The main conference is set to begin at 4:30 pm on 4/23 and end at 7:30 pm on 4/25.
New findings in @PNASNews show that helping strangers (e.g., giving blood, experiencing pain for charity) can reduce the negative #affective qualities of #pain, mediated by prefrontal brain activity
Here's to 2020 being the year for #altruism!
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/12/26/1911861117
This pre-conference will focus on advancing discussions in emerging areas of decision-making research between the academic, public, and private sectors. We will highlight novel approaches currently being taken in the field, and encourage cross talk between those in the public and private sectors to share insights and spark collaborations across the public-private divide. The pre-conference will involve several panels covering cutting-edge perspectives on affective science and decision making including the role of emotion in health and well-being across the life span, risk and financial decision making with attention to applied directions, and the promise and pitfalls of public-private partnerships. Invited speakers include Barbara Fredrickson, Richard Lucas, Ellen Peters, Elizabeth Phelps, Jennifer Lerner, and Eric Johnson. There will be ample time throughout the day for networking and potential collaboration.
Click on a session title to see details.
Data-driven Approaches in Social Psychology and its Neuroimaging
Session leader: Dr. Phillippe Schyns (University of Glasgow). Description: Dr. Schyns will showcase cutting-edge data-driven methods that can be used to understand social signals and their processing in the brain, using simple computations. This session will also illustrate how these methods can be surprisingly powerful to discover new patterns in data that, in turn, can enrich theories.
Behavioral Methods in the Context of Affective Science
Session leader: Dr. Michael Kraus (Yale University). Description: Links between behavior and affect are complex and multifaceted. In this methods session, Dr. Kraus will discuss practical tradeoffs and best practices in behavioral approaches to affect. Topics will include experimental design and the measurement of behavior in the lab and field.
Translational and Comparative Affective Science: The Power of (Nonhuman) Animal Models
Session leader: Dr. Eliza Bliss-Moreau (University of California, Davis). Description: Dr. Bliss-Moreau will discuss how science conducted with nonhuman animals can inform a wide variety of questions in affective science. This methods session will also include how to determine which animal models are appropriate for which types of questions and the types of methods and behaviors that are commonly employed by labs that work with nonhuman animals.
Bayesian Approaches to Modeling Cognitive and Neural Dynamics
Session leader: Dr. Jeremy Manning (Dartmouth College). Description: The ongoing stream of people’s internal dialogues and mental states (i.e., moment-by-moment thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.) cannot be directly measured. Nevertheless, psychologists often hope to gain insights into these hidden mental processes. In this methods session, Dr. Manning will provide an introduction to Bayesian approaches to studying the dynamics of our mental states and how our brains support them.
Computational Psychiatry
Session leader: Dr. Alan Anticevic (Yale University). Description: In this methods session, Dr. Anticevic will discuss how computational approaches can be used to improve clinical treatments and diagnoses. He will present examples of how these methods are facilitating novel ways to characterize behavior and brain activity and their potential as biological markers of mental illness.
Modeling Interpersonal Emotion Dynamics
Session leader: Dr. Emily Butler (University of Arizona). Description: Dr. Butler will introduce attendees to a new R package, rties, that makes it (relatively) easy to model interpersonal emotion dynamics, including between-partner emotional co-ordination, co-regulation, and co-dysregulation. This methods session will cover: 1) a theoretical introduction to the topic, 2) an overview of rties capability, and 3) a worked example.
How to Use Twitter to Study Emotion
Session leader: Dr. Nick Obradovich (MIT Media Lab). Description: The Twitter Public API provides one of the best resources for the high-resolution study of human sentiment (and possibly emotion). In this methods session, Dr. Obradovich will discuss the use of Twitter in affective science, including how to access the data, what Twitter data can provide to the study of emotion, and, importantly, what limitations are present with Twitter as a data source.
Mobile and Ubiquitous Emotion Sensing
Session leader: Dr. Akane Sano (Rice University). Description: How can we measure emotion in daily life settings and what do we need to be careful about? Dr. Sano will discuss mobile and ubiquitous emotion sensing and recognition in our daily life settings. The topic includes emotion measurement using wearable sensors, mobile phones, camera, and wireless signals, the underlying challenges, and applications.
Psychophysiological Recording
Session leaders: Dr. Sarah Holley (San Francisco State University) and Dr. Virginia Sturm (University of California, San Francisco). Description: Dr. Holly and Dr. Sturm will provide an introduction to the core physiological systems that are most relevant to human affective science research. Ideally, you will leave the event with a sense of the autonomic measures most relevant to your research questions, as well as an understanding of the practical considerations related to utilizing these methods in your work. All levels of expertise and experience welcomed.
This preconference will highlight recent advances in research on the interplay between culture and emotion, featuring two themes: “Culture and Emotion Perception” (focusing on research investigating cultural influences on emotion perception) and “Cultural Fit of Emotions” (focusing on implications of emotions that fit (or do not fit) in their cultural contexts). The preconference will include two thematic sessions with invited speakers, a data blitz session, a poster session, and a keynote address by Batja Mesquita. Invited speakers include Rachael Jack, Maria Gendron, Taka Masuda, and Ursula Hess for Culture and Emotion Perception session, and Jeanne Tsai, Jose Soto, Yukiko Uchida, and Will Tsai for Cultural Fit of Emotions session. Abstract submissions for data blitz and poster presentations will be solicited (deadline January 15, 2019)
The Emotion Regulation Preconference will feature emotion regulation research from various disciplines and topics, consider emotion regulation from different perspectives, and share exciting new findings and methods. It will feature a range of formats from short talks to panel discussions to break-out groups. All presentations will be invited. Our goal is to have fun, build connections among those interested in emotion regulation (faculty, post-docs, students), and share ideas about new directions in emotion regulation research.
The 6th Annual SAS Positive Emotions Preconference will feature state-of-the-science research on positive emotions. The Positive Emotions Preconference is designed to bring researchers together from a variety of fields to advance the science of positive emotions using a data-centric approach. We encourage thinking, discussing, and integrating across disciplines, and feature speakers that range across research lab traditions, to promote diversity in positive emotion research. This year’s preconference will feature talks showcasing the latest findings in the field and ample opportunities for collaborative discussions and for attendees to connect with one another. The day will culminate with a panel session with Barbara Fredrickson, Judy Moskowitz, and Paula Niedenthal, who will discuss, and perhaps debate, the future of the field. Abstract submissions for talks and posters will be solicited (deadline: January 15, 2019). Submissions are welcome from researchers at all career stages.
The Speed Networking Event will provide attendees the opportunity to interact with several leaders in the field of affective science, briefly and in an informal setting. Each networking event attendee will get to meet one-on-one with several of these mentors. This meeting will give mentees an opportunity to introduce themselves and ask the mentor questions related to their research, career advice, or any other burning questions they have. Each of these meetings will last around five minutes, after which mentees will rotate to meet with another host. Faculty and industry hosts will include: Lisa Feldman Barrett (Northeastern University), David DeSteno (Northeastern University), Phoebe Ellsworth (University of Michigan), Alan Fiske (UCLA), Dan Foti (Purdue University), James Gross (Stanford University), Ann Kring (UC Berkeley), Jennifer Lerner (Harvard Kennedy School), Bob Levenson (UC Berkeley), Terry Maroney (Vanderbilt University), Batja Mesquita (University of Leuven), Paula Niedenthal (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Michael Norton (Harvard Business School), Kevin Ochsner (Columbia University), Tali Sharot (University College London), Leah Somerville (Harvard University), and Heather Urry (Tufts University).
2020SAS Abstract Submission Deadline Extension (11/15)
/in News /by justin.kimThe deadline for 2020 SAS abstract submission has been extended a week to Friday, Novemeber 15, 2019! Please refer to the 2020 SAS Abstract Guidelines & Submission page for details.
Fall 2019 Local Events
/in News /by justin.kimThe Society for Affective Science Student Committee (SASSC) is hosting local meetups for students and trainees in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and the North Carolina Triangle. Join our Facebook Group to find details about an event near you, or e-mail the Events Team lead, Catie Brown, for more details.