Emotion

• Emotion – basic components:

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) an emotional stimulus is

presented, causing one to experience

b) c)

• Different emotions have physiological differences

• Examples:

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

• The emotional stimulus

triggers both physiological change and cognitive awareness

• Emotional stimulus is simultaneously routed to

• Example:

Two-Factor Theory of EmotionAKA Schachter-Singer Theory

• Experience of emotion depends on two factors:

• The label people give an emotion depends on what they find in their environment.

• Arousal without a label is not an emotion

• Example:

Cognitive Label“I’m Afraid”

Spill Over Effect• Spill over effect- emotional arousal

from one event spills over into our response of the next event– Supports – Example:

Theories of emotions

Opponent Process TheoryRichard Solomon

• Every emotion triggers an opposing emotion – Happiness/– /Relief– Pleasure/– /Hate

• Emotions disrupt …opposing emotion enables a return to homeostasis

• Example:

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

– Parasympathetic nervous system•

– Moderate arousal is ideal• Higher on well-learned tasks

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System

Brain Differences and Emotion

• Brain activity is different depending on emotion - consistent with James-Lange Theory– Amygdala – – Thalamus/ Right Hemisphere – – Right prefrontal cortex/frontal lobe – – Left prefrontal cortex/Frontal lobe -

• Nucleus accumbens –

– Anterior Singulate Cortex -

Cognition and Emotion

• Some emotions occur without cognition,

• Go directly from thalamus to = fast/ automatic emotional response

Physiological Differences–Polygraph – supports

• Used to detect • Measures

• Problems

• Guilty Knowledge Test –

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?

Cognition and Emotion1. Sometimes emotions (Zajonc)

– Develop emotional preference for stimuli to which have been unknowingly exposed .

2. Some emotions occur without cognition, (LeDoux).Go directly from to = fast/ automatic

emotional response– Ex. Jump at rustling bushes in the forest (fear most

likely precedes conscious thinking)

1. Emotions arise when

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

• better than

Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior

• better than •Detecting emotions•Empathy•Emotional responsiveness•Facial expressions of emotion

•Exception:

Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior

Culture and Emotional Expression•Similarities:

•Eckman’s research - display and interpret facial expressions –

•Differences•Individualistic countries –

•Display rules (Eckman) –

•Gestures

Levels of Analysis for the Study of Emotion

The Effects of Facial Expressions

• Facial feedback – effect of facial expressions on emotion– Example:

• Behavior Feedback Theory – effect of your behavior on emotions– Example:

• 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)

• Other’s are combo of the 10 basic

Fear• Adaptive value of fear• Learned

– Conditioning –

– Observational Learning

• The biology of fear–

• Fear = • Gene • Twin studies

• Phobias –

• 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

– Catharsis – emotional release• Catharsis hypothesis –

– Directed against– – Target not

• Example: Punching a pillow

– Expressing anger can increase anger•

– Handling anger • Wait until physiological arousal i• Express grievance in ways that promote

• 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:

– Feel-good, do-good phenomenon – people are more helpful when in a good mood.

• Example :

HappinessThe Short Life of Emotional Ups and

Downs• Watson’s studies

HappinessWealth and Well-Being

Diminishing Returns Phenomenon

HappinessWealth 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 –

• Happiness and others’ attainments– Relative deprivation – tendency for our

personal happiness to be heavily influenced by others’ attainment

• Example -

HappinessPredictors 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:

• Behavioral medicine - interdisciplinary field that integrates and applies behavioral and medical knowledge to health and disease– Example:

Stress and Illness• Stress - process by which we perceive and

respond to environmental threats and challenges.– Stressor – event or situation that causes

stress•

– Stress reactions – physiological arousal, emotional responses

•

– Stress appraisal - stress arises less from events than how we appraise them

•

Stress and Illness• Stress Reactions

– • Mobilizes • Motivates

– Prolonged = • Activation of sympathetic nervous system

• Fight or flight (Cannon) - Adrenal glands secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine into blood steam

–

• Tend and befriend (women)–

• Telomers – bits of DNA at the end at the end of chromosomes

–

Seyle’s General Adaptation Syndrome

• Describes our response to a stressful event.

• Three stages1.A2.R3.E

General Adaptation Syndrome

Stressful Life Events• Significant Life Changes

– Social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)

– Life Changing Units (LCUs)-

– 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 –

• Daily hassles

Stress and the Heart

• Coronary heart disease – closing of vessels that nourish the heart

• Type A versus Type B (Friedman and Rosenman)– Type A –

– Type B –

Stress and Susceptibility to Disease

• Psychophysiological illnesses – stress related physical illness– Examples –

• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) – how psych, neural and endocrine system affect immune system– Lymphocytes – 2 types of white blood cells

• B lymphocytes –

• T lymphocytes –

– Macrophage – – Natural Killer (NK cells) -

Stress and Disease

• Arthritis –

• AIDS – stress can

• Cancer – doesn’t create

• 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?