Emotion
very complex, term has no single,
universally accepted definition
Affect - synonym for emotion
Feeling – in psychology usually
refers to conscious subjective
experience of emotion
The Emotions
The limbic system is often thought of as the
primitive part of the brain as it is present in
lower mammals and parts are even found in
reptiles. Animals need emotions to survive they need fear as a trigger to escape
predators and aggression to defend their
territory, young and food. Charles Darwin
thought emotions were merely left over from
our animal past. However, you rely on your
emotions to make quick, often complex,
decisions.
prefrontal area
•sense of social responsibility
•capacity for concentration
•abstract thought
•reason & decision making
amygdala
•pleasure and rage
•aversion
•displeasure
•uncontrollable loud laughing
•center for identification of danger
•fundamental for self preservation
thalamus
•routes messages
•governs changes in
emotional reactivity
•emotional
physical reactions
cingulate gyrus
•coordinates smells and sights
with pleasant memories of
previous emotions
hippocampus
•long term memory center •emotional reaction to pain
•we compare conditions of •regulation of aggression
present threat with similar
past experiences
brainstem
hypothalamus
fornix
•connects pathways of
limbic system
1908
Yerkes-Dodson law
Arousal-performance phenomenon =Yerkes-Dodson law.
a certain amount of anxiety can enhance performance
too much can impair it (ie; severe stage fright).
James-Lange Theory 1885
emotions do not immediately follow perception of event
but rather occur after body has responded to event.
Cannon-Bard theory
(also called emergency theory)
Comparison of
James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories
(red arrows)
(blue arrows)
1937, Neuroanatomist James Papez demonstrated
emotion is not function of specific brain center but
of circuit that involves four structures:
-hypothalamus
-anterior thalamic nucleus
-cingulate gyrus
-hippocampus.
This circuit (Papez circuit), acting in harmony, is
responsible for emotions (affect), as well as for
peripheral expressions (face,body,voice,etc)
Papez believed emotion was determined by cingulate cortex
Emotional expression was governed by hypothalamus.
Cingulate gyrus
amygdala, center for identification of
projects to hippocampus,
danger, fundamental for self preservation.
hippocampus projects to
hypothalamus by way
of bundle of axons called
fornix.
Hypothalamic
impulses reach
cortex via relay in
anterior thalamic
nuclei.
Schachter-Singer Theory
1962 Two-Factor Theory of Emotions
experiencing an emotion requires both
emotional arousal and cognitive activity
R. Plutchik’s (1980)
Classification of Emotions.
Eight primary emotions - joy, acceptance, surprise, fear, sorrow,
disgust, expectancy and anger; other emotions are mixture
Joy
Accepted
Aware
Sad
Rejected
Surprise
Anger
Fear
Affective states (emotions and moods)
“These states – called core affect – influence reflexes, perception,
cognition, and behavior and are influenced by many causes
internal and external”
(James A. Russell)
2004
Paul Ekman's finding is now widely accepted.
Expressions he found to be universal included
anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise
Developed Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to taxonomize
every conceivable human facial expression.
Richard Lazarus Theory
1994
Lazarus Theory states thought must come before emotion or physiological
arousal. Must think about your situation before you can experience emotion.
EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps
behind you and you think it may be a mugger so you begin to tremble, your
heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens
and at the same time experience fear.
Cognitive Appraisal
Lazarus’s research has shown that people’s experience of emotion depends on way
they appraise or evaluate events around them
Example:
Person walking with Crocodile Dundee sees a crocodile lunge, & screams.
Crocodile Dundee laughs & jumps in to grab the croc!