Peer reviewd papers by Daniel Dukes
Revue suisse de pédagogie spécialisée, 2021
Cette étude vise à comprendre les effets psychologiques causés par la crise sanitaire de la COVID... more Cette étude vise à comprendre les effets psychologiques causés par la crise sanitaire de la COVID-19 au printemps 2020 chez les familles d’enfants avec des besoins éducatifs particuliers (BEP) durant la période de confinement. Plus spéci- fiquement, elle tente d’examiner les difficultés rencontrées par un certain nombre de parents qui se sont retrouvés sur- chargés par des responsabilités multiples et simultanées sans possibilités d’aide extérieure. L’analyse des préoccupa- tions, des anxiétés et des besoins spécifiques de ces familles pourrait permettre la création de mesures de soutien plus fonctionnelles et adéquates à l’avenir.
Psychological Review, 2021
Debates concerning social learning in the behavioral and the developmental cognitive sciences hav... more Debates concerning social learning in the behavioral and the developmental cognitive sciences have largely ignored the literature on social influence in the affective sciences despite having arguably the same object of study. We argue that this is a mistake and that no complete model of social learning can exclude an affective aspect. In addition, we argue that including affect can advance the somewhat stagnant debates concerning the unique characteristics of social learning in humans compared to other animals. We first review the two major bodies of literature in nonhuman animals and human development, highlighting the fact that the former has adopted a behavioral approach while the latter has adopted a cognitive approach, leading to irreconcilable differences. We then introduce a novel framework, affective social learning (ASL), that studies the way we learn about value(s). We show that all three approaches are complementary and focus, respectively, on behavior toward; cognitions concerning; and feelings about objects, events, and people in our environment. All three thus contribute to an affective, behavioral, and cognitive (ABC) story of knowledge transmission: the ABC of social learning. In particular, ASL can provide the backbone of an integrative approach to social learning. We argue that this novel perspective on social learning can allow both evolutionary continuity and ontogenetic development by lowering the cognitive thresholds that appear often too complex for other species and nonverbal infants. Yet, it can also explain some of the major achievements only found in human cultures.
Journal of Pragmatics, 2021
The ability to focus on relevant information is central to human cognition. It is therefore hardl... more The ability to focus on relevant information is central to human cognition. It is therefore hardly unsurprising that the notion of relevance appears across a range of different disciplines. As well as its central role in relevance-theoretic pragmatics, for example, relevance is also a core concept in the affective sciences, where there is consensus that for a particular object or event to elicit an emotional state, that object or event needs to be relevant to the person in whom that state is elicited. Despite this, although some affective scientists have carefully considered what emotional relevance might mean, surprisingly little research has been dedicated to providing a definition. Since, by contrast, the relevance-theoretic notion of relevance is carefully defined, our primary aim is to compare relevance as it exists in affective science and in relevance theory, A further aim is to redress what we perceive to be an imbalance: Affective scientists have made great strides in understanding the processes of emotion elicitation/responses etc., but despite the fact that among humans the communication of information about emotional states is ubiquitous, pragmatists have tended to ignore it. We conclude, therefore, that affective science and relevance theory have much to learn from each other.
Pages Romandes: Revue sur la pédagogie spécialisée les déficiences intellectuelles et développementales, 2021
Les articles signés n'engagent que leurs auteurs. La reproduction des textes parus dans Pages rom... more Les articles signés n'engagent que leurs auteurs. La reproduction des textes parus dans Pages romandes est souhaitée, sous réserve de la mention de leur source.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2021
COVID-19 has affected people across the world. The current study examined anxiety and worries dur... more COVID-19 has affected people across the world. The current study examined anxiety and worries during the first UK national lockdown in March 2020. Parents (n = 402) reported on their own anxiety and worries as well as that of their son/daughter with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and typically developing (TD) child (n = 186) at three time points. Although both groups showed increased anxiety across the three time points, levels of anxiety in the SEND group, but not the TD siblings, were predicted by awareness about COVID-19. In addition, worries differed between the groups showing that COVID-19 impacts the wellbeing of those with SEND differently to that of their TD siblings.
Humor, 2021
Humor is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon composed of a variety of cognitive, social, and e... more Humor is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon composed of a variety of cognitive, social, and emotional processes. This paper will discuss humor appreciation in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder mainly characterized by intellectual disabilities, high social approach tendencies and high positive emotions. Drawing on research on the comprehension and appreciation of humor in individuals with ASD, this paper aims to better understand how the particular cognitive, social, and emotional profile of individuals with WS might affect their appreciation of humor and how such research could ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the nature of humor.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2021
Attenuated positive emotions and difficulties in regulating emotions are frequently observed in i... more Attenuated positive emotions and difficulties in regulating emotions are frequently observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and are linked to increased risk of affective disorders, problematic behaviors, and impaired socio-emotional functioning. As such, interventions specifically focused on positive emotion regulation (ER) skills could be very valuable for individuals with ASD, their caregivers, and therapists. However, the field of positive ER in ASD is under-researched. The present study aimed at testing the practical potential and the preliminary effects of a brief novel psycho-educational training program on positive ER for individuals with ASD. Thirty male participants with ASD (aged 10-35 years; N training = 14, N waitlist = 16) underwent a three-session program on the use of adaptive positive ER strategies (i.e., attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation). Participants rated the program as easy to understand, interesting, pleasant, and likable. No dropouts or adverse effects were observed. The training group showed a significant increase in the self-reported use of the ER strategies compared to the waitlist group. The increase in the use of ER strategies maintained up to 7 weeks in the overall sample. Having reached high satisfaction rates and the intended effects in this proof of concept study, this novel program represents a promising tool to support ER. Future research should next investigate the efficacy of the intervention on day-today emotional experience and wellbeing.
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has a multifaceted impact on mental health due to ill health, restrictions ... more The COVID-19 pandemic has a multifaceted impact on mental health due to ill health, restrictions and lockdowns, and loss of employment and institutional support. COVID- 19 may disproportionally impact families with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) due to the already higher prevalence of mental health conditions in children with SEND and their parents. Therefore, it is essential to determine the short-term impact of the pandemic on the mental health of families with SEND in order to identify their ongoing health support needs. The current study aims to examine the anxiety level and concerns of children with SEND and their parents living in China. The sample consisted of 271 parents of children with SEND aged between 6 and 17 years (Mage = 8.37; SDage = 2.76). Parents completed an online survey between 10 April to 8 June 2020. Both child and parental anxiety levels and various concerns increased after the initial wave of COVID-19 when compared with retrospective pre-COVID-19 levels. Parental anxiety and concern levels were significantly higher for those living in rural areas compared to urban areas. In addition, parental and child anxiety and concern levels were significantly correlated with each other. Parental anxiety at the lowest level made a unique and significant statistical contribution to children’s anxiety levels. The implications of the study findings are discussed.
Educateur (L)', 2021
Sur les bancs de l’école, les émotions font partie intégrante des expériences vécues intra- muros... more Sur les bancs de l’école, les émotions font partie intégrante des expériences vécues intra- muros en classe ou de manière plus générale au sein de l’établissement scolaire. Les appre- nant·es, comme les enseignant·es, peuvent être enthousiastes, se sentir fièr·es, avoir des doutes, ressentir de la honte, éprouver de l’anxiété, être frustré·es ou confus·es, s’inquiéter ou bien encore se sentir dépassé·es. Ces émotions sont au cœur de notre quotidien.
Affective Science, 2021
In countries emerging from civil war, inclusive empathy is important for conflict resolution yet ... more In countries emerging from civil war, inclusive empathy is important for conflict resolution yet may be difficult to promote. Widening the predominant focus on personal inclusive empathy for conflict resolution, we examine whether support for transitional justice mechanisms (TJ) can be predicted by how much an individual perceives inclusive empathy as being shared in their local communities. Our results, based on a probability sample survey in postwar Sri Lanka (N = 580), reveal that the effects of this perceived communal inclusive empathy can be distinguished from those of personally experienced inclusive empathy, and that the more respondents perceive inclusive empathy as prevalent in their communities, the more they support TJ mechanisms. However, the results also indicate the contextual limits of perceived communal inclusive empathy as a resource for conflict resolution: participants tend to underestimate the prevalence of inclusive empathy, especially in militarized minority communities, and the more they underestimate it, the less they support TJ mechanisms. This study corroborates the importance of social influence in conflict resolution, suggesting that perception of inclusive empathy as shared in one's community is a key determinant of popular support for conflict-transforming policies.
Nature Human Behaviour, 2021
Research over the past decades has demonstrated the explanatory power of emotions, feelings, moti... more Research over the past decades has demonstrated the explanatory power of emotions, feelings, motivations, moods, and other affective processes when trying to understand and predict how we think and behave. In this consensus article, we ask: has the increasingly recognized impact of affective phenomena ushered in a new era, the era of affectivism?
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 2020
In order to better understand protective factors for internalizing problems, this longitudinal st... more In order to better understand protective factors for internalizing problems, this longitudinal study examined positive emotions, emotion awareness and (non-)emotional communication skills in relation to somatic complaints and social anxiety in children with (N = 104) and without (N = 183) Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) using self-reported measures twice with a 9-month interval. Additionally, parents reported on their child's communication problems and emotion communication at Time 1. Most importantly, since we found that increasing levels of emotion awareness related to decreases in social anxiety and somatic complaints in children with and without DLD, we conclude that children with DLD are likely to benefit from interventions aimed at improving their emotion awareness in addition to language interventions.
Cognition and Emotion, 2020
Infants readily re-enact others’ intended actions during the second year of life. However, the ro... more Infants readily re-enact others’ intended actions during the second year of life. However, the role of emotion in appreciating others’ intentions and how this understanding develops in infancy remains unstudied. In the present study, 15- and 18-month-old infants observed an experimenter repeatedly attempt but fail to produce a target action on an object and express either frustration or neutral affect after each attempt. Analyses of infants’ responses revealed that 18-month-old infants, but not 15-month-olds, produced more target actions in the frustration condition than the neutral condition. These results suggest that infants use emotional communication to disambiguate and re-enact others’ intended actions and that this ability develops in the second year of life.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2020
Although we applaud the general aims of the target article, we argue that Affective Social Learni... more Although we applaud the general aims of the target article, we argue that Affective Social Learning completes TTOM by pointing out how emotions can provide another route to acquiring culture, a route which may be quicker, more flexible, and even closer to an axiological definition of culture (less about what is, and more about what should be) than TTOM itself.
Travaux neuchâtelois de linguistique, 2018
This paper highlights a novel concept that focuses on obtaining knowledge through the observation... more This paper highlights a novel concept that focuses on obtaining knowledge through the observation of others. In the same way as social learning is concerned with learning from others how to use objects in the environment through various forms of imitation, what we have called 'affective social learning' is concerned with learning how to value objects in the environment through the emotional expressions of others. This paper also looks to highlight the importance of taking a relational view of emotion recognition-what I have called emotion appreciation. This concept offers a more holistic approach than just focusing on facial emotion recognition and, in my opinion, is more likely to help the infant or the newcomer understand how to value the objects in their new environment.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2018
The majority of research on emotion expression has focused on static facial prototypes of a few s... more The majority of research on emotion expression has focused on static facial prototypes of a few selected, mostly negative emotions. Implicitly, most researchers seem to have considered all positive emotions as sharing one common signal (namely, the smile), and consequently as being largely indistinguishable from each other in terms of expression. Recently, a new wave of studies has started to challenge the traditional assumption by considering the role of multiple modalities and the dynamics in the expression and recognition of positive emotions. Based on these recent studies, we suggest that positive emotions are better expressed and correctly perceived when (a) they are communicated simultaneously through the face and body and (b) perceivers have access to dynamic stimuli. Notably, we argue that this improvement is comparatively more important for positive emotions than for negative emotions. Our view is that the misperception of positive emotions has fewer immediate and potentially life- threatening consequences than the misperception of negative emotions; therefore, from an evolutionary perspective, there was only limited benefit in the development of clear, quick signals that allow observers to draw fine distinctions between them. Consequently, we suggest that the successful communication of positive emotions requires a stronger signal than that of negative emotions, and that this signal is provided by the use of the body and the way those movements unfold. We hope our contribution to this growing field provides a new direction and a theoretical grounding for the many lines of empirical research on the expression and recognition of positive emotions.
Visual Cognition, 2017
A new wave of studies on emotion recognition encourages researchers to look beyond the face as th... more A new wave of studies on emotion recognition encourages researchers to look beyond the face as the sole source of pertinent information. One study has proposed that, while there is overwhelming evidence that negative emotions may be differentiated in static facial expressions, postural information is needed to differentiate positive emotions such as pride, love and amusement. We review the most influential of these recent studies before providing some supporting evidence in an exploratory study of a fourth positive emotioninterestthat adds to the recent calls to move beyond static facial expressions of emotion when investigating how we determine how others are feeling and how they are likely to act next.
Emotion Review, 2017
In our attempt to distinguish two types of social appraisal, we (a) clarify the "knower-learner" ... more In our attempt to distinguish two types of social appraisal, we (a) clarify the "knower-learner" relationship in affective social learning, (b) underline the important role that affective observation may have in acculturation processes, and (c) highlight some potential consequences for the recent debate on the benefits of child-directed (ostensive) learning.
Emotion Review, 2017
Social learning is likely to include affective processes: it is necessary for newcomers to discov... more Social learning is likely to include affective processes: it is necessary for newcomers to discover what value to attach to objects, persons, and events in a given social environment. This learning relies largely on the evaluation of others’ emotional expressions. This study has two objectives. Firstly, we compare two closely related concepts that are employed to describe the use of another person’s appraisal to make sense of a given situation: social appraisal and social referencing. We contend that social referencing constitutes a type of social appraisal. Secondly, we introduce the concept of affective social learning with the hope that it may help to discriminate the different ways in which emotions play a critical role in the processes of socialization.
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Peer reviewd papers by Daniel Dukes