There is general agreement in the literature on emotions concerning their central role in many aspects of our every day life. In order to give an overview over the theoretical issues in the field of emotion psychology, we will define first of all emotion, as well as their components and functions, before we turn to differentiate between emotions, feelings, affects and moods. Following, the dimensional and categorical approaches of emotion will be distinguished, and an outline of classic and contemporary emotion theories will evidence a renewed interest in the neural processes underlying emotions. While both social psychological perspectives and the interest in neurophysiology represent actual intriguing prospects of emotion psychology, the dilemmas in the field will also be outlined.

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This study looks into the Theory of Mind (ToM) development of autistic children in Macau. Wellman and Liu’s (2004) Theory of Mind Tasks is used to examine the development of ToM ability among autistic children, and to compare it with that of Down’s syndrome and normal children. The sample includes 16 autistic, 12 Down’s syndrome and 104 normal children, a total of 132. Two sub-samples are drawn, which aim to compare autistic children with the other two groups of a similar age and verbal age in terms of PPVT score. The psychometric properties of Wellman’s scale are investigated in detail. As the sample of autistic children is relatively small, both parametric and non-parametric statistical procedures are used. Results showed that the ToM ability of autistic children was significantly lower than that of Down’s syndrome or normal children of a similar age and verbal age. But their ToM ability does not vanish, which leads to the conjecture that they can be gradually developed. Though Pearson correlations are non-significant, the effect sizes of ToM ability against age and verbal age are respectively medium and large in the case of autistic children, whose development is at least five years later than normal. There are potential correlations between ToM ability with verbal age.

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The development and initial validation of a 17-item Acculturative Hassles Scale for Chinese Students (AHSCS) is described. Items were generated by in-depth interview, selected by item analysis, and validated in a sample of 400 Chinese mainland students in Hong Kong. Factor analysis suggested four factors with 17 items: Language Deficiency, Academic Work, Cultural Difference, and Social Interaction. Scores in this study showed satisfactory internal consistency reliability for the AHSCS and its four subscales. The AHSCS score shows a statistically significant positive correlation with negative affect and significant negative correlations with positive affect and life satisfaction. These results suggest that the AHSCS appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure acculturative stressors within a Chinese student population. However, further validation of the scale is still needed.

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To explore different functions of gratitude and indebtedness, two questionnaire studies were conducted with female university students in Japan. These studies examined the correlations between positive feelings, regret, and indebtedness when receiving a favor, and the resulting feelings such as the enhancement of prosocial motivation (wish to help) and the obligation to help others. The results of Study 1 suggested that positive feelings and indebtedness in a hypothetical helping situation differently correlated with other variables: Positive feelings had a significant positive correlation with the enhancement of prosocial motivation. In contrast, indebtedness had a significant positive correlation with enhancement of obligation (should help). Study 2 was conducted by using positive and socially conceptualized feeling items such as the fulfillment of friendship. Results suggested that the social conceptualization might add obligatory nature to the positive feelings.

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Given the results of studies using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), emotion-based sensitivity to an anticipated outcome of one’s own behavior has been suggested to be a significant factor in making advantageous decisions. Hypotheses-testing in performing IGT is essential for learning correct rules and elicits autonomic reactivity. In this study, participants were asked to concentrate on hypothesis-testing to learn undisclosed rules in the task which framework was similar to the IGT, rather than maximizing monetary reward. The amplitudes of skin conductance responses (SCRs) prior to card selection and following feedback were attenuated as participants came to accurately comprehend the task rules. The attenuation of SCRs resulted from reduced motivation to continue the hypotheses-testing. Our findings provide some evidence that observed autonomic responses partially reflect emotional reactions associated with the hypothesis-testing.

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