Joan Welkowitz

The personal style inventory: Preliminary validation studies of new measures of sociotropy and autonomy

We conducted five studies with depressed patients, demographically matched controls, and college students to develop and psychometrically evaluate new measures of concerns about interpersonal relationships (sociotropy) and autonomous achievement (autonomy), constructs that have been proposed to confer vulnerability to depression. The final version of the Personal Style Inventory (PSI) Sociotropy and Autonomy scales showed a good factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest stability, a low correlation with each other, and weak or no gender differences. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined with respect to depressive symptom levels, the Dependency and Self-Criticism scales of the Revised Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, and a social desirability scale and were generally acceptable. Further evaluations of the construct validity of the PSI are indicated.

Perception of facial emotion in schizophrenic and right brain-damaged patients

Deficits in the perception of facial emotion have been demonstrated in patients with rightsided brain damage (RBD) and schizophrenia (SZ). Furthermore, recent speculations have implicated right-hemisphere dysfunction in Type II schizophrenics, especially those with a preponderance of “negative symptoms” and flat affect. The performance of SZ, RBD, and normal control subjects was compared on measures assessing facial emotional perception. Both identification and discrimination paradigms were used, with positive/pleasant and negative/unpleasant emotions. To examine the effects of visuospatial and facial processing on facial emotion tasks, the Visual Matrices Test and the Benton Facial Recognition Test were administered. On both facial emotion tests, SZ and RBD patients were significantly impaired relative to normal subjects, but not different from each other. The SZ and RBD patients were also impaired on the matrices and facial recognition tests. When the effects of the matrices and neutral face recognition tests were statistically controlled, significant group differences remained for the identification task but not for the discrimination task. Thus, methodologies are presented for the neuropsychological study of facial emotional perception, and some support is provided for the notion that negative-symptom schizophrenia is associated with right hemisphere dysfunction.

Parameters of emotional processing in neuropsychiatric disorders: conceptual issues and a battery of tests.

Components of emotional processing were examined in psychiatric and neurological populations: communication channel (face/voice), processing mode (expression/perception), and emotional valence (positive/negative). These were assessed with an experimental affect battery which was administered to schizophrenic, unipolar depressive, right-brain-damaged, Parkinsons disease, and normal control right-handed adults. For expression, subjects were taped while producing facial and vocal emotional expressions. Judges rated the expressions for accuracy and intensity. For perception, subjects were asked to identify and discriminate facial and vocal emotions. Using correlational techniques, relationships between facial and vocal channels and between expressive and perceptual modes were explored. The test battery has good psychometric properties and discriminates among diagnostic groups.

Comparative Efficacy and Safety of MAOIs versus TCAs in Treating Depression in the Elderly

This comprehensive study investigated both the role of antidepressant drugs in the treatment of affective disorders of later life and their safety with careful clinical and pharmacological monitoring. A 7-week double-blind comparison was made of the efficacy and safety of nortriptyline (a tricyclic), phenelzine (a monoamine oxidase inhibitor), and placebo. The results indicated a response rate of approximately 60% for both nortriptyline and phenelzine versus a 13% response rate for placebo. Anticholinergic side effects were more frequently reported in the nortriptyline group. Orthostatic symptoms were reported with similar frequency in both drug groups. Overall, both drugs were well tolerated.

Lateralization for the expression and perception of facial emotion as a function of age

In order to test the hypothesis of right hemisphere changes with age, this study examined lateralization for facial emotion in young, middle-aged, and older women (N = 90). For expression, subjects were photographed while posing positive and negative emotions. Composite photographs were created and rated for intensity. For perception, subjects were required to make intensity judgements about emotional chimeric faces. Overall, subjects demonstrated significant left-sided facial asymmetry for expression and significant left hemispace biases for perception. The findings for facial expression were not influenced by emotional valence or resting face asymmetries. There were no changes in lateralization as a function of age for either expression or perception. Taken together, these findings lend support to the notion that the right hemisphere mediates emotional processing across the adult life span.

The perception of facial emotion across the adult life span

This study was designed to examine changes in the perception of facial emotion across the adult life span. Subjects were 30 young (ages 21 to 39 years), 30 middle‐aged (ages 40 to 59 years), and 30 older (ages 60 to 81 years) normal adult right‐handed females. The three groups of subjects were carefully screened for neurological and psychiatric disorders and for cognitive and visuoperceptual deficits; the groups were closely matched on demographic variables. Subjects were required to identify photographs of facial emotional expressions (Ekman & Friesen, 1976). There were no overall changes in accuracy of perception as a function of age. The ages of posers in the photographs did not influence the perceptual accuracy scores. This study contributes to the literature about the characteristics of normal emotional processing across the adult life span.

Relationships among Facial, Prosodic, and Lexical Channels of Emotional Perceptual Processing

This study was designed to address the issue of whether there is a general processor for the perception of emotion or whether there are separate processors. We examined the relationships among three channels of emotional communication in 100 healthy right-handed adult males and females. The channels were facial, prosodic/intonational, and lexical/verbal; both identification and discrimination tasks of emotional perception were utilised. Statistical analyses controlled for nonemotional perceptual factors and subject characteristics (i.e. demographic and general cognitive). For identification, multiple significant correlations were found among the channels. For discrimination, fewer correlations were significant. Overall, these results provide support for the notion of a general processor for emotional perceptual identification in normal adult subjects.

A preliminary comparison of flat affect schizophrenics and brain-damaged patients on meausres of affective processing☆

Flat affect is a major component of schizophrenia and is often also seen in neurological disorders. A preliminary set of comparisons were conducted to delineate neuropsychological mechanisms underlying flat affect in schizophrenia, and new measures are described for the assessment of affective deficits in clinical populations. Subjects were schizophrenic with flat affect (SZs), right brain-damaged (RBD), Parkinsons Disease (PDs), and normal control (NC) right-handed adults. Subjects were administered affective measures of expression and perception in both facial and vocal channels. For both perceptual and expressive tasks the SZs performed significantly less accurately than the NCs and the PDs but did not differ from the RBDs. This was the case for both face and voice. This finding lends support to the speculation that right hemisphere mechanisms, especially cortical ones, may be compromised among schizophrenics with flat affect.

Verbal Pragmatics Following Unilateral Stroke: Emotional Content and Valence

Verbal pragmatic aspects of discourse production were examined in 16 right brain-damaged (RBD), 16 left brain-damaged (LBD), and 16 normal control right-handed adults. The facilitation effect of emotional content, valence hypothesis, and relationship between pragmatics and emotion were evaluated. Participants produced monologues while recollecting emotional and nonemotional experiences. Transcribed monologues were rated for appropriateness on 6 pragmatic features: conciseness, lexical selection, quantity, relevancy, specificity, and topic maintenance. Overall, brain-damaged groups were rated as significantly less appropriate than normals. Consistent with the facilitation effect, emotional content enhanced pragmatic performance of LBD aphasic participants yet suppressed performance of RBD participants. Contrary to the valence hypothesis, RBD participants were more impaired for positive emotions and LBD participants for negative emotions. Pragmatic appropriateness was not strongly correlated with a measure of emotional intensity.

Changes in Vocal Intensity as a Function of Interspeaker Influence

The purpose of the present study was to analyze vocal intensity in a prior study as an interpersonal cue in verbal communication. Reanalysis indicates that intensity is both a stable and modifiable characteristic of interpersonal communication and suggests that variations in levels of vocal intensity of conversational partners may convey information about their relationship to each other.