Emotion (Modules 40-41)

Question 1

Emotions

Answer 1

• Response of the whole organism
• Energize and direct our behaviors, like motivations
  
  • Ex: if angry, find a way to channel anger in behavior

Question 2

3 Components of Emotions

Answer 2

1. Physiological arousal (reaction w/in body)
2. Expressive behavior (feel emotion, show it)
3. Conscious experience (cannot feel emotion unless aware of it)

Question 3

Example of 3 Components of Emotion

Answer 3

Sadness

• Heart rate changes, BP changes (physiological arousal)
• Cry, frown (expressive behavior)
• Awareness of sadness (conscious experience)

Question 4

Key Controversies

Answer 4

1. Does physiological arousal precede or follow your emotional experience?
2. Does cognition precede emotion?

Question 5

Theories of Emotion

Answer 5

3 basic attempts to explain how emotion works, and the order which emotion occurs (arousal, emotion, or thought first?)

1. James-Lange
2. Cannon-Bard
3. Schachter 2 Factor (Cognitive)

Question 6

William James

Answer 6

• James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• Physiological arousal before emotion
• Each physiological arousal creates a certain emotion
  
  • Mixes of arousals create emotions

Question 7

Problem with James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Answer 7

• In order to work, emotions need to be linked to an exact physiological arousal
  
  • Doesn’t happen, body does same thing for many emotions

Question 8

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

Answer 8

• Arousal and emotion occur simultaneously
  
  • Brain works quickly
• At this time: people had just discovered the thalamus
  
  • If there is a sensory switchboard, there wouldn’t be a lag

Question 9

Problems with Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

Answer 9

• Paralyzed individuals report lower levels of emotional feeling
  
  • Connection between what body does and what we feel

Question 10

Modern Theories of Emotion

Answer 10

• Schachter 2 Factor (Schachter-Singer)
• Zajonc
• LeDoux
• Address cognition

Question 11

Schachter

Answer 11

Schachter 2 Factor Theory of Emotion

• Cognition can define emotion
  
  • Cognitively label our arousal–> emotion being created
• Factor 1: arousal, Factor 2: cognitive label
• Perception of Stimulus–> arousal and cognitive label–> emotion

Question 12

Bridge Experiment

Answer 12

• College age men
• Condition A: Walk across dangerous bridge, meet woman at the end
  
  • Give number so they can ask questions
  • Heightened sense of arousal
    
    • More likely to ask out woman because they associated their arousal with attraction
• Condition B (Control Group): Lower bridge, still meet woman at the end and get number
• Shows how we can misinterpret our arousals

Question 13

Spillover Effect

Answer 13

• We have a lingering physiological arousal from a past situation that spills over into a current situation
  
  • We come up with a label even though this arousal was triggered by another situation
• Ex: sports fans excited from game, not adrenaline

Question 14

Schachter and Singer SpillOver Effect experiment

Answer 14

• Expect side effects vs No side Effects
• Cognitive labeling of physiological arousal that has been artificially induced
• All injected with adrenaline (epinephrine)
• Sat in a waiting room
• Confederate: artificially placed in experiment, playing role of participant
  
  • Expressed extreme emotion (Loud)
• Expect side effects: no emotional change)
• No side effects: mirrored confederate
  
  • Needed to find a label for their side effects–> readily adopted confederate’s emotions
• Arousal fuels emotion, cognition channels it

Question 15

Zajonc

Answer 15

• We have emotional responses outside of cognition
  
  • Ex: we can be subliminally primed to feel certain things outside conscious awareness
• Experiment: people were flashed two different emotional faces, happy or angry face, and then given something to drink
  
  • Happy: drank more
  • Angry: drank less
• Priming: unconscious awareness

Question 16

LeDoux

Answer 16

• How certain emotions are triggered
• Low road:
  
  • Bypasses cortex
  • Thalamus–> Amygdala
    
    • Bypasses thinking
• High Road:
  
  • Thinking pathway
  • Cortex
    
    • Not immediate reaction
• Example of duel processing

Question 17

LeDoux Experiment

Answer 17

• Fear response image is projected at a subliminal level
• Findings:
  
  • Amygdala activated with fear image
  • Neutral image had no activation
    
    • People unaware of being show these images (Unconscious)

Question 18

Lazarus

Answer 18

• Unconscious processing doesn’t negate an appraisal (cognition)
  
  • Ex: Thinking about a situation as threat vs. No threat

Question 19

Routes of Emotion

Answer 19

• Event–> Appraisal–> Emotional response (Lazarus, Schachter))
• Event–> emotional response (Zajonc, LeDoux)

Question 20

Nervous System and Embodied Emotion

Answer 20

• Emotional experience–> nervous system activation
  
  • Automatic nervous system–>sympathetic nervous system
• Physiological similarities for different emotions

Question 21

Physiological differences for emotions

Answer 21

• Subtle
• Finger temps and hormone secretions differ between fear and rage
• Fear and joy stimulate different facial muscles

Question 22

Brain Circuitry

Answer 22

• Fear vs. Anger

- Greater Amygdala activation when mimicking fear than anger

Question 23

Left Vs. Right Hemisphere

Answer 23

• Cortical distinctions between positive and negative emotions
  
  • Left: positive
  • Right: negative

Question 24

Polygraph

Answer 24

• A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies
• Measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotions
  
  • Perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes
• Inaccurate because the same physiological responses can bring about multiple emotions