Affective experience abnormalities represent a key area of dysfunction in individuals with, or at risk for, schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and severely limit broad domains of functioning in these populations. Nevertheless, much remains unknown about the nature of these abnormalities. Recent advances in the affective science literature suggests that conceptualizing affective processes as a dynamic system may provide valuable insights on affective experience abnormalities associated with schizophrenia-spectrum pathology. Like all natural systems, the system of affective processes involves ever-changing components in response to the ebb and flow of contextual inputs at micro-level (i.e., emotional state), meso-level (i.e., mood), and macro-level (i.e., affective trait) timescales. System variability at every timescale is bound by various stabilizing and destabilizing processes that may bring forth critical phase transitions from one steady state to a contrasting one. Adopting a dynamic systems perspective, the current dissertation undertook a comprehensive investigation of affective experience abnormalities in schizophrenia-spectrum risk in a series of four studies. Chapter 1 offers a systematic review and meta-analysis of the trait and state affective experiences across the full spectrum of high-risk conditions. Findings reveal that high-risk individuals display robust negative affect elevations and nuanced positive affect reductions across trait and state. Trait-level abnormalities were more pronounced compared to state-level abnormalities, thereby demonstrating a trait-state disjunction in high-risk individuals similar to that of individuals with schizophrenia. Chapter 2 offers a three-study empirical examination of the dynamical patterns of affective experiences as they relate to schizophrenia-spectrum risk across varying timescales and contexts. Findings reveal that positive symptoms (e.g., perceptual aberration and magical ideation) and negative symptoms (e.g., social anhedonia) of the schizophrenia spectrum are signified by distinct alterations in affect dynamics. Whereas positive symptoms are linked to heightened magnitude and frequency of affective fluctuations in response to emotional materials, negative symptoms are characterized by heightened persistence of baseline states. Collectively, the current dissertation provides compelling evidence that affective experience abnormalities are vulnerability markers for schizophrenia-spectrum pathology and highlights the critical need to take into account the facet of time when examining affective experiences. Findings are situated within the broader empirical literature and theoretical perspectives of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders to aid in the development of a unifying framework of psychosis. Important next steps on psychosis risk prediction and prevention are discussed.

Schizotypy, a multidimensional personality organization that reflects liability to develop schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, has been associated with a number of emotional abnormalities. Yet, the exact nature of any emotional abnormalities in schizotypy is relatively unclear. Using an ethnically diverse nonclinical sample (N = 2516), the present study identified homogenous clusters of individuals based on positive and negative schizotypy dimensions and explored three interrelated domains of emotion traits closely tied to functional outcomes and quality of life: affective experience, emotional awareness, and meta-emotions. Consistent with prior research, four schizotypy clusters were obtained: low ("nonschizotypic"), high positive, high negative, and mixed (high positive and high negative). Regarding emotion correlates of schizotypy clusters, the mixed cluster was found to be the most deviant on almost all emotion traits (e.g., heightened trait negative affect, diminished emotional clarity), suggesting that the effects of positive and negative schizotypy are additive. In addition, positive and negative schizotypy clusters were associated with differential abnormalities, with the negative cluster presenting a wider range of, and more severe, impairments compared to the low cluster (e.g., reduced trait positive affect and reduced attention to positive emotion). The current study highlights the heterogeneity in emotional traits among schizotypy dimensions and the importance of studying the mixed schizotypy in terms of emotional dysfunction.

Introduction: There is mixed evidence about emotional processing abnormalities in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, with trait self-reports and clinician ratings indicating significant differences between patients and controls, but studies of in-the-moment, self-reported emotional experience finding only small differences between these groups. The current meta-analysis synthesizes statistics from studies measuring the P3 and LPP, two event-related potential (ERP) components sensitive to attentional allocation, to examine whether patients exhibit ERP response abnormalities to neutral and valenced visual stimuli.

Methods: Standardized mean amplitudes and standard errors of P3 and/or LPP waveforms (300-2000 ms) in response to neutral and valenced images were calculated for 13 studies (total n=339 individuals with schizophrenia, 331 healthy controls).

Results: In response to neutral images, there were very small, non-significant differences in ERP amplitudes between patient and control groups (k=9; Hedges’ g=-0.06, 95% CI: -055, 0.43, p=0.81). In contrast, patients showed a small, significant reduction in ERP amplitudes compared to controls in response to negative images (k=13; Hedges’ g=-0.32, 95% CI: -0.59, -0.05, p=0.02), and a small, but nonsignificant, reduction in amplitudes in response to positive images (k=7; Hedges’ g=-0.27, 95% CI: -0.71, 0.18, p=0.24).

Conclusions and implications: The current review indicates that compared to controls, patients have slightly diminished P3 and LPP amplitudes in response to positive and negative stimuli. This small reduction may reflect decreased attention allocation, possibly indicating an abnormality during a distinct stage of early processing related to evaluating the motivational salience of a stimulus.

Due to entrenched debate among affective scientists over the structure of affect, mixed emotions have received far less scientific attention than other emotional experiences. To address this gap in the literature, my dissertation makes theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of mixed emotions, defined here as the subjective experience of simultaneous positive and negative emotion (e.g., bittersweet feelings, nostalgia). The first aim of my dissertation was to develop a new perspective on mixed emotions that is not rooted in solving the current debate over structure of affect. To do this, I present a new, personalized perspective on mixed emotions in Chapter 1. I appeal to affective scientists to move past this debate to advance understanding of the subjective experience of mixed emotions and emphasize the importance of assessing both state and trait emotions (e.g., momentary emotions, general levels of affect) alongside state and “trait” context (e.g., physical location, culture). I present three methodological approaches that I believe will be valuable in building a new mixed emotions literature—inductive research methods, idiographic models of emotional experiences, and empirical assessment of emotion-eliciting contexts.The second aim of my dissertation was to develop a methodologically rigorous approach to studying mixed emotions that will allow researchers to begin building more sophisticated theories of emotion. Across two studies, I explored the frequency and nature of mixed emotions. Importantly, neither study was designed to address whether it is possible for people to experience mixed emotions. Instead, I used atheoretical scales which allowed participants to indicate mixed emotions if and when they occurred. Across Chapters 1 and 2, I found that approximately 20% of all image ratings were characterized by mixed emotions. Further, in Chapter 2 I found evidence for a category of images within the IAPS database that reliably elicited both positive and negative emotion. These results suggest that some IAPS images can be used to elicit low-intensity mixed emotions in laboratory studies and aid in characterizing problematic categories of IAPS images (i.e., neutral, erotic) and increase future researcher’s ability to design effective emotion elicitation paradigms. In Chapter 1, I argue that to better understand mixed emotions and build more sophisticated models of emotion, researchers must collect data across a variety of contexts. In Chapter 3, I explored whether the context of acute stress causes within-person changes in the structure of affect and frequency of mixed emotions. I used a traditional approach to capturing bipolarity in current mood alongside a novel method of testing bipolarity in response to affective stimuli. I failed to find consistent evidence for stress-related changes in the structure of affect or frequency of mixed emotions, however, future research is needed on this topic due to limitations associated with conducting online stress research during a global pandemic.

Female (XX) mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) differ from their male (XY) counterparts because they have lower levels of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). This difference in DNA modifications is a result of having two X chromosomes (Xs), both of which are active at this developmental stage. To test whether OGT is one of the X-linked proteins that regulate 5mC and 5hmC in mESCs, we manipulated OGT dose in XX and XY mESCs. We found that OGT abundance controls cytosine modifications, implicating OGT targets in 5mC and 5hmC regulation. Our quantitative comparison of the O-GlcNAcylated proteome in XX and XY mESCs revealed that O-GlcNAc modified TET3 peptides were more abundant in XX mESCs, which reflected an increase in TET3 amount in these cells. In addition to differing in abundance, TET3 and OGT distribution were also different in XX and XY mESCs. In XX cells, TET3 and OGT were enriched in the nucleus, while they were predominantly cytoplasmic in XY cells. TET3 and OGT occur in different high molecular weight complexes in XX and XY mESCs. When OGT is expressed from one X in XX mESCs, OGT and TET3 are predominantly cytoplasmic and 5mC/5hmC levels increase, indicating that OGT is one X-linked regulator of DNA cytosine modifications. To directly query whether TET3 is necessary for the female-specific 5mC and 5hmC in mESCs we generated homozygous TET3 mutant XX mESCs. In these cells, 5mC and 5hmC levels were decreased relative to wildtype XX mESCs, without dramatic gene expression changes. To investigate the developmental significance of TET3, examined the effects of this mutation on the ability of cells to undergo X chromosome inactivation (XCI) an epigenetic change that occurs when mESCs are differentiated into the next developmental stage, epiblast-like (mEpiL) cells. The establishment of XCI is characterized by the up-regulation of a non-coding RNA, Xist RNA, which remains in the nucleus and ‘coats’ the X concomitant with silencing. In TET3 mutant XX mEpiLCs Xist RNA exhibits abnormal distribution and silencing defects. These results link the activity of a dose-sensitive complex containing X and autosomal proteins to regulation of cytosine DNA modifications and XCI.

Introduction: Group memberships play an important role in promoting psychological well-being and supporting social functioning. However, studies suggest that individuals with social anhedonia, a characteristic defined by limited pleasure from social bonds, may show abnormalities in their desire to cultivate positive feelings, such as belongingness, from social groups. Still, these abnormalities have not been studied in the context of intergroup processes, leaving the relation between social anhedonia and subjective evaluations of group memberships unclear. Methods: Across three studies (Ns = 124 - 659), we examined associations between social anhedonia and affective and cognitive attitudes about different types of ingroups and outgroups using self-report and behavioral measures. Results: Taken together, results indicate that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative feelings and beliefs about most ingroups and outgroups from everyday life, as well as negatively-biased stereotyping of many prominent social groups. At the same time, individuals with either extremely high or low levels of social anhedonia did not report significantly different intergroup attitudes when group memberships were experimentally manipulated in a minimal group setting. Discussion: Overall, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative subjective evaluations of long-established, real-world ingroups, but not of a newly formed ingroup that requires little motivation or social engagement to maintain group membership. Aberrant feelings and attitudes towards one’s ingroups are consistent with the theory that social anhedonia is related to anomalies in the need to belong within social groups from everyday life and could inform psychosocial interventions for related psychopathologies.

Psychotic disorders are associated with significant impairment in psychosocial functioning, yet mechanisms associated with this impairment remain poorly understood. Emotional intelligence, a component of social cognition, is associated with psychosocial functioning in this population. However, prior work has used relatively small samples, reported inconsistent relations between functioning domains and emotional intelligence, and inconsistently considered negative symptoms. To address these limitations, we examined the predictive ability of emotional intelligence on functional outcomes using a five-year longitudinal design. We used a large sample of individuals with and without psychotic disorder diagnoses (N = 324), a highly reliable performance-based measure of emotional intelligence, and three measures of functioning (i.e., social performance, social and occupational functioning, global disability). Results revealed individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder to have lower emotional intelligence than those without a history of psychosis. Further, emotional intelligence was associated with each functional outcome in those with a psychotic disorder and with social performance and social and occupational functioning in those without a history of psychosis. After controlling for negative symptoms in those with a psychotic disorder, emotional intelligence was a small-to-moderate predictor of social performance (β = .36) and social and occupational functioning (β = .21), and a weak predictor of global disability (β = -.08). Overall, findings support the use of emotional intelligence as a longitudinal predictor of social and occupational outcomes above and beyond negative symptoms alone. This work highlights potential, specific intervention targets for individuals with psychotic disorders.

The ability to regulate or manage affect is crucial for well-being, and deficits in affect regulation are common in psychopathology. Factors such as sleep or cognitive load are linked to difficulties in regulating; however, little is known about factors that may support successful affect regulation. A presumed individual difference and necessary step of affect regulation is emotional awareness. Although facets of emotional awareness are theoretically a precursor for affect regulation, findings regarding their associations with habitual use of regulation strategies are mixed. It may be that while low emotional awareness is linked to greater difficulties in affect regulation, heightened emotional awareness may not be directly linked to how often regulation strategies are used. Furthermore, intensity of affect may be an important, relevant factor to consider in investigating the link between emotional awareness and affect regulation. The current dissertation systematically examined how facets of emotional awareness, as well as affect intensity, relate to affect regulation ability and success. The dissertation is comprised of three studies using distinct methodological approaches. Study 1 is a large cross-sectional study that (1) investigated links between trait-level emotional awareness and subjective affect regulation ability and (2) tested whether affect intensity moderated these potential links. Study 2 builds upon Study 1 by using an idiographic, temporal, and more ecologically valid approach (i.e., a longitudinal daily diary study) and tested the relations among emotional awareness, affect intensity, and successful affect regulation in daily life. Lastly, Study 3 is an electroencephalography experimental study that assessed links between trait-level emotional awareness and objectively measured state affect regulation success. Altogether, the current dissertation offers empirical contributions to the field of affective science that may inform future efforts aimed at supporting affective well-being.

The effect of positive and negative mood on different cognitive processes remains largely unknown due to mixed findings. One reason for this is that the methods used in mood induction procedures are widely varied. This study therefore aimed to elucidate the effect of positive and negative mood on two cognitive processes used extensively in daily life: working memory capacity measured using the running memory span, and prepotent inhibition measured using the Flanker task. This study also utilized the three parameters (mu, sigma and tau) of ex-Gaussian distribution to analyze the reaction time data. Participants (N = 306) were predominantly young adults recruited from an undergraduate sample (M = 21.1 years old, SD = 4.2). They were randomly assigned to a positive, negative, or neutral mood group and underwent a mood induction by a watching 3-minute-long video clip. They then performed the running memory span or the Flanker task in a counter-balanced order. Analysis of variance indicate that there was no effect of condition on working memory capacity nor prepotent inhibition. Exploratory analyses indicated that positive mood showed a non-significant tendency to be associated with greater difficulty in prepotent response inhibition, whereas negative mood showed a non-significant tendency to be associated with slower responses (larger tau) in stimulus incompatible trials. These mixed findings suggest that positive and negative mood might influence response inhibition differentially and that there needs to be further experimentation to clarify the differential effect of positive and negative mood on different cognitive processes.

When an organism experiences a salient event, such as when a reward or punishment is received, it is crucial that the information pertaining to that stimulus is encoded and consolidated into memory. The memory of the salient event then allows the organism to continue seeking or avoiding that stimulus. However, it is essential that the organism is also able to recognize the events leading up to encountering the salient stimuli. Theoretically, this requires retroactive enhancement of memory. Retroactive enhancement of memory occurs when previously seemingly irrelevant memories are enhanced at a later time point due to a salient event. While there is theoretical support for the possibility of retroactive enhancement of memories, the empirical evidence in human participants has largely been mixed primarily due to methodological differences and conflation of learning paradigms. Furthermore, as prior studies that have attempted to elicit retroactive enhancement of memory using rewards have only used monetary rewards, it is unclear if social rewards could elicit the effect as well. The effect of retroactive enhancement of memory using rewards on false memories is also unclear. To address the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the literature, this dissertation examined the effects of monetary and social rewards on retroactive enhancement of memory and false memories using an operant conditioning paradigm in Study 1 and a classical conditioning paradigm in Study 2. First, while the data in Study 1 provided evidence of retroactive enhancement of memory for both monetary and social rewards, the data in Study 2 did not support retroactive enhancement of memory. Second, using a two-step conditioning process, results from Study 1 suggest that monetary and social rewards can exert comparable influence on memory in an operant conditioning paradigm. However, results from Study 2 demonstrated that recall in the conditioning phase of the social reward condition was significantly higher than that of the monetary reward condition using a classical conditioning paradigm. Third, in examining rates of false alarms, the data revealed no significant differences between the reward category images in Study 1. The findings of this dissertation not only add to the extant literature but also provide clarity regarding mixed findings in previous studies. Across these two studies, this dissertation provides important insights regarding one facet of memory, retroactive enhancement of memory, especially in the presence of rewards.