Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40658543›Full record

ArticleEmotion (Washington, D.C.)2026

Affective schemas: Acquisition, updating, and inference.

Anna Vannucci, Wangjing Yu, Nathan Martin, Sapna Patel, Nim Tottenham

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Anna VannucciDepartment of Psychology, Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University.ORCID 0000-0003-1617-7006
Wangjing YuDepartment of Psychology, Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University.
Nathan MartinDepartment of Psychology, Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University.
Sapna PatelDepartment of Psychology, Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University.
Nim TottenhamDepartment of Psychology, Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University.

Funding

Predicting Heterogeneous Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in School-age Children with Early Caregiving AdversitiesR01MH091864 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI MILHAM, MICHAEL PETER, TOTTENHAM, NIM · 2010 to 2022
$5.1M
Emotional Arousal and its Neurobehavioral Associations during DevelopmentR01MH130901 · NIMH · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · PI Michael Peter Milham, Nim Tottenham · 2024 to 2026
$2.0M
Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Affective Semantic Memory DevelopmentF99NS134207 · NINDS · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · PI VANNUCCI, ANNA · 2023 to 2024
$98k
National Institute of Health Blueprint and Brain ResearchNIMH NIH HHSNIMH NIH HHS R01 MH091864NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH130901NINDS NIH HHS F99 NS134207Psy ChiStavros Niarchos Foundation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Schematized knowledge structures have been extensively studied in the cognitive domain, and yet the nature of affective schemas remains an uncharted area, with experimental work virtually nonexistent. Here, we examined how affective schemas are acquired, updated, and used for inference-making using three novel experimental paradigms. We show that affective schemas emerge by abstracting a common affective value from a distribution of unique affective associations. This common abstracted affective value semanticizes from the discrete exemplars into complex, valenced schemas (negative, positive, neutral), which consolidates across a 24-hr period. Valenced schemas (negative/positive) form faster than neutral schemas, resist affective reversals more strongly, and facilitate rapid learning and memory for related emotional information. Negative-valenced schemas, in particular, are most prioritized for learning, show greater resilience to change, and are more effective in supporting generalized (gist-based) inferences. This work defines key features of affective schemas, moving the study of emotional learning and memory systems from the conditioning of specific associations to the abstraction and consolidation of complex emotional knowledge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

AffectEmotionsLearningAdultFemaleHumansMaleYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID40658543
PMCPMC12262173

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.