Introducing a short version of the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT-S): Psychometric properties and construct validation

Board Games on Emotional Competences for School-Age Children

Objective: Emotional competences (EC) are important for social and academic outcomes and positive life trajectories. Due to their social setting and tendency to stimulate intrinsic motivation, board games may constitute efficient learning tools for promoting socioemotional development in children. The current project therefore aimed at developing and testing three theory-driven board games explicitly targeting EC. First, we explored the quality of these EC games in terms of game experience, compared to off-the-shelf games (without an EC focus). Second, we tested whether targeted EC were linked to game experience in the EC games by measuring associations between children's trait EC and subjective effort and difficulty during gameplay. Materials and Methods: Children (N = 177) aged 8-12 years old were randomly assigned to a four-session protocol that comprised EC board games (experimental group) or off-the-shelf board games (control group). At baseline, participants' trait EC (emotion recognition, differentiation, and cognitive reappraisal) were assessed, while game experience (e.g., positive and negative affect, flow and immersion, difficulty, and effort) was assessed after each game. Results: Both groups perceived the games they played as positive and playable. Furthermore, regression analyses showed that higher trait EC was linked to lower self-reported effort and difficulty in two of the EC board games focusing on emotion recognition and differentiation. Conclusion: The present study shows that the board games on EC designed for children seem to elicit game experiences comparable to off-the-shelf games. Moreover, children's trait EC were linked to subjective game experience in two of the three games. Future interventions should examine the potential of the novel games to promote EC.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between emotion recognition ability and intelligence

The ability to recognise others' emotions from nonverbal cues (emotion recognition ability, ERA) is measured with performance-based tests and has many positive correlates. Although researchers have long proposed that ERA is related to general mental ability or intelligence, a comprehensive analysis of this relationship is lacking. For instance, it remains unknown whether the magnitude of the association varies by intelligence type, ERA test features, as well as demographic variables. The present meta-analysis examined the relationship between ERA and intelligence based on 471 effect sizes from 133 samples and found a significant mean effect size (controlled for nesting within samples) of r = .19. Different intelligence types (crystallized, fluid, spatial, memory, information processing speed and efficiency) yielded similar effect sizes, whereas academic achievement measures (e.g. SAT scores) were unrelated to ERA. Effect sizes were higher for ERA tests that simultaneously present facial, vocal, and bodily cues (as compared to tests using static pictures) and for tests with higher reliability and more emotions. Results were unaffected by most study and sample characteristics, but effect size increased with higher mean age of the sample. These findings establish ERA as sensory-cognitive ability that is distinct from, yet related to, intelligence.

The Nomological Network of Emotion Recognition Ability

Abstract. The ability to recognize other people’s emotions from their face, voice, and body (emotion recognition ability, ERA) is crucial to successful functioning in private and professional life. The Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT; Schlegel, Grandjean, & Scherer, 2014 ) is a new instrument to measure ERA in a more ecologically valid way than previous tests. In this article, we report the results of five studies examining the test’s construct validity with a total N of 1,284. We found that the GERT was highly positively correlated with other performance-based tests measuring ERA and emotional intelligence (EI), as well as with cognitive intelligence. GERT scores were also related to higher self-reported empathy, openness, and neuroticism, and to better social adjustment. Furthermore, higher GERT scores were related to lower anxiety, anger expressivity, and alexithymia. In line with previous findings, women scored higher than men and GERT performance declined with increasing age. Taken together, these results provide considerable evidence for the construct validity of the GERT and for ERA as an adaptive skill that likely facilitates better life outcomes.

Relation between cognitive and behavioral aspects of dysexecutive functioning in normal aging

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between cognitive and behavioral symptoms of dysexecutive functioning, understood as two aspects of dysexecutive syndrome, in an elderly nonclinical sample. Most previous studies have concentrated on clinical population. However, nonclinical population of elderly adults is, in this context, a group of special interest due to a large body of evidence indicating that executive functions decrease pronouncedly in the course of normal aging. The data were collected from 40 participants aged 67-86 years. None presented symptoms of cognitive disorder or depression or reported psychiatric or neurological problems. The Dysexecutive Questionnaire was used as a measure of behavioral aspect of dysexecutive syndrome. Participants also performed experimental tasks referring to three cognitive aspects of executive functioning (i.e., updating, inhibition, and attentional shifting). Analysis resulted in weak and nonsignificant correlations between cognitive and behavioral aspects of dysexecutive syndrome. Results are discussed in the context of previous research and diagnostic criteria of dysexecutive syndrome.

The same with age: Evidence for age-related similarities in interpersonal accuracy

Interpersonal accuracy refers to the ability to make accurate perceptions about others' social and emotional qualities. Despite this broad definition, the measurement of interpersonal accuracy remains narrow, as most studies focus on the accurate perception of others' emotional states. Moreover, previous research has relied primarily upon traditional tasks consisting of posed, prototypic expressions and behaviors as stimuli. These methodological limitations may constrain our understanding of how different interpersonal perception skills change in adulthood. The present study investigated the extent to which various interpersonal perception skills are worse, better, or remain the same with age using both traditional and nontraditional interpersonal accuracy tasks. One hundred fifty-one adults from 3 age groups (young, middle age, and older) completed a battery of interpersonal accuracy tasks that assessed eight different emotion perception skills and six different social perception skills. Analyses revealed age-related differences in accuracy for five interpersonal perception skills; differences were typically observed between younger and older adults on emotion perception accuracy and between younger and middle-age adults on social perception accuracy. In contrast, almost all remaining interpersonal perception skills-both emotional and social-revealed greater evidence for age-related similarities than differences in Bayesian analyses. Additional exploratory analyses indicated that the observed age differences in interpersonal accuracy may be attributable to individual differences in cognitive ability rather than age. Results provide a nuanced picture of how interpersonal perception skills change in adulthood and provide new methodological tools for a more complete and comprehensive assessment of interpersonal accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Four-Branch Model of Ability Emotional Intelligence With Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence: A Meta-Analysis of Relations

We meta-analytically investigated relations between the four-branch model of ability emotional intelligence (EI) with fluid (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc; 352 effect sizes; ntotal = 15,333). We found that for each branch, the strength of relations with Gf and Gc were equivalent. Understanding emotions has the strongest relation with Gf/Gc combined (ρ = .43, k = 81, n = 11,524), relative to facilitating thought using emotion (ρ = .19, k = 51, n = 7,254), managing emotions (ρ = .20, k = 74, n = 11,359), and perceiving emotion (ρ = .20, k = 79, n = 9,636); for the latter, relations were also moderated by stimulus type. We conclude with implications and recommendations for the study of ability EI.

Developing professional caregivers' empathy and emotional competencies through mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): results of two proof-of-concept studies

OBJECTIVES

To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)-based intervention and determine if the intervention is associated with a significant signal on empathy and emotional competencies.

DESIGN

Two pre-post proof-of-concept studies.

SETTING

Participants were recruited at the University of Montreal's Psychology Department (Study 1) and the CHU Sainte-Justine Department of Hematology-Oncology (Study 2).

PARTICIPANTS

Study 1: 12 students completed the 8-week programme (mean age 24, range 18-34). Study 2: 25 professionals completed the 8-week programme (mean age 48, range 27-63).

INTERVENTION

Standard MBSR programme including 8-week mindfulness programme consisting of 8 consecutive weekly 2-hour sessions and a full-day silent retreat.

OUTCOMES MEASURES

Mindfulness as measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; empathy as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)'s Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern subscales; identification of one's own emotions and those of others as measured by the Profile of Emotional Competence (PEC)'s Identify my Emotions and Identify Others' Emotions subscales; emotional acceptance as measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) and the Emotion Regulation Scale (ERQ)'s Expressive Suppression subscale; and recognition of emotions in others as measured by the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT).

RESULTS

In both studies, retention rates (80%-81%) were acceptable. Participants who completed the programme improved on all measures except the PEC's Identify Others' Emotions and the IRI's Empathic Concern (Cohen's d median=0.92, range 45-1.72). In Study 2, favourable effects associated with the programme were maintained over 3 months on the PEC's Identify my Emotions, the AAQ-II, the ERQ's Expressive Suppression and the GERT.

CONCLUSIONS

The programme was feasible and acceptable. It was associated with a significant signal on the following outcomes: perspective taking, the identification of one's own emotions and emotional acceptance, thus, justifying moving towards efficacy trials using these outcomes.

The nomological network of emotion knowledge and emotion understanding in adults: evidence from two new performance-based tests

Emotion understanding, which can broadly be defined as expertise in the meaning of emotion, is a core component of emotional intelligence and facilitates better intra- and interpersonal outcomes. However, to date only very few standard tests to measure emotion understanding in healthy adults exist. Here, we present two new performance-based tests that were developed and are scored based on componential emotion theory and large-scale cross-cultural empirical findings. These instruments intend to measure facets of emotion understanding that are not included in existing tests. The first test (Geneva EMOtion Knowledge test - Blends; GEMOK-Blends) measures the ability to understand and label emotional experiences of a target person from a description of emotion features covering five emotion components (appraisal, feeling, action tendencies, expression, and physiology) embedded in a written vignette. The second test (GEMOK-Features) measures semantic knowledge about which features from each component are characteristic of emotion episodes described by a specific emotion label. In four studies, we found evidence for the good internal consistency and construct validity of these tests. Both tests were positively correlated with other emotional abilities and cognitive ability and showed meaningful associations with a variety of personality and demographic variables.

Intelligence and Sensory Sensitivity as Predictors of Emotion Recognition Ability

The ability to recognize emotions from nonverbal cues (emotion recognition ability, ERA) is a core component of emotional intelligence, which has recently been conceptualized as a second-stratum factor of intelligence (MacCann et al., 2014). However, only few studies have empirically investigated the link between ERA, intelligence, and other mental abilities. The present study examined the associations between ERA, fluid intelligence, and sensory sensitivity in a sample of 214 participants. Results showed that both fluid intelligence and sensory sensitivity explained unique portions of variance in ERA. These findings suggest that future studies on ERA should include intelligence measures to assess the incremental validity of ERA above and beyond intelligence.

Labelling Facial Affect in Context in Adults with and without TBI

Recognition of facial affect has been studied extensively in adults with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI), mostly by asking examinees to match basic emotion words to isolated faces. This method may not capture affect labelling in everyday life when faces are in context and choices are open-ended. To examine effects of context and response format, we asked 148 undergraduate students to label emotions shown on faces either in isolation or in natural visual scenes. Responses were categorised as representing basic emotions, social emotions, cognitive state terms, or appraisals. We used students' responses to create a scoring system that was applied prospectively to five men with TBI. In both groups, over 50% of responses were neither basic emotion words nor synonyms, and there was no significant difference in response types between faces alone vs. in scenes. Adults with TBI used labels not seen in students' responses, talked more overall, and often gave multiple labels for one photo. Results suggest benefits of moving beyond forced-choice tests of faces in isolation to fully characterise affect recognition in adults with and without TBI.

"It's Always the Judge's Fault": Attention, Emotion Recognition, and Expertise in Rhythmic Gymnastics Assessment

In many sports, such as figure skating or gymnastics, the outcome of a performance does not rely exclusively on objective measurements, but on more subjective cues. Judges need high attentional capacities to process visual information and overcome fatigue. Also their emotion recognition abilities might have an effect in detecting errors and making a more accurate assessment. Moreover, the scoring given by judges could be also influenced by their level of expertise. This study aims to assess how rhythmic gymnastics judges' emotion recognition and attentional abilities influence accuracy of performance assessment. Data will be collected from rhythmic gymnastics judges and coaches at different international levels. This study will employ an online questionnaire consisting on an emotion recognition test and attentional test. Participants' task is to watch a set of videotaped rhythmic gymnastics performances and evaluate them on the artistic and execution components of performance. Their scoring will be compared with the official scores given at the competition the video was taken from to measure the accuracy of the participants' evaluations. The proposed research represents an interdisciplinary approach that integrates cognitive and sport psychology within experimental and applied contexts. The current study advances the theoretical understanding of how emotional and attentional aspects affect the evaluation of sport performance. The results will provide valuable evidence on the direction and strength of the relationship between the above-mentioned factors and the accuracy of sport performance evaluation. Importantly, practical implications might be drawn from this study. Intervention programs directed at improving the accuracy of judges could be created based on the understanding of how emotion recognition and attentional abilities are related to the accuracy of performance assessment.