Copy - METACOGNITION OF EMOTIONAL STATES

METACOGNITION OF ONE'S OWN EMOTIONAL STATES

Mind and Brain Doctoral Program PhD proposal

Paula Alarcón

Index

Experimental design

Aim of this PhD

Introduction

Implications

Academic Background

Previous studies Research projects

Emotional processing Metacognition

Research questions Hypotheses

Methods and Experiments

Interdisciplinarity

Academic Background

Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience

Internship cognitive neuroscience

MSc Neuroscience

BSc Biochemistry

2010

2010

Metacognition of motor skills

2020-2021 (10 months)

2018

2021-2022 (8 months)

2019

2014

Freie Universität Berlin

MSc Thesis

BSc Thesis

Neural circuits in Drosophila

Immunology

Metacognition of Motor Skills

Recent-graduate internship in cognitive neuroscience

Assisting an ongoing project to study Metacognition and Sense of Agency. How different information about our movements (movement vs outcome) is used for attribution of agency.

Elisa Filevich's lab

Experience:Electroencephalography (EEG)Metacognition research

To what extent are we aware of the emotions we feel?

Emotional Awareness

Metacognition (awareness) of emotion

Emotional Processing

Metacognitive ability of emotion recognition (in other's):

Emotions have a particular “feeling state” which we can be aware of. Emotional processing can happen unconsciously.

• Emotional facial expressions

• Prosodic speech

Kelly & Metcalfe, 2011

Lausen & Hammerschmidt, 2020

Are there metacognitive abilities to recognise our own emotional states?

Metacognition

"Thinking about thinking"

Higher-order evaluations of cognitive processes (memory, perception, motor, attention, emotion...)

Meta-Level

(Knowledge)

Control

Monitoring

Object-Level

(Memory)

La reproduction interdite, René Magritte

Metacognition

How to study it

Higher-order evaluations of cognitive processes (memory, perception, motor, attention...)

How confident a subject is about their performance in a given behavioral task.

A subject has high metacognitive sensitivity (meta-d') when it is able to exclusively endorse correct trials with high confidence.

2-Alternative Forced Choice (2-AFC) task + Confidence

Metacognitive efficiency (M-ratio) is the level of metacognitive sensitivity (meta-d’) related to task performance (d’).M-ratio = meta d’/d’

M-ratio = meta-d'/d'

Aims of this PhD

Understand to what extent we are aware of our own emotional states

Hypotheses

Research questions

1. Metacognition of emotion may be similar to metacognition in other domains that rely on introspection.

• What is the M-ratio of recognition of one’s own emotional states?

• What is the M-ratio of recognition of one’s own emotional states?

• Is there a difference in the M-ratio for different emotional states?

2. Some emotional states (arousal, hedonic valence) may be easier to monitor than others.

• Is there a difference in the M-ratio for different emotional states?

• Can metacognition of emotion be enhanced via meditation practices?

3. Training in meditation may increase metacognition of emotion, as it was shown for memory metacognition.

Baird et. al, 2014

Experimental design

1. Metacognition of emotion may be similar to metacognition in other domains that rely on introspection.

Psychophysics (2-AFC task)

EEG

Population and sample

ERP components for emotional processing: EPN (visual), LPP (associative) Comparing global power of ERPs voltages of both stimuli Introspective Accuracy: Matching task responses with higher ERP voltage Accuracy, Confidence ratings:

M-ratio

Lee & Park, 2011

Experimental design

1. Metacognition of emotion may be similar to metacognition in other domains that rely on introspection.

2. Some emotional states (arousal, hedonic valence) may be easier to monitor than others.

Psychophysics (2-AFC task)

EEG

Population and sample

ERP components for emotional processing: EPN (visual), LPP (associative) Comparing global power of ERPs voltages of both stimuli Introspective Accuracy: Matching task responses with higher ERP voltage Accuracy, Confidence ratings:

M-ratio

M-ratio

Lee & Park, 2011

Condition 2

Condition 1

Experimental design

1. Metacognition of emotion may be similar to metacognition in other domains that rely on introspection.

2. Some emotional states (arousal, hedonic valence) may be easier to monitor than others.

3. Training in meditation may increase metacognition of emotion, as it was shown for memory metacognition.

Session 1

Session 2

2-week meditation program

Population and sample

Population and sample

Population and sample

Population and sample

vs

Control group

Baird et. al, 2014

Implications of this study

To what extent are we aware of our own emotional states?

Cognitive neuroscience

Educational sciences

• Emotional processing

• Metacognitive training to improve academic performance

Philosophy

Psychology

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

• Metacognition and consciousness
• Emotional free will

“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Thanks for your attention

Any questions?

IAPS

International Affective Picture System

Ward, 2019

Bradley &, Lang, 2017

ERP-s components

Emotional Processing: Arousing vs neutral images

Early Posterior Negative potential (EPN)

Late Positive Potential (LPP)

Keil et al., 2002

Schupp et al., 2007

Metacognition

Signal Detection Theory

2-AFC task + Confidence

Maniscalco & Lau, 2014

PHD TIMELINE

GOAL

2026

Writing Thesis

Experiment 2: Meditation training, data collection (session 2), analyses

2025

2024

Experiment 2: Design, data collection (session 1)

2023

Experiment 1: Pilots, data collection, analyses

2022

Experiment 1: Design, set up, programming

START

Emotional Awareness

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Emotional Processing

Self-monitoring of emotions is a treatment strategy, that allows the patient to become aware of patterns of thought and behavior.

Emotions have a particular “feeling state” which we can be aware of. Emotional processing can happen unconsciously.

Meditation practices

Emotional Intelligence

Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) concentrates on e.g. breathing, while monitoring thoughts, feelings, and sensations that come as distractors.

The ability to perceive, evaluate, and manage emotions in yourself and others.