Emotion
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Transcript of Emotion
Emotion
What is Emotion?
A conscious feeling of pleasantness/unpleasantness accompanied by biological activation and expressive behavior
Includes both biological and cognitive components Two Dimensions:
1. Arousal (intensity)The greater the arousal the more intense the emotion
2. Valence (positive/negative quality) Basic Inborn Emotions:
Joy, fear, anger, sadness, surprise and disgust (Ekman’s Research; Microexpressions)
Emotion is Multifaceted
Emotion refers to the mix of:1. Physiological Arousal2. Expressive Behaviors (how you react to the physiological arousal)3. Conscious Experience (how you cognitively interpret environment)
Theories of Emotions
Evolutionary Theory James-Lange Theory Cannon-Bard Theory Opponent-Process Theory Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory Cognitive Appraisal Theory
Evolutionary Theory (Paul Ekman)
Emotions are developed because of adaptive values, allowing the organism to survive by avoiding dangerAnimals/humans showing expressions of anger allows us to
avoid conflict with them Knowing how we feel before we know what we think
Facial Expressions Are Universal No matter what part of the world you are from, facial expressions indicating 6 basic emotions tend to be universal.
Facial Expressions Are Universal
The six universal emotions are:1. Happiness2. Anger
Interest (not an emotion)3. Disgust4. Surprise5. Sadness6. Fear
Paul Ekman’s 6 Micorexpressions
Detecting Emotion/Lies With Facial Expressions
With experience and training it is possible to detect microexpressions which indicate guilt, despair, and fear.
Paul Ekman developed a system for classifying deception within emotional expression.
Must play close attention to facial muscles which are nearly impossible to control.
expressing emotion
James-Lang Theory (William James & Karl Lange)
Proposed that our awareness of our physiological arousal leads to our conscious experience of emotion
Believe that we can change our feelings by changing our behavior Facial-feedback hypothesis: our facial expressions affect our emotional
experiences Smilingpositive moods Frowningnegative moods
External stimuli activate our automatic nervous systems, producing specific patterns of physiological changes for different emotions that create different emotional experiences See a mean dogwe run (SNS kicks in)then we realize we are afraid
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
A Physiological Response causes the Emotion
Fear(emotion)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
Support for James-Lange Subjects report feeling
more sad when viewing scenes of war, sickness, and starvation if their “sad face” muscles are activated.
They also find comic strips funnier if their “happy face” muscles are activated.This is called the facial feedback
effect
Criticism of James-LangeFear
(emotion)Pounding
heart(arousal)
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
LOVE(emotion)
Poundingheart
(arousal)Sight of Your secret crush
Cannon-Bard Theory (Walter Cannon & Phillip Bard)
Disagreed with James-Lang Theory Conscious experience of emotion accompanies physiological responses
because the thalamus sends information to the limbic system & the cerebral cortex simultaneously interact
See a mean dogrun because we recognize we are afraid (happens at the same time)
*the thalamus does not directly cause emotional responses, it relays sensory info. to the amygdala and hypothalamus
Cannon-BardTheory of Emotion
The Physiological Response and the Emotion are
experienced at the SAME TIME
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Fear(emotion)
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Says James-Lange theory is full of crap.
The physiological change and the emotion occur simultaneously.
They believed it was the thalamus that helped this happen.
Think – Two cannons firing at the same time.
Physiological change (heart rate, breathing)
Emotion
Opponent-Process Theory (Solomon and Corbit)
When we experience an emotion, an opposing emotion will counter the first emotion, lessening the experience of that emotion
During repeated occasions, the opposing emotion becomes strongerWhen we go bungee jumping the first time, we feel extreme
fear and high levels of a “rush”…after multiple jumps, we become less fearful & don’t experience as strong of a “rush”
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory (Stanley Schachter & Jerome Singer)
We infer emotion from arousal and then label it according to our cognitive explanation of the arousal
If we feel aroused and someone is yelling at us, we must be angry
Schachter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion
We experience the Physiological Response and give it a Cognitive Label and this produces our emotions
Cognitivelabel
“I’m afraid”
Fear(emotion)
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Reviewing the three theories
Emotion follows (lags behind) arousal
Emotion occurs at the same time as arousal
Arousal + Cognitive label Emotion
James-Lange
Cannon-Bard
Schachter’s Two Factor
Cognitive-Appraisal Theory (Richard Lazarus)
Our emotional experience depends on our interpretation of the situation we are in Primary appraisal: Assess potential consequences of the situation Secondary appraisal: We decide what to do
We can change our emotions if we learn to interpret the situation differently Counter Arguments:
Evolutionary Psychologists: Disagree that emotions depend on evaluation of the situation (emotional response is developed before complex thinking)
Robert Zajonc: thinks we often know how we feel before we know what we think about the situation
If you are in a falling vehicle heading toward the ground at 60 mph, your autonomic reaction would include heart racing and screaming. But if your cognitive appraisal says you are on a rollercoaster, then you have the emotion of “fun.”
Biology of Emotions
Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): Hormonal secretion Amygdala: influences aggression and fear which interacts
with the hypothalamus Hypothalamus: sets emotional states such as rage Cerebral cortex & frontal lobe: interpretation of emotions Left hemisphere: Positive emotions Right hemisphere: Negative emotions Body language & vocal qualities change for different
emotions
Biology of Fear
The body’s control center for learning/enacting fear is the amygdala.
Loss or damage to one’s amygdala has lead to fearlessness in some patients.
Must Cognition Precede all Emotions?
Some pathways, especially ones involving amygdala (fear), bypass cortical areas involved in thinking.
Certain likes, dislikes, and fears do ignore conscious thinking.
Two Routes to Emotion
Appraisal
Event
Emotionalresponse
Physiologicalactivation
Expressivebehavior
Subjectiveexperience
The Physical Arousal of Emotion is Controlled by The Autonomic Nervous System
It is very difficult to differentiate the physical arousal associated with many emotions (criticism of James-Lange Theory) even though they definitely feel different.
The arousal associated with emotions are controlled by the autonomic nervous system’s divisions the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Autonomic Nervous System’s Division Autonomic nervous system controls
physiological arousal
Sympatheticdivision (arousing)
Pupils dilate
Decreases
Perspires
Increases
Accelerates
Inhibits
Secrete stresshormones
Parasympatheticdivision (calming)
Pupils contract
Increases
Dries
Decreases
Slows
Activates
Decreasessecretion of
stress hormones
EYES
SALIVATION
SKIN
RESPIRATION
HEART
DIGESTION
ADRENALGLANDS