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Arousal and Emotion

What’s their use??

Assist in decision making

Readiness

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Yerkes-Dodson Law

Degree of arousal

Qu

alit

y o

f p

erfo

rman

ce

Very difficult task

Moderatelydifficult task

Easy task

3

Some arousal is necessary

High arousal: helpful on easy tasks

As level of arousal increases, quality of performance decreases with task difficulty

Too much arousal: harmful

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Concept of Emotion

• subjective feelings elicited by stimuli that have high significance to an individual– stimuli that produce high arousal generally

produce strong feelings– are rapid and automatic– emerged through natural selection to benefit

survival and reproduction

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Theories of Emotion

• Common sense might suggest that the perception of a stimulus elicits emotion which then causes bodily arousal

Perception(Interpretation of stimulus--danger)

Stimulus(Tiger)

Emotion(Fear)

Bodilyarousal(Pounding heart)

Common-Sense Theory

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James’s Peripheral Feedback Theory

• perception of a stimulus causes bodily arousal which leads to emotion

• support: spinal cord injuries, locked-in syndrome

Perception(Interpretation of stimulus--danger)

Stimulus(Tiger)

Emotion(Fear)

Bodilyarousal(Pounding heart)

James’s Theory

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Schachter’s Cognition-Plus-Feedback Theory

• Perception and thought about a stimulus influence the type of emotion felt

• Degree of bodily arousal influences the intensity of emotion felt

Type Intensity

Emotion(Fear)

Perception(Interpretation of stimulus--danger)

Stimulus(Tiger)

Bodilyarousal(Pounding heart)

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Schachter’s Cognition-Plus-Feedback Theory

• Degree of bodily arousal influences the intensity of emotion felt

• Support: experiments with norepinepherine injections

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Ekman’s Facial Feedback Theory

• Each basic emotion is associated with a unique facial expression– Sensory feedback from the expression contributes to the emotional feeling

– Support: hold pen between teeth, and world seems funnier!

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Ekman’s Facial Feedback Theory

Facial expression

Ave

rag

e h

app

ines

s sc

ore

Ave

rag

e an

ger

sco

re

Facial expression

Facial expressions have an effect on self-reported anger and happiness

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Ekman’s Facial Feedback Theory

Facial expressions can produce effects on the rest of the body

Hea

rt r

ate

chan

ge

(b

eats

per

min

ute

)

Tem

per

atu

re c

han

ge

(d

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)

(a) (b)

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Brain-Based Theory of Emotions• Amygdala

– evaluate the significance of stimuli and generate emotional responses

– generate hormonal secretions and autonomic reactions that accompany strong emotions

– damage: “psychic blindness”, inability to recognize fear in facial expressions and voice

– stimulation: feeling of fear

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Brain-Based Theory of Emotions• Frontal lobes

– influence people’s conscious emotional feelings and ability to act in planned ways based on feelings (e.g., effects of prefrontal lobotomy, Phineas Gage)

left frontal lobe may be most involved in processing positive emotionsright frontal lobe involved with negative emotions

Parietal

Frontal

Occipital

Temporal

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