A flat or blunted affect is associated with schizophrenia, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder; heightened affect might suggest mania, and an overly dramatic or exaggerated affect might suggest certain personality disorders.

While advances in information technology have so far done little to change the telephone itself - give or take a few microchips and memories - it's easy to see that IT has had a dramatic affect on the underlying telecoms infrastructure, and the way we use it.

The Sopranos takes advantage of its commercial-free environment to be comparatively fearless in the face of flat dramatic affect.

The events of September 11, 2001 had a dramatic affect on Americans, especially those who lived and worked in New York City.

It's going to have a dramatic affect on the way of life in Ethiopia.

It's going to have a dramatic affect on the social and economic integration of many of our neighborhoods.

When Plato apparently quotes Socrates in The Republic, it is only in order to give dramatic affect to the presentation of his own thought.

The changing face of Eastern Europe has already had a dramatic affect on the malt market and as the political and economic climate becomes more stable new opportunities will doubtless emerge.

Although restoring the ceiling is far from the most costly part of a project that will create new passageways and escalators, greatly expand Grand Central's retail space and update air-conditioning and other mechanical systems, it promises to have a particularly dramatic affect.