Session 8: Biology, cognition and
emotion

Principles of the CLOA?

How might culture affect memory?
Discuss the extent to which biological and
cognitive factors interact in emotion
I am going to present you with two images, two
pieces of music and two names
Please look/listen carefully and write down what
you experience
Osama Bin Laden
Mickey Mouse
1.
2.
How did you feel looking and listening to
these stimuli?
Why do you think you feel differently when
presented with different stimuli?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRepnhXq33s
Try to identify as many different emotions as
you can think of and write them down
1.
2.
Pick an emotion
Try to convey this emotions to the class and
see if they can guess your emotion
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/well-quiz-themind-behind-the-eyes/?_r=3
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A subjective feeling provoked by real or
imagined objects or events
A feeling state characterised by
physiological arousal, expressive
behaviours, and a cognitive interpretation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
h19PzyqOxxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
gaZDLOAg_Po
Move this to evolution
https://youtu.be/gAMbkJk6gnE

Based on Darwin's theory that emotions are the
result of evolution, Paul Ekman argues that there
are seven basic emotions. He bases this on a
large volume of cross-cultural research that
shows that there are seven universally recognized
facial expressions: happiness, anger, surprise,
disgust, fear, sadness and contempt.

Emotions may have an evolutionary advantage for
humans.

Facial expressions may be universal, showing us
that there are biological roots for basic emotions.
There are three basic components of emotions:
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Physical: The physical component of emotion
is the arousal of the autonomic nervous system
and endocrine system. We are not consciously
aware of this arousal.
Cognitive: The cognitive component is our
interpretation of a stimulus or feeling. For
example; if you are alone, sitting in the dark,
watching a scary movie, and you hear a loud
noise, you may become scared.
Behavioral: This component is the associated
behavior. We cry because we are sad or run
because we are scared.
The mainstream definition of emotion
refers to a feeling state involving
thoughts, physiological changes, and
an outward expression or behavior.
 But what comes first? The
thought? The physiological
arousal? The behavior?

1.
2.
3.
Physiological changes such as arousal of the
autonomic nervous system and the endocrine
system that are not conscious
The person’s own subjective feeling of an
emotion (e.g. happiness)
Associated behaviour such as smiling or running
away
Think of a time that you have experienced a
strong emotion that you are willing to share
with the rest of the class
Think about the how you might have experience
the following components of the emotion you
experienced:



Physiological
Cognitive
Behavioural
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
A biologically oriented psychologist defines emotion as
physiological behavior; body arousal, hormones, brain
activity and facial expressions are considered to be
associated with pleasant or unpleasant mental states of the
mind.
Conversely, cognitive psychologists focus on the mental
aspects of emotions and how the unconscious and
conscious mental processes influence emotional
experiences and actions.
We will look at the interaction between the two in order to
further understand emotions.


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Amygdala is the small structure
in the temporal lobe that
appears to be critical in the
brain’s emotional circuit
It is believed to play a critical
role in emotional memories
Studies of animals and humans
indicate that stress hormones
such as adrenaline are released
when strong emotions are
evoked
1.
2.
Appraisal Theory (Lazarus, 1975)
Two-Factor Theory-Schachter & Singer
(1962)

LeDoux describes 2 biological
pathways of emotion in the
brain
1. Short route
goes from thalamus to
amygdala (faster, immediate
reaction)
2. Long route
passes via the thalamus, the
sensory cortex and
hippocampus before it goes to
amygdala (thought out, slower)
Both pathways can be triggered
simultaneously
An example…
An example…
A woman is walking home, late in the evening. At the next corner,
she sees a man waiting. She just read in the newspaper a story about
a women being raped, so she is afraid and her heart begins to race.
She walks slowly as to if to prepare for what may come. This is the
physiological arousal, the fight or flight response which prepares for
a reaction to a stressful experience.
When the women is just about to pass the man, he comes toward he
saying, “Excuse me, I am lost. Could you tell me where Linner Street
is?”. The woman realizes she has misjudged the situation and
relaxes/ she tells the man where the street is and continues walking
calmly to her home.
How can this be explained in terms of
the short and long route?
The example explained…
Short Route
 The emotional stimulus (man
who could be a potential
aggressor) is first processed in
thalamus which sends a signal
to amygdala.
 The perception of the potential
stressor enables the brain to
send signals to the body so
that it can prepare for action
The example explained…
Long Route
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
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At the same time, the thalamus
sends the information via the
indirect pathway to the cortex and
hippocampus for closer inspection
The results in a more detailed
evaluation of the stimulus- an
appraisalIn the example the woman
becomes aware that there is no
danger so she relaxes.
Most of these processes are non
conscious
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
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According to LeDoux (1999), the advantage of having
a direct and indirect pathways to the amygdala and
the stress response system is flexibility in response.
In the case of danger, the fast and direct pathway is
useful because it saves time. This could be important
in matters of life and death.
On the other hand, the long pathway allows for a
more thorough evaluation of a situation, which can
help people and animals to avoid inappropriate
responses to situations.
 Appraisals are evaluations related to how a situation will
impact on one’s personal well being
 Positive emotions emerge if the appraisal assesses
potential benefit
 Negative emotions emerge if appraisal assess potential
harm
 Lazarus claimed cognitive appraisal is an important part
of people’s reaction to emotional stimuli, and that
emotional experiences ARE NOT ONLY physiological
 People actively interpret and evaluate what is happening
to them (a principle of CLOA)
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
He suggested we initially make a brief
analysis of a situation in terms of
whether or not it represents a threat
(we appraise a situation).
Assumed that cognitive appraisal of the
situation determines the level of
physiological arousal and the specific
type of emotion to be experienced
Put simply you must first think about
your situation before you can
experience an emotion.
35
LO 9.19 Cognitive-mediational theory.
2. Appraisal Theory- Lazarus (1975)
Theory suggests cognition also important
factor in emotion
Speisman et al. (1964)
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Lab experiment with independent measures design
Showed participants a film that showed initiation ceremony involving unpleasant
genital surgery – a right of passage for young adolescent boys in a primitive society.
The aim of the study was to investigate if peoples emotional reaction the unpleasant
film could be manipulated through cognitive appraisal
Condition 1
‘trauma’
Condition 2
‘Denial’
Condition 3
‘Intellectualisation’
soundtrack which
emphasized pain and
mutilation.
soundtrack showed
the participants
willing and happy.
soundtrack gave the
anthropological
interpretation of the
ceremony.
The experiment deliberately manipulated the participants appraisal of the situation
and evaluated the effect of the type of appraisal on their emotional response using a
self report questionnaire, and also a heart rate monitor.
Speisman et al. (1964)
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
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The results of self report questionnaires and heart rate monitoring showed that
participants reacted more emotionally to the trauma condition (higher heart
rate, and responses showing high emotional responses on the self report
questionnaire).
This seems to support Lazarus's theory. Maybe it is not the events themselves
that illicit emotional stress, but rather the individual interpretation or appraisal
of these events
This could also be seen to as support to LeDoux’s theory of two biological
pathways in the brain, as cognitive appraisal involves the hippocampus and
neo cortex.
You might ask if a study like this can say anything about real life. It was a
laboratory study with the manipulation of variables which always raises the
issue of artificiality. There were also ethical issues involved here, because the
research deliberately used deception and put participants in unpleasant
situation. In conclusion, cognitive seems to influence the emotional reaction,
so this study could then illustrate how cognitive and biological factors interact
with emotion.


Proposed yet another
theory which suggests
our physiology and
cognitions create
emotions.
Emotions have two
factors–physical arousal
and cognitive label.
39
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
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Physiological arousal
◦ Sweaty palms
◦ Increased heart rate
◦ Rapid breathing
Cognitive Label
◦ Attribute source of
arousal to a cause.
To have an emotion, both
factors are required.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004
Prentice Hall

Schachter and Singer
felt that physical
arousal plays a primary
role in emotions.
However, they
suggested that this
arousal was the same
for a wide variety of
emotions, so physical
arousal alone could not
be responsible for
emotional responses.
Physiological responses related to the emotions of
fear, anger, love, and boredom are very similar. It
is often cognitive labels that distinguish these
emotions.
Excitement and fear involve a similar
physiological arousal.
Lab
experiment
Aim was to test the two factor theory of emotion
to see if participants exhibited both cognitive and
biological reactions to a stimulus.
Participants: 184 male college students, taking
classes in introductory psychology in US.
Participants were told that the aim of the
experiment was ‘to look at the effects of vitamin
injections on visual skills’
They were given an injection of either adrenalin
(epinephrine) or a placebo, which has no side
effects at all.
The effects of adrenalin = increase in blood
pressure, heart rate, blood sugar level, respiration
rate, and blood flow to the muscles and brain.
Often experienced as tremors and faster
breathing.

Participants were placed in a room with another
participant who was actually a confederate in the
experiment.

The confederate either acted in one of two ways:
1.euphoric
2. angry.

Results indicated that participants were more
likely to feel either happier or angrier depending
on the confederate
Schachter and Singer concluded that although
individuals usually are aware of the reason for
their aroused emotional state, if the reason is not
apparent, they search their environment for clues
to help them interpret the emotion.

What theories of emotion did we look at?

What theories of emotion did we look at?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Theory of the Emotional Brain (LeDoux, 1999)
Appraisal Theory (Lazarus, 1975)
Two-Factor Theory-Schachter & Singer (1962)
Facial feedback hypothesis (Darwin)
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
Cognitive and biological factors do, to a large
extent, interact in emotion, but in complex
ways that are not yet well known
Emotions may influence cognitive processes
such as memory, and cognitive processes
such as appraisal may affect emotion but
little is known about the exact workings of
the physiological workings of emotions
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
You will each be assigned a theory of emotion
You must create a fictional scenario where a
person is experiencing an emotion and use
the theory you have been assigned to
describe the theory behind the emotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
240qddvbtNw