Papers by Nicolas Silvestrini
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2016
ABSTRACT Self-report measures of affect come with a number of difficulties that can be circumvent... more ABSTRACT Self-report measures of affect come with a number of difficulties that can be circumvented by using indirect measurement procedures. The Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT) is a recently developed measure of automatic activation of representations of affective states and traits that draws on participants’ ratings of the extent to which nonsense words purportedly originating from an artificial language bear positive or negative meaning. Here we compared psychometric properties of this procedure across ten countries and provide versions in corresponding languages (Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish). The results suggest good reliability, metric invariance, and construct validity across countries and languages. The IPANAT thus turns out as a useful tool for the indirect assessment of affect in different languages and cultures.
Biological Psychology, 2016
Based on the implicit-affect-primes-effort (IAPE) model (Gendolla, 2012, 2015), the present exper... more Based on the implicit-affect-primes-effort (IAPE) model (Gendolla, 2012, 2015), the present experiment tested whether objective task difficulty moderates the previously found impact of fear and anger primes on effort-related cardiac response during an arithmetic task. We expected that fear primes would lead to stronger cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP) reactivity than anger primes in an easy task, but that anger primes would lead to a stronger PEP response than fear primes in a difficult task. Results corroborated these predictions. Moreover, there was no evidence that the affect primes induced conscious feelings that could explain the observed cardiac reactivity, suggesting that the primes had the intended implicit effect on effort mobilization. The findings contribute to the accumulating evidence in support of the IAPE model, showing that objective task difficulty is a moderator of implicit affect's influence on effort-related cardiac response.
Biological Psychology, Mar 1, 2011
After habituation, participants were first induced into negative vs. positive moods and performed... more After habituation, participants were first induced into negative vs. positive moods and performed then an attention task with either low vs. high hedonic instrumentality of success. In the high-instrumentality condition participants expected to see a funny movie after success and an unpleasant movie after failure; in the low-instrumentality condition participants expected an unpleasant movie after success and a pleasant movie after failure. Effort-related cardiovascular response (ICG, blood pressure) was assessed during mood inductions and task performance. As predicted by the mood-behavior-model , responses of cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP) and systolic blood pressure were stronger in the high-instrumentality/negative-mood condition than in the other three cells. Here the high hedonic instrumentality of success justified the high effort that was perceived as necessary in a negative mood. Moreover, the PEP effects indicate that cardiovascular response was driven by beta-adrenergic impact on the heart rather than by vascular adjustments.
How motivation affects cardiovascular response: Mechanisms and applications., 2012
Motivation and Emotion, 2014
Participants worked on an easy versus difficult arithmetic task with integrated happiness versus ... more Participants worked on an easy versus difficult arithmetic task with integrated happiness versus sadness primes, presented either suboptimally (briefly and masked) or optimally (long and visible). As predicted by the IAPE model ), the affect primes moderated the task difficulty effect on mental effort in the suboptimal-prime condition: cardiac pre-ejection period response was stronger in the happiness/difficult than in the sadness/difficult condition and tended to be stronger in the sadness-easy than in the happiness-easy condition. These effects were reversed in the optimal-prime-presentation condition, suggesting behavior correction due to controlled prime processing. Moreover, neither suboptimally nor optimally presented affect primes had prime-congruent effects on conscious mood assessed via self-report. The results demonstrate differential effects of implicitly versus explicitly processed affect cues on mental effort and suggest that they can do so without inducing emotional feelings.
Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation, 2014
Psychophysiology, 2011
This experiment investigated the combined effect of masked affective stimuli and task difficulty ... more This experiment investigated the combined effect of masked affective stimuli and task difficulty on effort-related cardiovascular response. Cardiovascular reactivity (ICG, blood pressure) was recorded during a baseline period and performance of an easy or difficult attention task in which participants were exposed to masked sad vs. happy facial expressions. As expected, participants in the sad-faces/easy and happy-faces/difficult conditions showed stronger sympathetic nervous system discharge to the heart and vasculatureFshorter preejection period, higher systolic blood pressureFindicating more effort than participants in the sad-faces/difficult and happy-faces/easy conditions. Total peripheral resistance reacted similarly as preejection period and systolic blood pressure. The findings are compatible with the effects of consciously experienced affect on effort-related cardiovascular response.
Transplantation Proceedings, 2010
Old-for-old renal transplantation is becoming more frequent, but the optimal immunosuppressive re... more Old-for-old renal transplantation is becoming more frequent, but the optimal immunosuppressive regimens for this transplant population are still unclear. The aim of this pilot prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination of basiliximab with a short course of low-dose thymoglobulin induction therapy among a group of patients receiving kidneys from donors >60 years (OLD), compared with those receiving organs from donors <60 years (YNG). Forty-six consecutive deceased donor kidney transplant patients received induction therapy with a combination of basiliximab (20 mg IV on days 0 and 4) and thymoglobulin (200 mg total dose IV on days 0-3). As maintenance immunosuppression starting on day 4, patients received a low dose of calcineurin inhibitor and steroids. Demographic characteristics at baseline were not significantly different between the 2 groups. At 6 months, patient survival, graft survival, and acute rejection rates were similar between the YNG and OLD groups: 100% and 95%, 96% and 95%, and 8% and 0%, respectively. Patients in the OLD group showed higher serum creatinine concentrations (YNG 1.5 +/- 0.3 vs OLD 1.9 +/- 0.3 mg/dL; P = .0002) but not proteinuria (YNG 0.11 +/- 0.11 vs OLD 0.15 +/- 0.14 g/24 h; P = ns). No significant difference was evident between the 2 groups regarding infectious, hematologic, or posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder complications. This study showed that a combination of basiliximab and a short course of low-dose thymoglobulin provided effective and safe immunosuppression, in old-for-old renal transplantation, with good renal function without an increased risk of posttransplantation infectious or hematologic complications.
Psychophysiology, 2007
University students (N 5 43) watched film clips to manipulate negative, neutral, or positive mood... more University students (N 5 43) watched film clips to manipulate negative, neutral, or positive mood states and then performed a mood regulation task with the goal of experiencing positive affect. Autonomic reactivity was assessed during habituation, mood inductions, and mood regulation. According to the mood-behavior model (G.H.E. Gendolla, 2000) and studies on self-regulation, we predicted stronger cardiovascular and electrodermal reactivity in a negative mood than in both positive and neutral moods in the context of mood regulation but not during the mood inductions. Results were as expected. Furthermore, the Zygomaticus Major muscle reacted more strongly in the positive than in the neutral and negative mood conditions during the mood inductions. The findings are interpreted as demonstrating mood effects on resource mobilization during an effortful mood regulation performance.
Psychological Science, 2010
In this study, we examined the hypothesis that masked general action and inaction cues that are p... more In this study, we examined the hypothesis that masked general action and inaction cues that are processed during a cognitive task directly mobilize effort exerted during the task. Participants were randomly assigned to an action-prime condition, an inaction-prime condition, or a control condition and performed a Sternberg short-term memory task. The intensity of effort the participants exerted during the task was estimated by measuring their heart responses (cardiac preejection period, PEP) during task performance. As expected, exposure to masked action cues resulted in stronger PEP reactivity than exposure to masked inaction cues. PEP reactivity in the control group fell in between reactivity when action cues were used and reactivity when inaction cues were used. Participants' task performance revealed a corresponding pattern: Reaction times were the shortest in the action-prime condition, increased in the control condition, and increased further in the inaction-prime condition. These results show that masked action cues and inaction cues directly influence the intensity of effort exerted in the performance of a task.
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Papers by Nicolas Silvestrini