Psychology Chapter 13: Emotion
1. Tranquilizing drugs that inhibit sympathetic nervous system activity also affects our emotions.
Our sympathetic nervous system prepares us for a fight or flight response; in doing so, it may
dilate pupils, decrease salivation, secrete stress hormones, and increase heart rate, adrenaline,
and perspiration. Considering these physiological responses, James-Lange theory would be the
best theory to account for the emotion-reducing effects of tranquilizers. According to the JamesLange theory, our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to
emotion arousing stimuli. Because tranquilizers can produce effects like a slower heart rate and
a decrease of stress hormone secretion, people become aware of these physiological changes.
This awareness of the response can trigger a change in a person’s experience of emotion; in this
case, a person may feel a noticeable reduction in fear and anxiety because his heart rate is not
increasing and stress hormones are inhibited. This idea follows the concept that if you can
inhibit physical arousal, you can inhibit emotion. The theory of emotion that would have the
greatest difficulty in explaining these effects would be Cannon-Bard theory. Cannon-Bard theory
argues that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and
the subjective experience of emotion. It implies that your heart begins racing as you experience
fear so one does not cause the other. If you inhibit physical arousal, you cannot inhibit
emotions because they occur separately and simultaneously. Because you cannot explain the
relationship between a person’s physiological response to a tranquilizer and the resulting effect
on the experience of emotion, Cannon-Bard theory would be unfavorable.
2. The columnist is mistaken because cognition plays a prominent role in controlling and modifying
emotion. The two-factor theory, a theory that to experience emotion one must be physically
aroused and cognitively label the arousal, refutes the columnist’s claim. According the twofactory theory, cognition plays a role in labeling a physical arousal to a stimulus. For example, if
we see an oncoming car, we experience the arousal of our heart pounding, but we need to have
a conscious interpretation of that arousal to experience fear. This supports the idea that
cognition has a necessary function in our experience of emotion. In further research, we have
concluded that arousal fuels emotion and cognition channels it. This can be found in many
situations; for example, sexually aroused people react with more hostility in anger-provoking
situation. This example demonstrates the spillover effect, which is the tendency for an arousal
response to one event to spill over into our response to the next event. A stirred-up state can
be experienced as one emotion or another different one, depending on how we interpret or
label it. Our ability to do this emphasizes the need for cognition to channel our emotions; and, in
that sense, our emotions can be voluntarily controlled.
3. This method of coping with her anger is ineffective because it does not eliminate the source of
the anger or propose an effective solution to Andrea’s problem. Andrea is using catharsis, the
achievement of emotional release through aggressive action or fantasy, by imagining her
boyfriend as a pillow and pounding the pillow repeatedly. Although this method can be
temporarily calming, it can lead to her feeling anxious or guilty. Rather than cleansing one’s rage,
catharsis often leads to more anger. According to the James-Lange theory, the heightened heart
rate, adrenaline, and respiration Andrea experiences when hitting the pillow may cause her to
feel more anger when she is aware of her physiological arousal. Also, according to behavior
feedback, hitting the pillow may reinforce the habit of retaliation. With that, this method may
result in more instances where anger outbursts are exhibited. Because Andrea’s friend’s
suggestion breeds anger instead of posing a solution to her problem, it is fleeting, ineffective,
and should not be used to cope with the issue. Instead, Andrea may want to channel her anger
in a positive way. She should confront the source of her anger which is her boyfriend. She can
discuss her negative feelings with him and work toward a solution as opposed to using her
energy to temporarily release emotional tension. The best way to deal with the situation is
forgiveness. Forgiveness can rid Andrea of the feelings of anger, jealousy, and contempt through
acceptance and understanding.
4. Connie’s suggestion might help to increase Jim’s feelings of economic satisfaction because it
offers a different perspective on economic success and happiness. Jim is unhappy with his
current yearly salary despite the fact that it is the highest he has ever earned. This constant
unhappiness exhibits adaptation-level phenomenon, which is our tendency to judge various
stimuli relative to those we have previously experienced. Jim most likely felt a surge of
happiness once he achieved this salary, but, over time, he adapted to this achievement and
considered it as normal. Doing that, he now seeks a greater accomplishment in order to
experience that initial surge of happiness that he once felt. This constant pursuit of greater
economic growth can be tamed through Connie’s suggestion that he recall how little he earned
at age 32. Since satisfaction is based on recent experience, if Jim recalls how content he was at
age 32, he may realize that greater economic achievement may not equate to greater happiness.
Jim most likely envisions a high maintenance lifestyle which cannot be provided with his current
salary. This fantasy lifestyle can be bred through relative deprivation, which is the perception
that one is worse off relative to those whom one compares oneself. Jim, being a successful
engineer, most likely associates with other people with high salaries. Comparing himself to
others with higher incomes, Jim can feel dissatisfied with his salary, provoking him to pursue
greater earnings. However, Connie’s suggestion can be effective in increasing Jim’s feeling of
economic satisfaction through watching a television program about famine victims. This
program can offer a different perspective on life and provide the realization of how fortunate
Jim really is. It can show how precious life is and help Jim appreciate the lifestyle he has right
now.