Psychology 1: General Psychology
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INTRODUCTION
Emotional experience
Four components of emotion
First, interpret
Second, experience subjective feeling
Third, experience physiological response
Fourth, show observable behaviors
Emotional experience
Four components of emotion
First, interpret or appraise some stimulus in terms of your well-being
Second, experience a subjective feeling, such as fear or happiness
Third, experience physiological responses, such as changes in heart rate or breathing
Fourth, show observable behaviors, such as smiling or crying
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PERIPHERAL THEORIES
Studying emotions
Peripheral theory
Cognitive appraisal theory
Affective neuroscience
approach
James-Lange theory
Facial-feedback theory
The theory that feedback from instinctive facial responses (movement of muscles) is interpreted by brain as different emotions
Studying emotions
Peripheral theory
emphasizes how physiological changes in the body give rise to emotional feelings
Cognitive appraisal theory
emphasizes how interpretations or appraisals of situations result in emotional feelings
Affective neuroscience approach
studies the underlying neural bases of mood and emotion by focusing on the brain’s neural circuits that evaluate stimuli and produce or contribute to experiencing/expressing different emotional states
James-Lange theory
Says that our brain interprets specific physiological changes as feelings or emotions and that a different physiological pattern underlies each emotion
Facial-feedback theory
Says that the sensations or feedback from the movement of your facial muscles and skin are interpreted by your brain as different emotions
The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as this is possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions… Even the simulation of an emotion tends to arouse it in our minds. -Charles Darwin[1]
Charles Darwin was among the first to suggest that physiological changes caused by an emotion had a direct impact on, rather than being just the consequence of that emotion.
Refuse to express a passion, and it dies – William James[2]
Following on this idea, William James proposed that contrary to common belief, awareness of bodily changes activated by a stimulus “is the emotion”.[3] If no bodily changes are felt, there is only an intellectual thought, devoid of emotional warmth.
This proved difficult to test, and apart from studies of people with severely impaired emotional functioning, and some animal research, little evidence was available. The facial feedback hypothesis, “that skeletal muscle feedback from facial expressions plays a causal role in regulating emotional experience and behaviour”[4] developed almost a century after Darwin
While James included the influence of all bodily changes on the creation of an emotion, “including among them visceral, muscular, and cutaneous effects”,[5]modern research mainly focuses on the effects of facial muscular activity. One of the first to do so, Tomkins wrote in 1962: “…the face expresses affect, both to others and the self, via feedback, which is more rapid and more complex than any stimulation of which the slower moving visceral organs are capable”.[6]
Two versions of the facial feedback hypothesis appeared, although “these distinctions have not always been consistent”.[7]
The weak version, introduced by Darwin, sees the feedback intensify or reduce an emotion already present. McCanne & Anderson (1987) instructed participants to suppress or increase the zygomatic or corrugator muscle while imagining pleasant or unpleasant scenes. Subsequent alteration of the emotional response was shown to have occurred.
The strong version implies that facial feedback by itself can create the whole emotion
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COGNITIVE APPRAISAL THEORY
Cognitive appraisal theory
Says that your interpretation, appraisal, thought, or memory of a situation, object, or event can contribute to, or result in, your experiencing different emotional states
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AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE APPROACH
Four qualities of emotions
First…
Second…
Third…
Fourth…
Affective neuroscience approach
Underlying neural bases of mood and emotion
Emotional director and memorizer
Amygdala
Brain circuits for emotion
Thalamus
Amygdala
Prefrontal cortex
Four qualities of emotions
First expressed in stereotypical facial expressions, such as showing a fearful expression (open mouth, raised eyebrows), and accompanied by distinctive physiological responses
Second less controllable than we might like and may not respond to reason
Third influences many cognitive processes, such as making decisions, developing personal relationships, and selecting goals
Fourth hard-wired in the brain
Affective neuroscience approach
Studies the underlying neural bases of mood and emotion
Focuses on the brain’s neural circuits that evaluate stimuli and produce or contribute to experiencing and expressing different emotional states
Emotional director and memorizer
Physical survival depends on a brain structure about the size and shape of an almond called the amygdala
Amygdala
Located in the tip of the brain’s temporal lobe and receives input from all the senses
Monitors and evaluates whether stimuli have positive or negative emotional significance for our well-being and survival
Involved in storing memories with emotional content
Brain circuits for emotion
Thalamus
functions as a major relay station for all the senses (except smell)
Amygdala
recognizes threats almost immediately
Prefrontal cortex
involved in complex cognitive functions, such as making decisions, planning, and reasoning
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UNIVERSAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS & FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS
Universal emotional expressions
Cross culture expressions (seven)
ANGER, happiness/joy, sadness, fear,
surprise, disgust, contempt
Social signals
Facial expressions
Evolutionary theory of emotions
Safety or Survival, attention, and memory
Arousal & motivation
Yerkes-Dodson law
difficult tasks
most tasks
easy tasks
Universal emotional expressions
Number of specific inherited facial patterns or expressions that signal inherited facial patterns or expressions that show specific feelings or emotional states, such as a smile signaling a happy state
Number of expressions (seven)
Cross culture
Anger, sadness
Happiness, fear
Surprise, disgust
Contempt
Social signals
Facial expressions
accompany emotions
may send social signals about how we feel as well as provide social signals about what we’re gong to do
Survival, attention, and memory
Evolutionary theory of emotions
says that one function of emotions is to help us evaluate objects, people, and situations in terms of how good or bad they are for our well-being and survival
Arousal and motivation
Yerkes-Dodson law
says performance on a task is an interaction between the level of physiological arousal and the difficulty of the task
difficult tasks
low arousal results in better performance
most tasks
moderate arousal helps performance
easy tasks
high arousal may facilitate performance
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HAPPINESS
Positive emotions
Happiness
indicated by smiling and laughing
Reward/pleasure center
includes NA, VTA, and dopamine
Long-term happiness
Adaptation level theory
Happiness set point
personal level for being happy is half genetic and half environmental
Positive emotions
Happiness
indicated by smiling and laughing
can result from
momentary pleasures, such as funny commercials
short-term joys, such as, a great date
long-term satisfaction, such as an enjoyable relationship
Reward/pleasure center
includes several areas
nucleus accumbens
ventral tegmental area
several neurotransmitters, especially dopamine
Long-term happiness
Adaptation level theory
says that we quickly become accustomed to receiving some good fortune (money, job, car, degree)
we take the good fortune for granted within a short period of time
impact of good fortune fades and contributes less to our long-term level of happiness
Happiness set point
each person has a set point for experiencing a certain level of happiness
some more and some less
personal level for being happy is half genetic and half environmental
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CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Display rules
specific cultural norms or rules regarding emotion
Perceiving emotions
depends on culture
five emotions
Display rules
specific cultural norms or rules regulate how, when, and where a person expresses emotions and how much emotional expression is appropriate
Perceiving emotions
depends on culture
five emotions
surprise
anger
happiness
disgust
sadness
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RESEARCH FOCUS & APPLICATIONS
What is emotional intelligence?
The ability to express and control our own emotions, but most particularly the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others.
1. Perceiving emotions
2. Reasoning with emotions
3. Understanding emotions
4. Managing emotions
What is emotional intelligence?
The ability to express and control our own emotions is important, but so is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others.
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it is an inborn characteristic.
Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence: the perception of emotion, the ability reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions.
Perceiving Emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to accurately perceive them. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.
Reasoning With Emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.
Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean. For example, if your boss is acting angry, it might mean that he is dissatisfied with your work; or it could be because he got a speeding ticket on his way to work that morning or that he’s been fighting with his wife.
Managing Emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a key part of emotional intelligence. Regulating emotions, responding appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of emotional management.
According to Salovey and Mayer, the four branches of their model are, “arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion” (1997).
Lie detector (polygraph) tests
based on theory that, if a person tells a lie, he or she will feel some emotion, such as guilt or fear
guilt or fear will be accompanied by involuntary physiological responses
difficult to suppress or control; can be measured
Galvanic skin response
changes in sweating of the fingers (or palms)
accompany emotional experiences and are independent of perspiration under normal temperature
Control question technique
Lie detection procedure in which the examiner asks two kinds of questions designed to elicit large emotional responses
Person answers only “yes” or “no”
If guilty, expected to show a greater emotional response to critical questions than neutral questions
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RESEARCH FOCUS & APPLICATIONS
Use of emotional intelligence…
Lie detector (polygraph) tests
Galvanic skin response
Control question technique
Emotional intelligence
Lie detector (polygraph) tests
based on theory that, if a person tells a lie, he or she will feel some emotion, such as guilt or fear
guilt or fear will be accompanied by involuntary physiological responses
difficult to suppress or control; can be measured
Galvanic skin response
changes in sweating of the fingers (or palms)
accompany emotional experiences and are independent of perspiration under normal temperature
Control question technique
Lie detection procedure in which the examiner asks two kinds of questions designed to elicit large emotional responses
Person answers only “yes” or “no”
If guilty, expected to show a greater emotional response to critical questions than neutral questions
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