Emotion
Emotion
• Emotion – basic
components:
– Physiological arousal
(heart beating)
– Expressive behaviors
(quickened pace)
– Consciously expressed
thoughts (Is this a
Kidnapping?) and feelings
(a sense of fear and later
joy)
4Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange Theory
• Cannon-Bard Theory
• Two-Factor Theory
• Opponent-Process
Theory
James-Lange Theory
• Emotions are experienced in the following
sequence:
a)
b)
c)
an emotional stimulus is presented, causing
one to experience
physiological reactions, which are then
consciously experienced as an emotion.
• Body Changes then mind recognizes
feeling
• Presumes: Different emotions have
different physiological responses
• Problem: some emotions have same
physiological changes
• Examples: See Jason (1)heart pounds
(2)feel afraid
–
“When you feel your heart pound and you
start to sweat, you get really scared”
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
• Physiological experience
and experiencing emotion
occur at the same time
• Emotional stimulus is
simultaneously routed to
cerebral cortex (awareness
of emotion)and sympathetic
nervous system (body
arousal)
• Example:
– See Jason
– Heart Pounding and Fear
occur simultaneously
Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
AKA Schachter-Singer Theory
• Experience of emotion depends on two
factors: physiological arousal and the
cognitive interpretation/label of that
•
Cognitive Label
“I’m Afraid”
•
•
•
arousal.
The label people give an emotion depends
on what they find in their environment.
Arousal without a label is not an emotion;
a label without arousal does not lead to
emotional behavior.
Experiments
Example:
–
–
–
–
–
See Jason
Heart Pounds, “Im Afraid”
Feel afraid
Or is it because your in love with Jason???
Spillover Effect
Spill Over Effect
• Spill over effect- emotional arousal
from one event spills over into our
response of the next event
– Supports Schachter-Singer Theory
» -stirred up state can be experienced
as one emotion or another very
different one depending on how we
interpret or label it
– Example:
• After working out, Mr. Gielink gets
more irritated with his children’s bad
behavior
Theories of emotions
Opponent Process Theory
Richard Solomon
• Every emotion triggers an opposing
emotion
–
–
–
–
Happiness/Sadness
Fear/Relief
Pleasure Pain
Love/Hate
• Emotions disrupt homeostasis…opposing
emotion enables a return to homeostasis
• Example:
– A skydiver experiences extreme fear in her
initial jump, which turned into great relief
when she lands
Theories of Emotion Practice
• Paul encounters a growling wild animal, and
feels a faster heartbeat, widening eyes, and a
physical urge to flee.
• Monica is smiling and laughing and wants to
hug Mrs. Joseph because she just received a
5 on her AP Psych Exam.
• Zak just received a 1 on his AP Psych Exam
(because he has Mr. Jeter…just kidding Mr.
Jeter) and feels a pounding in his chest,
perspiration runs down his face and he has an
urge to hit someone.
• Use each of the theories of emotion to
explain Paul, Monica and Zak’s emotions
Emotions and the Autonomic
Nervous System
• Autonomic nervous system –
regulates physiological
arousal
of emotion
– Sympathetic nervous system
• Arousing
– Epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine
(noradrenaline) energize and mobilize
– Parasympathetic nervous system
• Calming
Arousal and Performance
– Moderate arousal is ideal
– Higher on well-learned/simple taskstasks
Emotions and the Autonomic
Nervous System
Brain Differences and Emotion
• Brain activity is different depending on
emotion - consistent with the
James-Lange
________________Theory
– Amygdala – fear
– Thalamus/ Right Hemisphere – anger
– Right prefrontal cortex/frontal lobe –
disgust/anger/negative emotions
– Left prefrontal cortex/Frontal lobe - Joy
• Nucleus accumbens – pleasure (smiling, laughing)
– Anterior cingulate cortex - lying
Physiological Differences
– Polygraph – supports
Cannon-Bard
________ Theory
• Used to detect lies
• measures physiological responses
such as perspiration, heart rate,
breathing
• Problems
– Anxiety, irritation, guilt have similar
physiological activity
• Guilty Knowledge Test – assesses
physiological responses to crime scene
details only known by investigators
Cognition and Emotion
1. Sometimes emotions precede cognition
(Zajonc)
–
Develop emotional preference for stimuli
to which have been unknowingly exposed .
2. Some emotions occur without
cognition, by-passing the cortex
(LeDoux).Go directly from thalamus to
amygdala = fast/ automatic emotional
response
–
Ex. Jump at rustling bushes in the forest
(fear most likely precedes conscious
thinking)
3. Emotions arise when appraise event to
be beneficial or harmful whether we
know it or not(Lazarus)
Injecting a person with an excitatory chemical
that activates the sympathetic nervous system
is likely to increase his or her subjective
experience of intense fear and anxiety. Use one
of the major theories of emotion to account for
the effects of this chemical on a person's
emotional state. Which theory of emotion would
have the greatest difficulty explaining these
effects? Why?
Detecting Emotion
• Nonverbal cues
– Facial muscles
– Eyes (fear/anger) and
mouth (happiness)
– Duchenne smile
– Difficult to detect lying
• Introverts better than
extroverts
Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal
Behavior
•Women better than men
•Detecting emotions
•Empathy
•Emotional responsiveness
•Facial expressions of emotion
•Exception: anger
Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal
Behavior
Culture and Emotional Expression
•Similarities:
•display and interpret facial expressions –
universal (Eckman)
•Differences
•Individualistic countries – convey visible facial
expressions of inner feelings
•Gestures vary
Levels of Analysis for the Study of
Emotion
The Effects of Facial Expressions
• Facial feedback – effect of facial expressions
on emotion
– Example: Smiling makes you feel more cheerful
• Behavior Feedback Theory – effect of your
behavior on emotions
– Example: Swing your arms and keep your head up, you will
feel more upbeat
• A newspaper advice columnist suggests that
thinking can be controlled and changed but
that emotions are gut-level, biological
reactions that can't be controlled or modified.
Use your knowledge of emotion research and
theory to either support or refute the
columnist's claim.
Basic Emotions
• 10 Basic Emotions at birth(Izard)
– Joy, interest-excitement, surprise,
sadness, anger, disgust, contempt,
fear, shame, guilt
• Other’s are combo of the 10 basic
Fear
• Adaptive value of fear
• Learned
– Conditioning - fear things associated with naturally
painful or traumatic experiences
– Observational Learning
• The biology of fear
– Amygdala
• Fear = Implicit memory
• Gene increases serotonin available to activate
amygdala
• Twin studies
• Phobias – fear disrupts ability to cope
• A motivational speaker claims “Fear is a
learned response! Babies are not born with
fears; they learn fears, which means fear can
be unlearned!” Use your knowledge of the
relationships between conditioning and the
biology of fear to critique the motivational
speaker's claims.
Anger
• Anger
– Evoked by events – actions are on purpose,
unjustified and avoidable + small hassles and
annoyances
– Catharsis – emotional release
• Catharsis hypothesis – relieves aggressive urges/calms
temporarily if
– Directed against provoker
– Justifiable
– Target not intimidating
• Example: Punching a pillow
– Expressing anger can increase anger
• Behavior Feedback
– Handling anger
• Wait until physiological arousal is down, don’t sulk
• Express grievance in ways that promote reconciliation
rather than retaliation
• Lisa is furious because her steady boyfriend
(Thomas) spent half an hour talking with his
former girlfriend at last night's school dance. A
friend suggests that Lisa ought to get the
anger out of her system by repeatedly
pounding her pillow while she imagines that
she is hitting her boyfriend. Explain why this
might be an ineffective way for Lisa to reduce
her anger. Suggest better ways.
Happiness
• Happiness
– Well-being – happiness/satisfaction
with life
• Example: High positive to negative
feelings
– Feel-good, do-good phenomenon –
people are more helpful when in a
good mood.
• Example : After getting an A on your
psych test you are persuaded to
volunteer at a homeless shelter
Happiness
The Short Life of Emotional Ups and
Downs
• Watson’s studies
Happiness
Wealth and Well-Being
Diminishing Returns Phenomenon - Once you have enough
money for comfort, having more money isn’t as meaningful
•A $1000 raise increases well-being more for a poor
person from a developing nation than for someone from
an affluent nation where median incomes are higher
Happiness
Wealth and Well-Being
Happiness
• Happiness and Prior Experience
– Adaptation-level phenomenon - tendency
people have to quickly adapt to a new
situation, until that situation becomes the
norm.
• Example – Excited about a $1000 raise until it
becomes allocated to new bills, then want more
• Happiness and others’ attainments
– Relative deprivation – tendency for our
personal happiness to be heavily influenced
by others’ attainment
• Example - You were happy with your grade of B
on the psych midterm until you learned that
almost everyone else in the class received an A
Happiness
Predictors of Happiness
• Jim, a 42-year-old engineer, is unhappy about
his yearly salary, although it is the highest
salary he has ever earned. His wife, Carla,
suggests that he vividly recall how little he
earned at the age of 32. She also recommends
that he watch a TV program about famine
victims in Africa.
• Use your understanding of psychological
principles to explain why Carla's suggestions
might help to increase Jim's feelings of
economic satisfaction.
Stress and Health
• Health psychology - subfield of psychology that
contributes to the prevention and treatment of
illness
– Example: studies how our emotions and personality influence
our risk of disease
• Behavioral medicine - interdisciplinary field that
integrates and applies behavioral and medical
knowledge to health and disease
– Example: Studies how stress and unhealthy behaviors
influence health (combines Psych with M.D.)
Stress and Illness
• Stress - process by which we perceive
and respond to environmental threats
and challenges.
– Stressor – event or situation that
causes stress
• Wheel chair attached to truck grille
– Stress reactions – physiological
arousal, emotional responses
• Release of hormones, increased heart
rate
– Stress appraisal - stress arises less
from events than how we appraise
them
• Creaking sounds in house-just sounds, or a
burglar?
Stress and Illness
• Stress Reactions
– Short-lived or perceived as challenges = positive effects
• Mobilizes immune system
• Motivates
– Prolonged = harms
• Activation of sympathetic nervous system
• Fight or flight (Cannon) - Adrenal glands secrete
epinephrine and norepinephrine into blood steam
– Cortisol (outer part of adrenal glands)
• Tend and befriend (women)
– Oxytocin (stress moderating hormone
• Telomers – bits of DNA at the end at the end of
chromosomes
– Get short and no longer divide…a part of the aging
process…stress ages
Seyle’s General Adaptation
Syndrome
• Describes our
response to a
stressful event.
• Three stages
1. Alarm
2. Resistance
3. Exhaustion
General Adaptation Syndrome
Stressful Life Events
• Significant Life Changes
– Social readjustment rating scale
(SRRS)
– Life Changing Units (LCUs)marriage, change job, etc…
– The more LCUs you have the higher
your score is on the SRRS.
– Those who score higher are more
likely to have stress related disease.
• Catastrophes
– Natural disasters, 9/ll – rate of
psych disorders increases
• Daily hassles
– Everyday annoyances, too many
things to do**
Stress and the Heart
• Coronary heart disease – closing of vessels that
nourish the heart
• Type A versus Type B (Friedman and Rosenman)
– Type A – hard-driving impatient, verbally aggressive,
anger prone
– Type B – easygoing, relaxed
Stress and Susceptibility to
Disease
• Psychophysiological illnesses – stress related
physical illness
– Examples – hypertension, headaches
• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) – how psych,
neural and endocrine system affect immune
system
– Lymphocytes – 2 types of white blood cells
• B lymphocytes – In bone marrow, inhibit bacterial
infections
• T lymphocytes – In thymus and other lymphatic tissue,
attack cancer cells, and inhibit viruses
– Macrophage – Immune system agent that ingests
worn-out red blood cells and tiny harmful bacteria
– Natural Killer (NK cells) - Immune system cells that
pursue and destroy diseased body cells
Stress and Disease
• Arthritis – overactive immune system
causes body to attack own tissue
• AIDS – stress can speed progression of
HIV to AIDS by limiting production of
lymphocytes
• Cancer – doesn’t create cancer cells, but
may affect their growth by suppressing
the activity of t-lymphocytes
• What advice would a health psychologist give
to a student about the stress of an AP exam?
What are the potential benefits of this
stressor, and what are the possible
disadvantages of long-term stress?