Watkins & Rush, 1983; Peterson, 1992; Cacioppo et al., 1997; Davison et al., 1997; Hurlburt, 1997; Hartman-Hall & Haaga, 1999) content analysis of spontaneous speech has been criticized for being training-intensive and susceptible to rater drift and other rater-based biases (e.g. Hurlburt, 1997; Pennebaker et al., 2003). In contrast, computerized text-analysis can process large amounts of transcribed speech in considerably shorter time (Gottschalk & Bechtel, 1982; Pennebaker et al., 2003; Alpers et al., 2005). Moreover, several studies that used computerized text-analysis of multiple categories of words have demonstrated superiority of this technique over human raters in assessing mental health (Rosenberg et al., 1990; Pennebaker et al., 1997; Pennebaker & King, 1999). This study reports the construction and initial validation of an index of negativity bias based on context-based dictionaries for positive and negative emotional language. These dictionaries can be plugged into text-analytical software to obtain a metric representing the positive and negative emotional content of the speech sample. The construction process is described briefly, while a more detailed account is now under review. The advantage of these dictionaries, as well as the importance of contextualized dictionary entries for the computerized detection of emotional language are then discussed. Method General Overview: The construction of both positive and negative dictionaries followed several phases. In 1, three research assistants independently detected candidates for emotion words in
Beck, A.T. (1976). Cognitive therapies and the emotional disorders. New York: International University Press. Beck, A. T. (2002). Cognitive models of depression. In R. L. & E. T. Dowd (Eds.), Clinical advances in cognitive psychotherapy: Theory and application (pp. 29-61). New York, NY, US: Springer Publishing Co. Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., & Harrison, R. (1983). Cognitions, attitudes and personality dimensions in depression. British Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1(1), 1-16. Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the beck depression inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical psychology review, 8(1), 77-100. Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561-571. Bell, A. (1984). Language as audience design. Language in society, 13(2), 145-204. Biber, D. (1995). Dimensions of register variation: A cross-linguistic comparison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus Linguistics: Investigating language structure and use. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Blaney, P. H. (1986). Affect and memory: A review. Psychological bulletin, 99, 2, 229-246. Bloom, P. (1994). Overview: Controversies in language acquisition. In P. Bloom (Ed.), Language acquisition: Core readings (pp. 5-15). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Boals, A. & Klein, K. (2005). Word Use in Emotional Narratives about Failed Romantic Relationships and Subsequent Mental Health. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24, 252-268
Bohanek, J. G., Fivush, R., & Walker, E. (2005). Memories of positive and negative emotional events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(1), 51-66. Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Bucci, W. (1997). Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: A multiple code theory. New York, NY, US: Guilford Press. Bucci, W. (2001). Pathways of emotional communication. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 21, 1, 40-70. Bucci, W., & Freedman, N. (1981). The language of depression. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 45, 4, 334-358. Cacioppo, J. T., von Hippel, W., & Ernst, J. M. (1997). Mapping cognitive structures and processes through verbal content: The thought-listing technique. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 65, 6, 928-940. Campbell, R. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2003). The secret life of pronouns: Flexibility in writing style and physical health. Psychological Science, 14, 1, 60-65. Chien, A. J., & Dunner, D. L. (1996). The tridimensional personality questionnaire in depression: State versus trait issues. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 30, 21-27. Clark, D. A., Beck, A. T., & Alford, B. A. (1999). Scientific foundations of cognitive theory and therapy of depression. New York, NY, US: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Clark, H. H. (1996). Using language. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. D. A. (1988). The validity of measures of cognition: A review of the literature. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 12, 1-20. Coates, J. (ed.) (1998) Language and Gender: A Reader. Blackwell: Oxford, Malden Masc.
Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance. New York:Wiley Stirman, S. W., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2001). Word use in the poetry of suicidal and nonsuicidal poets. Psychosomatic medicine, 63, 4, 517-522. Stone, A. A., Turkkan, J. S., Bachrach, C. A., Jobe, J. B., Kurtzman, H. S., & Cain, V. S. (Eds.). (2000). The science of self-report: Implications for research and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Stone, L. D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2002). Trauma in real time: Talking and avoiding online conversations about the death of Princess Diana. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 24, 3, 173-183 P. J. (1997). Thematic text analysis: New agendas for analyzing text content. In C. W. Roberts (Ed.), Text analysis for the social sciences: Methods for drawing statistical inferences from texts and transcripts. (pp. 35-53). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Stone, P. J., Dunphy, D. C., & Smith, M. S. (1966). The general inquirer: A computer approach to content analysis. Oxford, England: M.I.T. Press. Sweeney, K., & Whissell, C. (1984). A dictionary of affect in language: I. establishment and preliminary validation. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 59, 3, 695-698. Tagliamonte, S. A., & D'Arcy, A. (2007). Frequency and variation in the community grammar: Tracking a new change through the generations. Language Variation and Change, 19, 2, 199-217. Teasdale, J. D. (1999). Emotional processing, three modes of mind and the prevention of relapse in depression. Behaviour Research & Therapy. Special Issue: Cognitive Behaviour