Emotion

Module 12

What are emotions?What are emotions?

full body responses, involving:

1. physiological arousal (increased heart rate)

2. expressive behaviors (smiling, pouting)

3. conscious experiences (thoughts about experience)

Debates in Emotion ResearchDebates in Emotion Research

Which comes first, physiological arousal or the subjective experience of an emotion?

Can we react emotionally before appraising a situation, or does thinking always precede emotion?

Theories of Emotion: Historical Approaches

Common Sense TheoryCommon Sense Theory

1. emotion-arousing stimulus leads to 2. a conscious feeling (fear, anger) and 3. a physiological (physical) response

Example: Seeing an angry dog (stimulus) triggers feelings of fear (conscious feeling) and physical responses such as trembling.

James-Lange TheoryJames-Lange Theory

an emotion-arousing stimulus in the environment triggers a physiological reaction

awareness of the physiological reaction leads to our experience of an emotion

Cannon-Bard TheoryCannon-Bard Theory

an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers both a physiological response and the experience of an emotion

Theories of Emotion: Cognition and Emotion

Two-Factor TheoryTwo-Factor Theory

Emotions involve two factors: a physiological arousal a cognitive label of the arousal

Which Baby is Which?Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness

Which Baby is Which?Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness

Joy Anger Interest

Disgust Surprise Sadness Fear

Think about this…

Higher levels of testosterone are linked to aggression.

So… does aggression cause testosterone levels to

increase? OR do high levels of testosterone cause

aggression? OR does some third factor cause both of them?

Theories of Emotion: ReviewTheories of Emotion: Review A) Common Sense D) Two-Factor B) Richard Lazarus E) James-LangeC) Robert Zajonc F) Cannon-Bard

1) emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus

2) an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses, and (2) experience of emotion

3) to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused, and (2) cognitively label the arousal

4) some emotions don’t require conscious thought, but there must be a minimum of unconscious thought to know what we’re reacting to

5) not all emotions involve deliberate thought; some emotions skip the thinking part of the brain and go directly to the amygdala

6) emotion-arousing stimulus leads to a conscious feeling (fear, anger) and a physiological response.

The Expression of Emotion:

Nonverbal Communication

Birthday Scramble Activity

Robert ZajoncRobert Zajonc cognition (thinking) is not necessary for all

emotions

some emotions skip the thinking part of the brain (cerebral cortex) and go directly to the amygdala

How is this similar to reflexes?

Two Paths to Emotional ResponsesTwo Paths to Emotional Responses

Richard LazarusRichard Lazarus

agreed some emotions do not require conscious thought

BUT, there must be a minimum of unconscious thought to know what we’re reacting to

Cartoon Ranking Activity

Rank the following cartoons on a scale of

1 (not very funny) - 10 (very funny)

Cartoon A

Cartoon B

Cartoon C

Cartoon D

Cartoon E

Cartoon F

Cartoon G

Cartoon H

Cartoon I

Cartoon J

Cartoon Ranking Activity

Average your scores for the 10 cartoons

Which side do you think will have the higher average? Why?

Do we smile because we are happy or are we happy because we smile?

Think about this…

Do some emotions have similar physiological responses? Which ones? What types of physical responses do they elicit?

Is it possible to have these physiological responses without an emotion-arousing stimulus?

Nonverbal CommunicationNonverbal Communication communicating feelings without words:

facial expressions tone of voice hand gestures

also called “body language”

FYI: Studies show that during interpersonal communication: 7% of the message is verbally communicated 93% is non-verbally transmitted

38% is through vocal tones 55% is through facial expressions

Analyzing Nonverbal CommunicationAnalyzing Nonverbal Communication

Analyzing Nonverbal CommunicationAnalyzing Nonverbal Communication

Analyzing Nonverbal CommunicationAnalyzing Nonverbal Communication

Analyzing Nonverbal Communication: Analyzing Nonverbal Communication:

Historical ExampleHistorical Example (1960 Presidential Election)

The Expression of Emotion: Gender Effects on Emotion

Gender EffectsGender Effects

women are better at reading the nonverbal communication of emotion

women tend to express emotions more than men do

Display RulesDisplay Rules

cultural rules governing how and when a person may express emotion

vary greatly from culture to culture

(examples of other cultures’ display rules)

Facial ExpressionsFacial Expressions

Paul Ekman studied facial expressions to determine if they are inborn or culturally based

research shows that certain basic expressions are common to all cultures

“Primal Fear: Our Deepest Fears Revealed”

Video: What are the body’s physiological responses to fear?

Your conclusion: How does cognition (our thoughts) contribute to the experience of fear?

Your conclusion: How would each of the 6 contemporary psychological perspectives explain the experience of fear?