our mood manipulation

conditions involved listening to emotional music and viewing emotional

pictures, it is always possible that some figured out which condition

they were in (although none reported this to the experimenter). Staff

were not blind to condition.

Regards,

Renee Biss

77

Study 3

Study selection formReviewer Andrew Smith


Details of PublicationAuthors: Falkenstern, M., Schiffrin, H.

Title: Mood over matter: can happiness be your undoing?

Journal: Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 365-371. (2009)


Published 1998-2011Yes

Peer reviewed journalYes


Has a controlYes

Has random assignmentYes


One or more outcomes supports or contradicts the Broaden and Build theory Yes

78


Mood over matter: can happiness be your undoing?Falkenstern, M., Schiffrin, H.,The Journal of Positive PsychologyVol. 4, No. 5, September 2009, 365–371

Location Department of Psychology, University of Mary Washington,Fredericksburg, VA, USALanguage: English

Abstract The goal of the current study was to extend the undoing hypothesis to the cognitive domain to determine whether positive emotion can undo the cognitive effects of negative emotion.


RCT in Lab

Hypothesis The goal of the current study was to extend the undoing hypothesis to the cognitive domain to determine whether positive emotion can undo the cognitive effects of negative emotion.

Sample Composition

86 undergraduate students from a liberal arts college in the mid-Atlantic region. Participants included 41 females and 21 males between the ages of 18 and 22 with a mean age of 19. Approximately 83.9% of the participants wereCaucasian, 1.6% African-American, 6.5% Hispanic,and 8.1% Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.5% ‘Other.’

Control The control group was shown a 65-second segment of two men talking in a courtroom from the film, All the President’s Men. This was used to induce aneutral mood.

Blind No mention of blindnessInductionCategories

First Induction: The negative emotion of sadness was induced in all participants by showing a 171 second video clip from the film The Champ where a son sees his father dying. Second Induction: Randomly assigned groups were shown one of three additional video clips. Sadness followed by one of: humour, sadness, neutral

Intervention Participants were asked to press the letter on the keyboard that corresponded to the letter that appeared on the screen. The dependent variable was response latency as measured by the time in milliseconds that the participant took to press the button after the letter appeared on the screen.

Outcomes All participants responded faster on the letter-identification task when induced into a negative affective state by a clip from The Champ. On second induction the negative and neutral affect conditions continued to demonstrate significantly faster reaction times, while the positive group’s reaction time did not change.


79


Mood over matter: can happiness be your undoing?

--5a-----6------7-----8

--1------2------3------4--Randomization ---5b-----6-----7------8

--5c-----6-----7------8

1. LRTt1, Letter Recognition Task, familiarization

2. Induction

3. LRTt2, creating baseline

4. ERF, Emotion Report Form

5. Induction: 5a positive, 5b negative, 5c neutral

6. LRTt3, measure response time

7. ERF

8. LOT-R, Revised-Life Orientation Task, trait optimism

80

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsDomain Reviewer’s

judgementSupport for judgment


Unclear Only mentions randomization but nothing about how it was generated

Allocation concealment Unclear Insufficient information to make a judgment


Low risk Letter identification task was computer generated


Low risk Objective outcome was the response time

Incomplete outcome data Low risk No missing outcome dataSelective reporting Unclear Insufficient information to make a

judgmentOther sources of bias Unclear Insufficient information to make a

judgment

Email correspondenceDear Dr. Schiffrin :

I am contacting you in regard to the article, "Mood over matter: can happiness be your undoing?" I am completing a systematic review for my MSc thesis and am working on a narrative synthesis relating to Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory. When you have a moment, could you please let me know what process was used for selecting randomization of treatment and also if participants and/or staff were blind. Thank you, your help is greatly appreciated.

All the best,

Andrew Smith

Hi Andrew:

Participant signed up for group sessions (n = 9 if everyone showed) and the sessions were randomly assigned to one of the three film conditions. We just used a “draw the numbers out of a hat” approach to ensure roughly equal numbers of participants across conditions. Staff were not blind to the condition, but all of the data were collected on a computer, so there really wasn’t room for bias in data collection. Participants obviously knew what video they saw, but they were not told that the purpose of the video was to induce a specific mood and were not aware that there were other conditions seeing a different video until they were debriefed. Hope that helps!

Holly

p.s. I’d love to see the synthesis when you complete it!

81

Reviewer Andrew Smith


Study 4

Study selection formDetails of PublicationAuthors: Fredrickson, B., Mancuso, R., Branigan, C., and Tugade, M.Title: The Undoing effect of positive emotionsJournal: Motiv Emot, 24(4), 237-258 (2000)Filters If yes, continue If no, remove

studyPublished 1998-2011 Yes



Yes

Has a control Yes



Yes


Yes

82


The Undoing Effect of Positive EmotionsAuthors: Fredrickson, B., Mancuso, R., Branigan, C., and Tugade, M.Motiv Emot. 2000 December; 24(4): 237–258.

Location Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1109; Email: [email protected]

Abstract Positive emotions are hypothesized to undo the cardiovascular aftereffects of negative emotions. Contentment-eliciting and amusing films produced faster cardiovascular recovery than neutral or sad films did.


RCT in Lab

Hypothesis That positive emotion would be unique in their ability to speed recovery from the cardiovascular reactivity that lingers after a negative emotion. Also that the undoing effect would generalise across sexes and ethnicity

Sample Composition

Two samples of university students were tested. Sample 1 included 95 university students (50% women) recruited for a study on emotions. 71 were European American (50% women) and 24 were African American (50% women). Sample 2, 75 students: 58 were Eur. American, 8 Asian, 3 African American, and 2 Hispanic and 4 other.

Control The Sticks film provides a neutral condition because as it holds cognitive demands constant, yet is devoid of emotion.

Blind No information on blindnessInductionCategories

First Induction Anxiety induction: to prepare a 3 minute speech on a to-be-determined topic. Second Induction: 1. Waves, breaking on a beach for contentment. 2. Puppy, playing with a flower for amusement. 3. Neutral control. Sticks, an abstract dynamic display of sticks piling up. 4. Sad, Boy crying watching father dying for sadness

Intervention Study 1 tests the undoing effect. Participants (n = 170) experiencing anxiety-induced cardiovascular reactivity. Then viewed a film that elicited (a) contentment, (b) amusement, (c) neutrality, or (d) sadness. Reactivity to baseline measured by six cardiovascular measures.

Outcomes Contentment-eliciting and amusing films produced faster cardiovascular recovery than neutral or sad films. Study 1 also demonstrated undoing effect such that the undoing effect occurs when the initial negative emotion generates a clear pattern of heightened sympathetic cardiovascular reactivity that is typical of anxiety, fear, and other health-damaging emotions.


83


The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions

5a----6----7----8

5b----6----7----8

----1----2----3----4--Randomization--- 5c----6----7----8

5d----6----7----8

1. Attachment of physiological sensors (continuous measurement)

2. Five minute adaption period

3. Two minute baseline measures

4. Stress induction tape played

5. Induction 5a contentment, 5b happy, 5c neutral, 5d sadness

6. Three minute blank screen and sound

7. Emotional report form 1 preparing speech

8. Emotional report form 2 viewing induction 5

84

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsDomain Reviewer’s judgement Support for judgmentRandom sequence generation


Allocation concealment Unclear Insufficient informationBlinding of participants and personnel

Low risk Lack of blinding unlikely to influence outcome


Low risk Cardiovascular measurements are objective outcomes

Incomplete outcome data Low risk No missing outcome dataSelective reporting Unclear Insufficient informationOther sources of bias High risk Sample composition

Email correspondence: None

85

Study 5

Study selection form

Reviewer Andrew SmithDate April 15-16 2012Details of PublicationAuthors: Lee, G., Lobban, F., Barrowclough C.Title: The influence of positive affect on jumping to conclusions in delusional thinkingJournal: Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 717-722. 2011Filters If yes, continue If no, remove

studyPublished 1998-2011

YesPeer reviewed journal

YesHas positive affect/effect/emotion as part of the intervention

YesHas a control

YesHas random assignment Originally considered

random but may in fact be systematic. Waiting for response to email for confirmation. Please see email correspondence.


One or more outcomes supports or contradicts the Broaden and Build theory Yes

86


Authors: Lee, G., Lobban, F., Barrowclough C.Journal: Personality and Individual DifferencesVolume 50, Issue 5, April 2011, Pages 717–722

Location Gary Lee: School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Zochonis Building, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom

Abstract This study examined relationships between positive affect and jumping to conclusions (JTC) in delusional thinking.


RCT. The computer randomized participants into one of two conditions (positive or neutral condition), differing only in the type of feedback provided. In university lab.

Hypothesis Participants exposed to the positive affect induction (positive condition) would require more information before making decisions than those receiving no mood induction (neutral condition).

Sample Composition

Gender Male 49 25.9, Female 140 74.1Ethnicity White 140 74.1%, Asian 7 3.7%, Black 3 1.6%, Chinese 2 1.1%, Other 8 4.2%Mean age22.8 (S.D.) 6, Min 18 Max 55

Control As this was an induction process the control was an induction process designed to be neutral. This was accomplished by giving neutral feedback on a task.

Blind No mention of blindingInductionCategories

Induction: Positive moodTo induce positive affect with a meaningful stimulus, in the form of performance feedback that might be encountered within social situations

Intervention Those in a positive condition performed online creativity tasks and received bogus positive feedback as part of a positive affect induction procedure, whilst a neutral condition received neutral feedback. Both groups were subsequently assessed on a survey task for changes in JTC

Outcomes Those in a positive condition performed online creativity tasks and received bogus positive feedback as part of a positive affect induction procedure, whilst a neutral condition received neutral feedback. Both groups were subsequently assessed on a survey task for changes in JTC


87


The influence of positive affect on jumping to conclusions (JTC) in delusional

thinking.

7p---8---9---10---11---12---13

1---2---3---4---5---6---Randomization

7n---8---9---10---11---12---13

1. PANAS t1, positive and negative affect schedule

2. Creative tasks

3. JTCn Trial 1 Jumping To Conclusions-majority negative comments

4. JTCp Trial 2 Jumping To Conclusions-majority positive comments

5. Self-evaluation t1

6. Difficulty rating t1

7. 7p-Positive feedback; 7n-Neutral feedback

8. PANAS t2

9. JTCp Trial 3

10. JTCn Trial 4

11. Self-evaluation t2

12. Difficulty rating t2

13. PDI-21, Peters Delusion Inventory

88

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsDomain Reviewer’s judgement Support for judgment


Low risk Stated that computer randomized participants into one of two conditions

Allocation concealment

Low risk This was a web based experiment so controlled allocation.


Low risk This was a web based experiment so not likely that participants aware of intervention. As limited interaction with personnel little chance of influencing participants


Low risk There was no mention of blinding but given the form of the experiment, outcomes unlikely to be influenced. Also outcome, number of questions asked, was an objective outcome.


Low risk No missing outcome data

Selective reporting Unclear Insufficient information to make a judgement

Other bias Unclear Sample is one of convenience consisting of young participants average age 22.8 S.D. (6.0) attending university.

Email CorrespondenceGary Lee

to AR

Dear Andrew,

Thanks for your email. Randomisation was achieved by using the first letter of the

person's surname: if it began with a letter between A-M, they were assigned to the

neutral condition and N-Z to the positive condition. When the first 100 participants

had fully completed the study, the assignment was reversed (i.e. A-M assignment to

positive condition, N-Z to neutral). Participants and staff were blind to assignment

condition. Hope this helps! Bw

Follow up: 27 Jun/13

Dear Dr. Lee:

Could I take a few moments of your time for a follow up question please? I have been

questioned about the randomization process using last names. On the face of it, this

appears to be a systematic process rather than a randomization process. The study

89

states, 'The computer randomized participants into one of two conditions (positive or

neutral)...." Is selection for intervention by the computer based on number of

participants and alphabitization of last names? Is random allocation concealed due to

use of the computer? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated as one aspect of

my study looks at the process of randomization in research design. Thank you very

much for your time.

Cheers,

Andrew Smith

90

Study 6


Details of PublicationAuthor: Sakaki, M. (2011)Title: Effects of the brief viewing of emotional stimuli on understanding of insight solutionsJournal: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, 11, 526-540.Filters If yes, continue If no, remove studyPublished 1998-2011 Yes



Yes

Has a control Yes



Yes


Yes



91


Authors: Sakaki, M., & Niki, K.Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci (2011) 11:526–540DOI 10.3758/s13415-011-0051-0

Location M. Sakaki University of Southern California,3715 McClintock Ave.,Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA e-mail: [email protected]. Niki National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology,1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract To study the effects of the brief viewing of positive and negative pictures on reaction times for understanding solutions to insight problems


RCT in Lab 72 trials were randomly divided into three blocks of 24 trials. Each block included six positive, six negative, six neutral, and six control trials in a random order. Eighteen trials were used for each condition.

Hypothesis If presentation of emotional images modulates attentional scope, participants should be able to understand the solutions more quickly following positive modulators as compared with neutral modulators or the fixation cross. In contrast, response times should be slower following negative modulator images compared to neutral modulators or the fixation cross.

Sample Composition

Thirty-one Japanese undergraduates at the University of Tokyo participated in the experiment (12men; Mage = 20.2, SD = 0.83).

Control There was a neutral mood induction consisting of 18 pictures of mundane activities. There was also a no action control.

Blind No mention of blindnessInduction Catagories

The induction type (positive, negative, neutral, or control) was manipulated as a within-participants Each block included six positive, six negative, six neutral, and six control trial pictures in a random order

Intervention For each trial, participants were first presented with an insight problem and then briefly viewed a task irrelevant positive, negative, or neutral image (660ms) ,then subject was to give their solution to the problem.

Outcomes Positive and negative pictures had different impacts on subsequent understanding of the solutions to problems requiring insight. Brief viewing of positive pictures led to faster response times to report understanding the solutions, whereas viewing negative pictures for the same duration increased response times.


92


Effects of the brief viewing of emotional stimuli on understanding of insight

solutions

--1-----randomisation of riddle---2-----3-----4a------5-----6-----7

4b

1. Familiarization

2. Presentation of riddle

3. Fixation cross

4. 4a Modulator Picture 4b control, continued fixation cross no picture

5. Fixation cross

6. Answer to riddle shown

7. Participants respond understand/not understand

93

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsEffects of the brief viewing of emotional stimuli on understanding of insight solutions

Domain Reviewer’s judgement

Support for judgment


Unclear risk Insufficient information

Allocation concealment Unclear risk Insufficient informationBlinding of participants and personnel



Low risk Outcome was an objective measure. It was the length of time to respond to understanding the solution. Also follow up used neuroimaging which tended to confirm to mood state

Incomplete outcome data High risk Data from two participants were excluded because they did not finish the experiment.Five individual trials producing extreme outliers, were excluded.

Selective reporting Unclear risk Insufficient informationOther sources of bias High risk Sample size and composition

Email CorrespondenceDear Dr. Sakaki:When you have a moment, could you clarify two items with regard to your paper please: Effects of the brief viewing of emotional stimuli on understanding of insight solutions.1) What method was used for randomisation?2) What groups were blind in the study?I am a student working on my MSc at the University of Sheffield and this information is needed for my research.Thank you very much for your time and consideration; it is greatly appreciated.Cheers!Andrew SmithDear Andrew

Thank you for your interests in our study.

1) Randomization: In Study 1, riddles were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Each of the riddles assigned to the negative, neutral and positive conditions was randomly paired with one of the emotional modulator pictures used in the corresponding condition. The riddle-condition assignment and riddle-picture pairing were counterbalanced across participants. In Study 2, we first asked each participant to solve as many riddles as possible. We then picked up riddles that the participants could not solve for a later fMRI session. Those selected riddles were randomly assigned to the conditions.

2) We did not have any groups in the study. The experiment employed a within-participants design both for a behavioral (Study 1) and fMRI study (Study 2).

Please feel free to let me know if you have further questions.Best,MichikoAR Smith <[email protected]> 1 Mar

94

to Michiko

Dear Dr. Sakaki:Thank you for your speedy response. I apologise that my questions were not well written.The randomisation question should have referred to how the numbers for randomization were generated for Study 1. Did you use computer generated numbers or some other form of number allocation process.?With regard to the blinding, other than the participants in Study 1, were any other individuals blinded in the study?.I greatly appreciate your understanding. Best wishes,Andrew Smith

On 1 March 2013 09:20, Michiko Sakaki <[email protected]> wrote:Dear Andrew Smith,Thank you for your interests in our study.1) Randomization: In Study 1, riddles were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Each of the riddles assigned to the negative, neutral and positive conditions was randomly paired with one of the emotional modulator pictures used in the corresponding condition. The riddle-condition assignment and riddle-picture pairing were counterbalanced across participants. In Study 2, we first asked each participant to solve as many riddles as possible. We then picked up riddles that the participants could not solve for a later fMRI session. Those selected riddles were randomly assigned to the conditions. 2) We did not have any groups in the study. The experiment employed a within-participants design both for a behavioral (Study 1) and fMRI study (Study 2). Please feel free to let me know if you have further questionsBest wishes, Michiko

95

Study 7




Details of PublicationAuthor: Shmueli,DTitle: A test of positive affect induction for countering self-control depletion in cigarette smokersJournal: Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26 (1), 157-161. . (2012)Filters If yes, continue If no, remove studyPublished 1998-2011 Yes



Yes

Has a control Yes



Yes


Yes

96


Author: Shmueli, D., Judith J., P.Journal: Psychology of addictive behaviorsISSN: 0893-164X Date: 2012 Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Page: 157DOI: 10.1037/a002370

Location Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Judith J. Prochaska, University of California, San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Avenue – TRC 0984, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0984. Email: [email protected] University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, US

Abstract The self-control strength model posits that exerting self-control on one task, such as resisting temptations, will deplete self-control and impair subsequent self-regulatory performance, such as controlling smoking… Positive affect elicited with a video was able to counteract the detrimental effects of self-control depletion on smoking behavior


Empirical Study: Qualitative Study RCT 2x2 design. Experiment took place in the field.

Hypothesis That positive affect induction would counteract depletion of self-control among participants assigned to resist tempting desserts versus raw vegetables and whether induction type produced different effects.

Sample Composition

The study sample consisted of smokers from the San Francisco Bay Area. Recruitment efforts included flyers and advertisements.118 women 67 men 8 transgender 36% white,44% African, 20% mixed,10% Hispanic 193 brought cigarettes (n=193)

Control The control is created by playing a neutral video induction for one group and a neutral writing exercise for the second group.

Blind No mention of blind.InductionCategories

There were four combinations of induction in two categories:Positive video, neutral video, positive written, neutral written for desserts and for vegetables The positive video was a 5-minute clip of a comedy stand-up routine; The neutral video was a 5 minute video about building bridges. The positive written exercise was writing about the happiest time in your life and to recreate the emotional feeling. The neutral exercise was to write a detailed description of a room in your house.

Intervention Randomized to one of four conditions (food exposure × affect induction), Participants were to try and resist either carrots or cakes that were within their reach for 1 hour. A ten minute break. Many participants went out for a smoke.

Outcomes Examination of the interaction demonstrated that it was only the positive video condition that counteracted the effects of depletion. Individuals exposed to desserts (10.5%) or vegetables (0%) that received the positive video condition were less likely to smoke relative to the other groups, range 20 to 85%.


97


A test of positive affect induction for countering self-control depletion in cigarette

smokers

3a----4----5----6a----7----8----9

3b----4----5----6b----7---8----9

--1----2----Randomization

3c----4----5----6c----7----8----9

3d----4----5----6d----7----8----9

1. Pre-experimental measures

2. CO2 measures t1

3. 3a desert, 3b vegetables, 3c desert, 3d vegetables

4. Five minute exposure to food

5. Perceived interest in task assigned measured

6. Affect induction using either a positive 3a video or 3b writing or a neutral 3c

video or 3d writing

7. Break

8. CO2 measures t2 to find out who smoked during the break

9. Debriefing

98

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTs

Selective reporting Unclear Insufficient information to make a judgement


unclear Stated randomization but not how this was accomplished

Allocation concealment unclear Insufficient informationBlinding of participants and personnel



Low risk Outcome, number of people smoking measured by biochemical measurement, was an objective outcome.


Low risk 19 individuals who did not bring cigarettes were excluded decision was made a priori.Six ate the food and one did not receive the affect induction due to technical malfunction. Intent -to-treat analyses removing or keeping these individuals in did not alter the outcome so excluded individuals sample size n=193

Email correspondence

Hi Andrew,

I’d be happy to answer your questions. Predetermined randomization order was based on an online random number generator: http://www.randomizer.org/form.htm The groups were not blind to the depletion condition, in the sense that they knew they would be asked to resist eating either vegetables or sweets, and were then asked to resist one of those foods. However, they were not aware of the intent of this manipulation (i.e., to deplete self-control). The groups were unaware of the replenishment manipulation, or that there was more than one condition (i.e., positive vs. neutral). I hope that answers your questions. Please feel free to contact me if there is anything else I can help with. I will be starting maternity leave tonight but will check my emails weekly.Thank you,Dikla

http://www.randomizer.org/form.htm

99

Reviewer Andrew SmithDate April 15-16 2012Details of PublicationAuthor: Wadlinger, H. (2006)Title: Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuliJournal: Motiv Emot. 30 (1), 87-99.Filters If yes, continue If no, remove study

Published 1998-2011 Yes



Yes

Has a control Yes


At least one outcome must be an objective oucome

Yes


Yes

Study 8


100


Authors: Wadlinger, H., A. and Isaacowitz, D., M.Motiv Emot. 2006 March 1; 30(1): 87–99.doi: 10.1007/s11031-006-9021-1

Location Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, MS 062, Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Email: [email protected]: English

Abstract The goal of the study was to evaluate whether a positive mood induction would broaden the visual attention of individuals using images that varied on level of emotional valence from very negative to neutral to very positive

Study Design RCT in lab. Participants were assigned either to be in the control or experimental condition using a random number generator.

Hypothesis Utilizing eye tracking technology, the purpose of the present studies was to investigate the broaden-and-build theory's claim that positive emotion increases the breadth of visual attention

Sample Composition

Fifty-eight young adult (undergraduate students) ranging from age 18 to 26, (M=19.69; SD=2.06) served as participants in this study (28 females, 30 males). Participants were recruited from an Introductory Psychology class at Brandeis University or through flyers posted on campus.

Control The control group was not given any candy and was unaware that there was any candy until the completion of the experiment when they were given some candy.

Blind No mention of blinding.Induction Positive mood was induced in participants in the experimental group by

presenting the participants with a small bag of candy (approximately five chocolate pieces) as a token of appreciation for their participation in the study after completion of the questionnaire packet and immediately prior to the slide presentation.

Intervention The main intervention related to timing the eye tracking of the subjects. A mixed-model analysis tested for overall effects of the mood manipulation on the first measure of attentional breadth that is the percentage viewing time to various types of peripheral emotional stimuli.

Outcomes Findings suggest that participants experiencing induced positive mood broaden their visual attention through increased viewing time to peripheral images of high positive valence and by making more frequent saccades to images of varying levels of positive and neutral valence.


101


Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli

3a----4----5----6----7

---1-----2-----Randomization--

3b----4----5----6----7

1. Snellen Visual Acuity Test

2. Six demographic questions. Self-evaluation tests: CES-D, STAI, PANA and LOT

3. 3a positive mood, given candy; 3b control, no candy

4. Current affective state

5. Calibration to eye tracker

6. Slide presentation and tracking (Images not controlled for arousal or emotional

valence)

7. Debriefing

102

Assessment of risk of bias for RCTsDomain Reviewer’s

judgementSupport for judgment


Low risk Used random number generator

Allocation concealment Unclear Insufficient information


Unclear Study did not address this issue


Low risk Eye tracker measured gaze fixation duration times: all objective measures

Incomplete outcome data Low risk Potential participants that wore hard contact lenses or visual abnormalities were excluded from the experiment. Four participants data not included due to high reflective glare

Selective reporting Unclear Insufficient informationOther sources of bias Low risk Study appears to be free from

other sources of bias

Email correspondence: From: AR Smith [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:08 PM

To: [email protected]

Subject: Follow up: Positive mood broadens

Dear Dr. Wadlinger:

I am contacting you in regard to the article, "Positive mood broadens visual attention to

positive stimuli." I am completing a systematic review for my MSc thesis and am working on a

narrative synthesis relating to Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory. When you have a

moment, could you please let me know what process was used for selecting randomisation of

treatment and also if participants and/or staff were blind. Thank you, your help is greatly

appreciated.

All the best,

Andrew Smith

mailto:[email protected]


103

Dear Andrew:

My apologies for replying a bit tardy, this was forwarded to me promptly, but sometimes I

check my non-work emails less frequently.

Thanks for your inquiry and inclusion in your review! I actually conducted this study for my

Masters thesis. I believed we used a random online number generator (i.e.

ResearchRandomizer - http://www.randomizer.org/) to assign experimental conditions.

Participants were completely blind to condition. The staff was not blind to condition because

as part of the "induce positive" condition, participants were presented with a small gift

immediately prior to eye-tracking (thus staff knew the condition, but were instructed not to

deviate from the prepared scripts). Control participants received the gift immediately after

tracking. Participants were not debriefed until after the study and from informal conversations

afterward none connected that the candy gift related to their attention patterns (that we were

tracking).

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any additional questions. Please use this email or

my work email ([email protected]). Good luck with the review definitely sounds very

promising! Look forward to reading it in the future!

Cheers,

Heather


http://www.randomizer.org/

Emotional Regulation

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