Psychology
2/6/14
Warm-up
• Take 5 minutes to complete your business
plan & turn it into the homework bin.
What are emotions?
1. Physiological arousal
2. Expressive behaviors
3. Conscious experience—thoughts & feelings
How do these three come together?
• James-Lange Theory: Arousal causes emotion
• Cannon-Bard Theory: Arousal and emotion
occur simultaneously (thalamus sends signals)
• Schachter-Singer (Two-factor) Theory: Arousal
+ cognition causes emotion
Arousal
• Autonomic Nervous System: Sympathetic
(stress) & Parasympathetic (peace).
• Low arousal is best for difficult, unfamiliar
tasks. High arousal is best for easy, wellrehearsed tasks.
• Called the inverted U function.
Physiology of emotions
• Though emotions all feel different, many of
them share physiological similarities.
• Brain activity from fear, anger, and sexual
arousal are all incredibly similar.
Physiology of emotions
• Brain differences: circuits used
• Negative emotions: right frontal lobe
• Positive emotions: left frontal lobe
• Left frontal lobe: more dopamine receptors
• “Lateralization of emotions”
• Nucleus accumbens: a cluster of neurons that
receives info from frontal lobes. Relates to drug
use (cocaine, etc.), smiling, laughing, etc.
Cognition & emotion
• Spillover effect: an arousal from one event
influences your response to the next.
• If you have been exercising and someone makes
you angry, you will respond with greater intensity.
• Intense argument intensifies sexual passion
(make-up sex!)*
• This supports Schachter-Singer: emotion is fueled
by arousal & channeled by cognition.
*Mr. Phillis does not endorse any of you engaging in sexual intercourse.
Subliminal emotions…
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Cognition does not always accompany emotions.
Primed happy face = 50% more fruit drink
Primed sad face = substantially less
A fear stimulus can trigger responses with or
without cognition.
1. Stimulus -> thalamus -> amygdala -> response
2. Stimulus -> thalamus -> sensory cortex ->
prefrontal cortex -> amygdala -> response
Amygdala’s neural messages
• Sends more messages to the cortex than it
receives.
• Our feelings take precedent over thinking
more often than vice versa.
Richard Lazarus
• Called cognitive appraisal theory
• Even when we do not fully process
information cognitively, there is still thinking
to appraise if something is a threat: you
decide on an appropriate emotion.
• Do you buy into this?
Opponent-process theory
• Emotions work in pairs
• When one emotion is triggered, the other is
suppressed.
Evaluating theories of emotions
• James-Lange: arousal leads to emotions
• Cannon-Bard: arousal accompanies emotions
• Schachter-Singer: arousal + cognition =
emotions
• Lazarus: cognitive appraisal theory
• Which theory do you find to be most
legitimate? Why?
Nonverbal communication
• Nonverbal cues (handshake, eye contact, body
language, tone of voice {anger}, etc.)
• Our ability to understand nonverbal cues is impacted
by culture, experience (angry/scared faces) &
evolution.
• Introverts can read emotions better, but extroverts are
easier to read.
• Emotional intelligence: ability to understand & control
emotions
Women vs. Men
• According to Judith Hall (1984, 1987), women are
generally better than men at reading emotional
cues
• IT IS TRUE!!!
• Women are better at spotting lies (DePaulo,
1994)—damn.
• Women are more adept at identifying
romantic/posed couples (Barnes & Sternberg,
1989).
Personal emotional responses
• Women express more complex emotions than
men (bad vs. bittersweet; happy & sad).
• Greater emotional responses in positive and
negative situations.
• Women describe themselves as more
empathic (ability to identify with others).
• Women react more to emotional events—
both externally and in brain scans.
Detecting emotions…
• Detecting lies & truths: people were 54%
correct.
• College students, psychiatrists, court judges,
police officers, & polygraphers all were around
50%.
• Secret Service agents, CIA agents, clinical
psychologists, & LA interrogators were
significantly above 50%.
Polygraphs
• How do they work?
Detect heart rate, breathing rate, perspiration,
blood pressure
• Problems?
Suspects are aware (variation of Hawthorne Effect?)
& may manipulate responses.
• Polygrapher tricks
Provoke obvious emotional reactions—“Did you
ever take anything that did not belong to you?”
Draw card from stacked deck—identify card by
“using polygraph.”
Without trying to deceive?
• In a 10-second clip, people can determine if a
teacher likes or dislikes the student they are
addressing.
• CRAP
Homework
• I Can See It All Over Your Face!
• Finish emotion: pages 532-544