The Unfolding and
Function of Emotions
Chapter 14
I. Emotion Stimulus and Appraisal

A. Event-Appraisal-Emotion Sequence


A person appraises the emotion stimulus pre- and post-aware
and responds affectively, physiologically, expressively, and
behaviorally.
B. Characteristics of the Emotion Situation

1. Situational Definitions of Emotions


Situational definition: stimulus and its context determine the
emotion.
2. Emotion-Eliciting Situations

Positive stimuli evoke positive emotions; their loss evokes
negative emotions. Negative stimuli evoke negative emotions;
their loss evokes relief. People evoke emotions in others.
I. Emotion Stimulus and Appraisal

C. Processing of Emotion Stimuli

1. Separation of Emotion and Cognition


2. Appraisal Without Awareness


Stimuli presented below the level of awareness can elevate
mood.
3. Priority of Negative Stimulus Appraisal


Emotions can occur automatically or result from appraisal that
is primitive and below the level of awareness.
Below awareness, negative elements are appraised a little
earlier than positive elements. Avoidance behavior is
associated with negative stimuli and approach behavior with
positive stimuli.
4. Appraisal Dimensions

Various dimensions are used for stimulus appraisal, e.g.,
expectedness, unpleasantness, goal hindrance, unfairness,
external causation.
I. Emotion Stimulus and Appraisal

D. Emotion Areas in the Brain

1. Limbic System, Amygdala, and Emotion


2. Role of Amygdala in Stimulus Appraisal


Limbic system is responsible for emotions. Amygdala is
part of limbic system that evaluates the valence of
emotion stimuli.
Amygdala crudely processes fear-relevant stimuli prior
to awareness and alerts the cortex, which does more
extensive stimulus appraisal.
3. Feelings of Affect

Neural circuits for subjective emotional experiences are
laid down in the limbic system.
II. Emotion and the Face

A. Facial Muscles and Expression and the
Brain

1. Involuntary and Voluntary Facial Expressions


2. Facial Muscles


Facial expressions can be spontaneous (involuntary) or
voluntary.
Smooth facial muscles contract to form expressions that
are associated with emotions.
3. Origins in the Brain

Spontaneous expressions originate from the older
extrapyramidal system of the brain while voluntary
expressions originate from the cortical motor strip.
II. Emotion and the Face

B. Expression-Feeling Link


1. Emotion Stimulus, Affective Experience, and
Facial Expression


This link joins facial expressions with emotional feelings
(affect).
Affective experiences and expressions occur jointly in
reaction to the emotion-inducing event.
2. Affect and Facial Expression

Efference hypothesis: the activated brain circuit sends
information to facial muscles, which generate the
expression that is synonymous with the emotion.
II. Emotion and the Face

C. Facial Feedback Hypothesis


1. Regulating Ongoing Expressions


It maintains that the pattern of facial muscles feed back
into the brain, provides it with information for the
subjective feel of emotion.
Voluntary changes of spontaneous facial expressions
alter the subjective feel of affect according to the facial
feedback hypothesis.
2. Criticism of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Affect occurs even when facial muscles are paralyzed.
The stimulus, not facial muscles may ultimately be
responsible for affect.
II. Emotion and the Face

D. Innateness of Facial Expressions of
Emotion

1. Facial Expression Early in Life


2. Facial Expression in Deaf and Blind Children


Infants’ expressions are true to their subjective
emotions.
Deaf-and-blind children exhibit facial expressions of
emotions although the expressions lack minute
gradations.
3. Learning and Fine-tuning of Expression

The expressions of blind children are less refined
because they lack practice and do not benefit from
feedback.
II. Emotion and the Face

D. Innateness of Facial Expressions of
Emotion

4. Universality of Facial Expression of Emotion


Emotion recognition studies show that expressions of
emotions are recognized similar the world over.
Members identify expressions more accurately for their
own cultural group than a different group.
5. Nonverbal Accents

Even though facial expressions of emotion are universal,
culture may have a subtle influence on the precise
portrayal of an expression.
III. Functions of Emotion

A. Emotions as Signals to the Self

1. Emotion and Cognitive Activity



2. Emotions and Behavior


Cognitive signaler: an emotional feeling influences a person’s
future cognitive appraisal.
Appraisal tendency hypothesis: each emotion has a unique
influence on people’s judgments.
Motivator of action: the goal of each emotion is to induce an
action that deals specifically with the emotional event. The
person is in a state of action readiness.
3. Positive and Negative Affect as Motivators

Evaluative space model: stimuli are evaluated for their positive
and negative features, which result in positive and negative
affect. The overall combined affect motivates a person’s
actions.
III. Functions of Emotion

B. Function of Facial Expression

1. Two Hypotheses on the Function of Facial Expression


2. Implications of the Readout and Behavioral Ecology
Hypotheses


Readout hypothesis: a facial expression conveys an
individual’s emotional feelings to another individual.
Behavioral ecology hypothesis: facial expressions are in
service to one’s social motives and need not be linked to
emotional feelings.
An experiment that supported the behavioral ecology
hypothesis showed that facial expressions in isolation are in
reaction to an imaginary person. Expressions varied even
when affect did not, which runs counter to the readout
hypothesis.
3. Display Rules for Facial Expressions

Display rules: learned social rules specify what voluntary facial
expressions are to be exhibited in a specific situation.