FOR 605:  Emotion and Behaviour: Reflective and Impulsive Processes

• Subject Area: Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Term: from 2006 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13308326

The studies projected for this Research Unit pursue the goal of merging theoretical perspectives and methods in the social, biological and neurological fields of psychology to reach a greater understanding of the reciprocal influences of emotion and behaviour. A common perspective in these concentrations of psychology is the understood assumption that human behaviour is determined through two systems, operating through differential processes. In social psychology, reflective and impulsive mechanisms acting together on behaviour stand in the foreground. In neuropsychology, it is the interaction of activities in the prefrontal cortex and in regions of the brain stem. In both cases, the deciding influences could facilitate synergetic behavioural execution, but could also initiate a conflict between systems. One example of this is in situations of temptation and addiction, wherein emotions play a role by influencing impulsive behaviour, while reflective mechanisms of self-regulation can mobilise counter-directional faculties under appropriate conditions.
The scientific strategy of the eight projects falls into three thematic areas that, on one hand, are based upon fundamental aspects of emotional and impulsive processing of behaviour activation impulses, and, on the other, on general orientations of emotional and impulsive control on behaviour (that is, those that regulate approach and avoidance). Project themes include the handling of negation in the context of evaluation; the differential opportunities in modification of facial mimicry; the influence of physiological needs and wants through appraisal, affect and behaviour; the motivational impact of conditioned inhibition through smoking; the mutual influences of pain and emotion; and the exploration of fear in virtual reality.
The majority of participating researchers come from the University of Würzburg; also represented are the University of Dortmund and the University of Gießen.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• Die Grundlagen emotionalen Verhaltens (Applicant Neumann, Roland )
• Die motivationale Wirkung rauchassoziierter Hinweisreize aus funktioneller und lerntheoretischer Perspektive (Applicants Pauli, Paul ;  Stark, Rudolf Maria )
• Emotion und Schmerz: Neuronale Grundlagen der Schmerzmodulation durch reflektive und impulsive Prozesse (Applicant Wieser, Matthias J. )
• Emotion und Verhalten: Reflektive und impulsive Prozesse (Applicant Strack, Fritz )
• Erleichterung und motivationale Orientierung (Applicant Deutsch, Roland )
• Furcht und Präsenz in virtueller Realität (Applicant Mühlberger, Andreas )
• Impulsive und reflektive Mechanismen der Modulation fazialer Reaktionen auf emotionale Gesichtsausdrücke (Applicant Weyers, Peter )
• Impulsive und reflektive Prozesse bei Reaktionen auf Frustation (Applicant Strack, Fritz )
• Selbstregulation, impulsive Prozesse, Deprivation (Applicant Deutsch, Roland )
• Wahrnehmungs- und Verarbeitungsprozesse emotionaler visueller und auditorischer Information und deren wechselseitiger Einfluss (Applicant Gerdes, Antje B.M. )
• Überraschung und Informationsverarbeitungsstil (Applicant Strack, Fritz )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Fritz Strack