Thinking things over : The electrophysiology and temporal dynamics of self- and situation-focused reappraisal

Abstract: Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy that has been shown effective in down-regulating negative emotions in both psychological and electrophysiological measures. Although there are many studies on cognitive reappraisal, only recently have there been studies differentiating between various ways of employing the strategy. This event-related potential (ERP) study sets out to compare the efficiency and temporal dynamics of three cognitive reappraisal techniques – situation-focused reappraisal, social distancing, and temporal distancing – by measuring their effects on emotional responses to aversive pictures, as indexed by the affective ERP component the late positive potential (LPP). EEG data was recorded from 17 participants. The results revealed no significant differences between emotion regulation strategies and baseline for the total ERP epoch (3,000 ms). When differentiating between early (400-800 ms), mid (800-1,500 ms), and late (1,500-3,000) periods of the epoch, significance was found in some conditions, but since no significant overall LPP activity was found, these numbers are difficult to interpret.