How instructors’ emotional expressions shape students’ learning performance: The roles of anger, happiness, and regulatory focus.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand how regulatory focus influences informal learning behaviors. A growing body of research indicates that regulatory focus has significant consequences for goal pursuit in the workplace, yet it has not been readily studied or applied to the field of human resource management (Johnson et al., 2015). This is one of the few studies to examine the relationship between informal learning and regulatory focus theory that can be applied to the training and development field. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative research design, a semi-structured interview was used to increase the comparability of participant responses. Questions were asked in an open-ended manner, allowing for a structured approach for collecting information yet providing flexibility for the sake of gaining more in-depth responses. An interview guideline was used to standardize the questions and ensure similar kinds of information were obtained across participants. A typological analytic approach (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) was used to analyze the data. Findings In a sample of 16 working adults, (44% female and 56% male), participants who were identified as having either a promotion- or prevention-focus orientation were interviewed about types of informal learning strategies they used. The results revealed that performance success and failure have differential effects on learning behaviors for prevention and promotion-focus systems. Stress and errors motivate informal learning for the prevention-focus system, whereas positive affect motivates informal learning for the promotion-focus system. Prevention-focus participants articulated greater use of vicarious learning, reflective thinking and feedback-seeking as methods of informal learning. Promotion-focus participants articulated greater use of experimentation methods of informal learning. Originality/value This study provides an in-depth understanding of how regulatory focus influences informal learning. Few studies have considered how regulatory focus promotes distinct strategies and inclinations toward using informal learning. Performance success and failure have differential effects on informal learning behaviors for regulatory promotion and prevention systems. This has theoretical and practical implications in consideration of why employees engage in informal learning, and the tactics and strategies they use for learning.

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Estimating the Valence of Single Stimuli: A New Variant of the Affective Simon Task

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1026//1618-3169.50.2.86 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 86-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Andreas Voß ◽

Klaus Rothermund ◽

Dirk Wentura

Keyword(s):

Simon Task ◽

Emotional Expressions ◽

Evaluation Task ◽

New Variant ◽

Game Context

Abstract. In this article, a modified variant of the Affective Simon Task (AST; De Houwer & Eelen, 1998 ) is presented as a measure of implicit evaluations of single stimuli. In the AST, the words “good” or “bad” have to be given as responses depending on the color of the stimuli. The AST was combined with an evaluation task to increase the salience of the valence of the presented stimuli. Experiment 1 investigated evaluations of schematic faces showing emotional expressions. In Experiment 2 we measured the valence of artificial stimuli that acquired valence in a game context during the experiment. Both experiments confirm the validity of the modified AST. The results also revealed a dissociation between explicit and implicit evaluations.

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Learning and Consolidation of Verbal Declarative Memory in Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1027/0044-3409/a000020 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 218 (2) ◽

pp. 135-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Slawomira J. Diener ◽

Herta Flor ◽

Michèle Wessa

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Declarative Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Learning Performance ◽

Ptsd Symptoms

Impairments in declarative memory have been reported in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fragmentation of explicit trauma-related memory has been assumed to impede the formation of a coherent memorization of the traumatic event and the integration into autobiographic memory. Together with a strong non-declarative memory that connects trauma reminders with a fear response the impairment in declarative memory is thought to be involved in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Fourteen PTSD patients, 14 traumatized subjects without PTSD, and 13 non-traumatized healthy controls (HC) were tested with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) to assess verbal declarative memory. PTSD symptoms were assessed with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale and depression with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Several indices of the CVLT pointed to an impairment in declarative memory performance in PTSD, but not in traumatized persons without PTSD or HC. No group differences were observed if recall of memory after a time delay was set in relation to initial learning performance. In the PTSD group verbal memory performance correlated significantly with hyperarousal symptoms, after concentration difficulties were accounted for. The present study confirmed previous reports of declarative verbal memory deficits in PTSD. Extending previous results, we propose that learning rather than memory consolidation is impaired in PTSD patients. Furthermore, arousal symptoms may interfere with successful memory formation in PTSD.

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