Emotion

• The experience of feelings• Can activate and affect behavior but it is more

difficult to predict the behavior prompted by a motivation

Basic Emotions

• Fear• Surprise• Sadness• Disgust

• Anger• Anticipation• Joy• Acceptance

• Plutchik proposed that there are eight basic emotions

Plutchik’s Basic Emotions

Basic Emotions• Some have criticized Plutchik’s model as applying only to

English-speakers• Primary vs. Secondary Emotions

– Be evident in all cultures– Contribute to survival– Distinct facial expression– Evident in Nonhuman primates

• Revised model of basic emotions includes:– Happiness– Surprise– Sadness– Fear– Disgust– Anger

Theories of Emotion

Emotions are a mix of 1) physiological activation, 2) expressive behaviors, and

3) conscious experience.

Controversy

1) Does physiological arousal precede or follow your emotional experience?

2) Does cognition (thinking) precede emotion (feeling)?

Theories

1. James-Lange Theory

2. Cannon-Bard Theory

3. Schachter-Singer Theory

4. Opponent Process Theory

5. Cognitive-Appraisal Theory

James-Lange Theory

William James and Carl Lange proposed

an idea that was diametrically

opposed to the common-sense view.

The James-Lange Theory proposes that physiological

activity precedes the emotional

experience.

2. James-Lange theory

Body = emotion

“Without the bodily states following on the perception, the latter would be purely cognitive in form; pale, colorless, destitute of emotional warmth. We might then see the bear, and judge it best to run... But we should not actually feel afraid.” (William James, 1890)

James, 1890, v. 2, p. 449 (Gleitman)

2. James-Lange theory

• Situation bodily reaction emotion

FEAR

LOVE?

or

Cannon-Bard Theory

Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard

questioned the James-Lange Theory and

proposed that an emotion-triggering stimulus and the

body's arousal take place

simultaneously.

Cannon-Bard Theory

• See snake, run and fear simultaneous• Stimulus to thalamus -- sends simultaneous

messages to:– Lymbic system (arousal)– Cortex (fear)

Schachter-Singer Theory Two-Factor Theory

Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer

proposed yet another theory

which suggests our physiology and

cognitions create emotions. Emotions have two factors–physical arousal

and cognitive label.

3. The Schachter theory

• Situation bodily reaction emotion

+ cognitive appraisal

FEAR

LOVE

FEAR LOVE

The Schachter theory assumes that the body cannot tell us exactly what we are or should be feeling. Instead, even if we have a fast bodily reaction to something, it is our mind that decides what the emotion will be.

• Testing the theory:• Schachter & Singer 1962:

3. The Schachter theory

VERY ANGRY!

VERY EXCITED!

(know what pill does)

Least angry

Least excited

Medium angry!

(didn’t take pill)

Medium excited!

Opponent Process Theory• Opponent process theory suggests that

any given emotion also has an opposed emotion. (Fear/Relief or Sadness/Happiness)

• Activation of one member of the pair automatically suppresses the opposite emotion

• But the opposing emotion can serve to diminish the intensity of the initial emotion.

Opponent-Process Theory

• Solomon and Corbit (1974)– The opponent-process theory states that

when one emotion is experienced, the other is suppressed. For example, if you are frightened by a mean dog, the emotion of fear is expressed and relief is suppressed. If the fear-causing stimulus continues to be present, after a while the fear decreases and the relief intensifies.

Opponent Process Theory

Cognitive-Appraisal Theory

• Sequence– Stimulus (object, event, or thought)– Appraisal of how this affects your well-being

(consciously or unconsciously)– Emotion (fear, anger, happiness, …)– Physiological responses and behavior

• For an emotion to occur, it is necessary to first think about the situation.

Cognition Can Define Emotion

An arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event.

Spill over effect

Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which may lead to rioting.

Arousal fuels emotion, cognition channels it.

AP Photo/ N

ati Harnik

Reuters/ C

orbis

Cognition and Emotion

What is the connection between how we think (cognition) and how we feel

(emotion)?

Can we change our emotions by changing our thinking?

8

SEE…

YOU REACTED BECAUSE YOU KNOW