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Updated: May 8, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning
Published on: January 29, 2020
Effects of positive mood on attention broadening for self-related information
Maud Grol1, Ernst H W Koster, Lynn Bruyneel
1Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium, Maud.Grol@UGent.be.
Abstract:
Studies on cognitive effects of positive emotions have associated positive emotions to broadened attention. Given the widely investigated relationship between self-focused attention and mood, it is important to investigate the effect of positive mood on visuospatial attention for self-related information. We used a performance-based measure to assess fluctuations in attentional broadening from self-related contrasted to not-self-related information. In Experiment 1, we checked that the self-related versus not-self-related stimuli did not evoke differential attention effects in general. In Experiment 2, we manipulated mood and found that an increase in positive mood was associated with a relative broadening of attention for self-related information. These results suggest that the meaning of the target of attention provides an interesting dimension for further investigation into the relation between positive emotions and attentional broadening.
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