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K. Hsing, C., J. HofelichMohr, A., Stansfield, R. B., & D. Preston, S. (2013). Alexithymia slows performance but preserves spontaneous semantic decoding of negative expressions in the emostroop task. International Journal of Psychological Research, 6, 56–67. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.719
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To give up copyright, the authors allow that, International Journal of Psychological Research, distribute the work more broadly, check for the reuse by others and take care of the necessary procedures for the registration and administration of copyright; at the same time, our editorial board represents the interests of the author and allows authors to re-use his work in various forms. In response to the above, authors transfer copyright to the journal, International Journal of Psychological Research. This transfer does not imply other rights which are not those of authorship (for example those that concern about patents). Likewise, preserves the authors rights to use the work integral or partially in lectures, books and courses, as well as make copies for educational purposes. Finally, the authors may use freely the tables and figures in its future work, wherever make explicit reference to the previous publication in International Journal of Psychological Research. The assignment of copyright includes both virtual rights and forms of the article to allow the editorial to disseminate the work in the manner which it deems appropriate.
The editorial board reserves the right of amendments deemed necessary in the application of the rules of publication.
Abstract
Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality construct related to deficits in the recognition and verbalization of emotions. It is uncertain what causes alexithymia or which stage of emotion processing is first affected. The current study was designed to determine if trait alexithymia was associated with impaired early semantic decoding of facial emotion. Participants performed the Emostroop task, which varied the presentation time of faces depicting neutral, angry, or sad expressions before the classification of angry or sad adjectives. The Emostroop effect was replicated, represented by slowed responses when the classified word was incongruent with the background facial emotion. Individuals with high alexithymia were slower overall across all trials, particularly when classifying sad adjectives; however, they did not differ on the basic Emostroop effect. Our results suggest that alexithymia does not stem from lower-level problems detecting and categorizing others’ facial emotions. Moreover, their impairment does not appear to extend uniformly across negative emotions and is not specific to angry or threatening stimuli as previously reported, at least during early processing. Almost in contrast to the expected impairment, individuals with high alexithymia and lower verbal IQ scores had even more pronounced Emostroop effects, especially when the face was displayed longer.To better understand the nature of alexithymia, future research needs to further disentangle the precise phase of emotion processing and forms of affect most affected in this relatively common condition
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References
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Hofelich, A. J., & Preston, S. D. (2012). The meaning in empathy: Distinguishing conceptual encoding from facial mimicry, trait empathy, and attention to emotion. Cognition & Emotion, 26, 119-128.
Holt, C. S. (1995). Evidence for a verbal deficit in alexithymia. Neurosciences, 7, 320-324.
Kano, M., Ito, M., & Fukudo, S. (2011). Neural substrates of decision making as measured with the Iowa gambling task in men with alexithymia. Psychosomatic medicine, 73(7), 588-597.
Kano, M., Hamaguchi, T., Itoh, M., Yanai, K., & Fukudo, S. (2007). Correlation between alexithymia and hypersensitivity to visceral stimulation in human. Pain, 132, 252-263.
Kano, M., Fukudo, S., Gyoba, J., Kamachi, M., Tagawa, M., Mochizuki, H., … Yanai, K. (2003). Specific brain processing of facial expressions in people with alexithymia: an H215O‐PET study. Brain, 126, 1474-1484.
Kokkonen, P., Veijola, J., Karvonen, J. T., Laksy, K., Jokelainen, J., Jarvelin, M., & Joukamaa, M. (2003). Ability to speak at the age of 1 year and alexithymia 30 years later. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 54, 491-495.
Kugel, H., Eichmann, M., Dannlowski, U., Ohrmann, P., Bauer, J., Arolt, V., … Suslow, T. (2008). Alexithymic features and automatic amygdala reactivity to facial emotion. Neuroscience Letters, 435, 40–44.
Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1987). Levels of emotional awareness: A cognitive‐developmental theory and its application to psychopathology. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 133-143.
Lane, R., Sechrest, L., Riedel, R., Shapiro, D. E., & Kaszniak, A. W. (2000). Pervasive emotion recognition deficit common to alexithymia and the repressive coping style. Psychosomatic medicine, 62, 492-501.
Bagby, R. M., Taylor, G. J., Parker, J. D. A., & Dickens, S. E. (2006). The development of the Toronto Structured Interview for alexithymia: Item selection, factor structure, reliability and concurrent validity. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 75, 25-39.
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1987) Beck Depression Inventory Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Bucci, W. (1997).Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: a multiple code theory. New York: Guilford.
Damasio, A. R. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace.
Educational Testing Service. (1976). Kit of factor-referenced tests. Princeton, NJ: Author.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1976).Pictures of facial affect [Slides]. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Gil, F. P., Ridout, N., Kessler, H., Neuffer, M., Schoechlin, C., Traue, H. C., & Nickel, M. (2009). Facial emotion recognition and alexithymia in adults with somatoform disorders. Depression and Anxiety, 26, E26-E33.
Hendryx, M. S., Haviland, M. G., & Shaw, D. G. (1991). Dimensions of alexithymia and their relationships to anxiety and depression. Journal of Personality Assessment, 56, 227–237.
Hofelich, A. J., & Preston, S. D. (2012). The meaning in empathy: Distinguishing conceptual encoding from facial mimicry, trait empathy, and attention to emotion. Cognition & Emotion, 26, 119-128.
Holt, C. S. (1995). Evidence for a verbal deficit in alexithymia. Neurosciences, 7, 320-324.
Kano, M., Ito, M., & Fukudo, S. (2011). Neural substrates of decision making as measured with the Iowa gambling task in men with alexithymia. Psychosomatic medicine, 73(7), 588-597.
Kano, M., Hamaguchi, T., Itoh, M., Yanai, K., & Fukudo, S. (2007). Correlation between alexithymia and hypersensitivity to visceral stimulation in human. Pain, 132, 252-263.
Kano, M., Fukudo, S., Gyoba, J., Kamachi, M., Tagawa, M., Mochizuki, H., … Yanai, K. (2003). Specific brain processing of facial expressions in people with alexithymia: an H215O‐PET study. Brain, 126, 1474-1484.
Kokkonen, P., Veijola, J., Karvonen, J. T., Laksy, K., Jokelainen, J., Jarvelin, M., & Joukamaa, M. (2003). Ability to speak at the age of 1 year and alexithymia 30 years later. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 54, 491-495.
Kugel, H., Eichmann, M., Dannlowski, U., Ohrmann, P., Bauer, J., Arolt, V., … Suslow, T. (2008). Alexithymic features and automatic amygdala reactivity to facial emotion. Neuroscience Letters, 435, 40–44.
Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1987). Levels of emotional awareness: A cognitive‐developmental theory and its application to psychopathology. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 133-143.
Lane, R., Sechrest, L., Riedel, R., Shapiro, D. E., & Kaszniak, A. W. (2000). Pervasive emotion recognition deficit common to alexithymia and the repressive coping style. Psychosomatic medicine, 62, 492-501.
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