Georg W Alpers
Biographic Data
| ID | 765513 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Georg W Alpers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Georg W |
| FAMILY NAME | Alpers |
| SIGNATURE | ALPERS G W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Mannheim |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9896-5158 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Motor skills in children with ADHD
Individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have overlooked motor difficulties which can be at least partially attributed to co-occurring conditions such as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Understanding the influence of DCD and motor difficulties is important to detect in children for early support. Accordingly, the present study examined the prevalence of DCD diagnoses, cases of probable DCD, and related imp…
Better together than alone? Investigating dyadic compassion meditation in an experimental study
While meditation is commonly practiced by individuals on their own, several programmes have incorporated dyadic forms, too. However, the setting - meditating alone or in dyads - and its impact on the effects of meditation have not yet been examined. We expected that dyadic compassion meditation (CM) may improve perceived social closeness more compared to closely-matched individual CM. N = 50 couples were randomly assigned to do a brief 15-min CM …
When attitudes and beliefs get in the way of shared decision‐making
INTRODUCTION: Certain sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., older age) have previously been identified as barriers to patients' participation preference in shared decision-making (SDM). We aim to demonstrate that this relationship is mediated by the perceived power imbalance that manifests itself in patients' negative attitudes and beliefs about their role in decision-making. METHODS: We recruited a large sample (N = 434) of outpatients with a …
Automatic facial coding versus electromyography of mimicked, passive, and inhibited facial response to emotional faces
Decoding someone's facial expressions provides insights into his or her emotional experience. Recently, Automatic Facial Coding (AFC) software has been developed to provide measurements of emotional facial expressions. Previous studies provided first evidence for the sensitivity of such systems to detect facial responses in study participants. In the present experiment, we set out to generalise these results to affective responses as they can occ…
Nightmares are not the only negative dreams
Dealing With the Covid-19 Infodemic
In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, media reports have caused anxiety and distress in many. In some individuals, feeling distressed by information may lead to avoidance of information, which has been shown to undermine compliance with preventive health behaviors in many health domains (e.g., cancer screenings). We set out to examine whether feeling distressed by information predicts higher avoidance of information about C…
Emotional sounds guide visual attention to emotional pictures
For the realm of visual cues, it has been well documented that attention is preferentially oriented toward emotionally relevant cues. Preliminary evidence suggests that emotional cues from other sensory modalities may also steer visual attention toward emotional pictures. However, more research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms that are involved. Therefore, a novel design was used to investigate whether emotional sounds promote attentional or…
Instructed threat enhances threat perception in faces
Anxiety can boost the detection of potential threats in many ways. There is evidence that one and the same facial expression can be perceived differently depending on whether it is seen in a neutral or in a threatening situation. The present study investigated how aversive anticipation influences the accuracy of facial emotion recognition and the perceived emotional intensity of faces that had their objective emotional intensity manipulated. Fort…
The impact of perception and presence on emotional reactions
Virtual reality (VR) has made its way into mainstream psychological research in the last two decades. This technology, with its unique ability to simulate complex, real situations and contexts, offers researchers unprecedented opportunities to investigate human behavior in well controlled designs in the laboratory. One important application of VR is the investigation of pathological processes in mental disorders, especially anxiety disorders. Res…
Happy mouth and sad eyes
There is evidence that specific regions of the face such as the eyes are particularly relevant for the decoding of emotional expressions, but it has not been examined whether scan paths of observers vary for facial expressions with different emotional content. In this study, eye-tracking was used to monitor scanning behavior of healthy participants while looking at different facial expressions. Locations of fixations and their durations were reco…
Spiders are special
Here is looking at you
Two incompatible pictures compete for perceptual dominance when they are presented to one eye each. This so-called binocular rivalry results in an alternation of dominant and suppressed percepts. In accordance with current theories of emotion processing, the authors' previous research has suggested that emotionally arousing pictures predominate in this perceptual process. Three experiments were run with pictures of emotional facial expressions th…
Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Narratives of Women Abused by Intimate Partners
This study examined relationships between cognitive and emotional processing with changes in pain and depression among intimate partner violence survivors. Twenty-five women who wrote about their most traumatic experiences completed measures of pain and depressive symptoms before the first writing session and again 4 months following the last writing session. Reduced pain was significantly associated with less use of positive and negative emotion…
Salivary Cortisol Response During Exposure Treatment in Driving Phobics
OBJECTIVE: Extensive research on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress has not clarified whether that axis is activated by phobic anxiety. We addressed this issue by measuring cortisol in situational phobics during exposure treatment. METHODS: Salivary cortisol was measured in 11 driving phobics before and during three exposure sessions involving driving on crowded limited-access highways and compared with levels measur…
Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Narratives of Women Abused by Intimate Partners
This study examined relationships between cognitive and emotional processing with changes in pain and depression among intimate partner violence survivors. Twenty-five women who wrote about their most traumatic experiences completed measures of pain and depressive symptoms before the first writing session and again 4 months following the last writing session. Reduced pain was significantly associated with less use of positive and negative emotion…
Better together than alone? Investigating dyadic compassion meditation in an experimental study
While meditation is commonly practiced by individuals on their own, several programmes have incorporated dyadic forms, too. However, the setting - meditating alone or in dyads - and its impact on the effects of meditation have not yet been examined. We expected that dyadic compassion meditation (CM) may improve perceived social closeness more compared to closely-matched individual CM. N = 50 couples were randomly assigned to do a brief 15-min CM …
Salivary Cortisol Response During Exposure Treatment in Driving Phobics
OBJECTIVE: Extensive research on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress has not clarified whether that axis is activated by phobic anxiety. We addressed this issue by measuring cortisol in situational phobics during exposure treatment. METHODS: Salivary cortisol was measured in 11 driving phobics before and during three exposure sessions involving driving on crowded limited-access highways and compared with levels measur…
Here is looking at you
Two incompatible pictures compete for perceptual dominance when they are presented to one eye each. This so-called binocular rivalry results in an alternation of dominant and suppressed percepts. In accordance with current theories of emotion processing, the authors' previous research has suggested that emotionally arousing pictures predominate in this perceptual process. Three experiments were run with pictures of emotional facial expressions th…
Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Narratives of Women Abused by Intimate Partners
This study examined relationships between cognitive and emotional processing with changes in pain and depression among intimate partner violence survivors. Twenty-five women who wrote about their most traumatic experiences completed measures of pain and depressive symptoms before the first writing session and again 4 months following the last writing session. Reduced pain was significantly associated with less use of positive and negative emotion…
Spiders are special
Happy mouth and sad eyes
There is evidence that specific regions of the face such as the eyes are particularly relevant for the decoding of emotional expressions, but it has not been examined whether scan paths of observers vary for facial expressions with different emotional content. In this study, eye-tracking was used to monitor scanning behavior of healthy participants while looking at different facial expressions. Locations of fixations and their durations were reco…
The impact of perception and presence on emotional reactions
Virtual reality (VR) has made its way into mainstream psychological research in the last two decades. This technology, with its unique ability to simulate complex, real situations and contexts, offers researchers unprecedented opportunities to investigate human behavior in well controlled designs in the laboratory. One important application of VR is the investigation of pathological processes in mental disorders, especially anxiety disorders. Res…
Instructed threat enhances threat perception in faces
Anxiety can boost the detection of potential threats in many ways. There is evidence that one and the same facial expression can be perceived differently depending on whether it is seen in a neutral or in a threatening situation. The present study investigated how aversive anticipation influences the accuracy of facial emotion recognition and the perceived emotional intensity of faces that had their objective emotional intensity manipulated. Fort…
Dealing With the Covid-19 Infodemic
In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, media reports have caused anxiety and distress in many. In some individuals, feeling distressed by information may lead to avoidance of information, which has been shown to undermine compliance with preventive health behaviors in many health domains (e.g., cancer screenings). We set out to examine whether feeling distressed by information predicts higher avoidance of information about C…
Emotional sounds guide visual attention to emotional pictures
For the realm of visual cues, it has been well documented that attention is preferentially oriented toward emotionally relevant cues. Preliminary evidence suggests that emotional cues from other sensory modalities may also steer visual attention toward emotional pictures. However, more research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms that are involved. Therefore, a novel design was used to investigate whether emotional sounds promote attentional or…
Automatic facial coding versus electromyography of mimicked, passive, and inhibited facial response to emotional faces
Decoding someone's facial expressions provides insights into his or her emotional experience. Recently, Automatic Facial Coding (AFC) software has been developed to provide measurements of emotional facial expressions. Previous studies provided first evidence for the sensitivity of such systems to detect facial responses in study participants. In the present experiment, we set out to generalise these results to affective responses as they can occ…
Nightmares are not the only negative dreams
When attitudes and beliefs get in the way of shared decision‐making
INTRODUCTION: Certain sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., older age) have previously been identified as barriers to patients' participation preference in shared decision-making (SDM). We aim to demonstrate that this relationship is mediated by the perceived power imbalance that manifests itself in patients' negative attitudes and beliefs about their role in decision-making. METHODS: We recruited a large sample (N = 434) of outpatients with a …
Better together than alone? Investigating dyadic compassion meditation in an experimental study
While meditation is commonly practiced by individuals on their own, several programmes have incorporated dyadic forms, too. However, the setting - meditating alone or in dyads - and its impact on the effects of meditation have not yet been examined. We expected that dyadic compassion meditation (CM) may improve perceived social closeness more compared to closely-matched individual CM. N = 50 couples were randomly assigned to do a brief 15-min CM …
Motor skills in children with ADHD
Individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have overlooked motor difficulties which can be at least partially attributed to co-occurring conditions such as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Understanding the influence of DCD and motor difficulties is important to detect in children for early support. Accordingly, the present study examined the prevalence of DCD diagnoses, cases of probable DCD, and related imp…
Psychology (14 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Communication (4 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Developmental psychology (4 works) · Face Recognition and Perception (4 works) · Perception (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works)