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Given the influence of emotions in cognition and behaviour, there is increasing interest in identifying the most optimal emotions for learning and performance. With this information, it becomes possible to develop interventions to promote optimal emotions and downregulate maldaptive emotions on a task-by-task basis and assist in scaffolding the emotion-regulation skills of learners. Pekrun's (2006) Control-Value Theory offers specific predictions about what emotions are most beneficial for learning and suggests appraisals of task-control and -value are key causal mechanisms behind such emotions. Yet, experimental studies examining the causal effects of appraisals-emotions-performance at the task level are near absent. At the same time, experimental mood research appears to suggest differential effects of spontaneous or task-irrelevant emotions, but has neglected examining emotions specific to a task at hand. As such, this project aims to investigate the impact of cognitive appraisals and task-related emotions on information processing style in an experimental setting. In specific, we are interested in how experimentally manipulated appraisals of task control and value affect emotional valence and arousal, and how these emotions subsequently affect performance on a brief cognitive test, the Cognitive-Reflection Test-Long. Specifically, our research questions are: 1) Can we experimentally manipulate appraisals of task control and value? 2) Do appraisals of task control and value predict task-related emotional valence and arousal, as suggested by Control-Value Theory? 3) Does task-related emotions which differ by valence and arousal differentially predict information processing style, as captured by the Cognitive Reflection Test-Long? 4) Is there evidence for the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between appraisals of task control and value and information processing style?

1Lady Sybil's Choice

By Emily Sarah Holt

This historical novel is set in the 1100s in France and Jerusalem, following the First Crusade. Part of the story of Guy of Lusignan (a real historical character) is told through the eyes of his fictional sister, Elaine. <br></br> Guy travels to the Holy Land to reclaim it from the Saracens. Elaine follows afterward, finding upon arrival that her brother has fallen in love with Sybil, the sister of the leper king of Jerusalem. Queen Sybilla, a real historical character, is surrounded by political intrigue as she prepares to ascend the throne, which threatens her upcoming marriage to Guy of Lusignan. <br></br> The story, however, is not primarily about the history of the period, but about the spiritual journey of Elaine to repentance and saving faith in the era of the medieval Church. How will Elaine's frail peace of mind, which depends on earthly things, cope with the looming storms on the horizon? - Summary by TriciaG