Chapter 10: Emotions

Mirror self recognition

-A method of distinguishing self-conscious emotions. -When a baby gets a bit of red mark on their nose and sees themselves in a mirror, they won't touch their nose because they don't realize the image in the mirror is their own. When a child is older, they have a sense of self, so they will touch their nose.

Quick digression: pitfalls of lie detection techniques

-Based on physiological signals of arousal that some with emotion (anxiety, fear) ... -But such arousal responses can come from multiple different emotions, or sources of emotion (anxiety at taking the test)

Two different methods of Distinguishing "self conscious" emotions (e.g. guilt, shame, embarrassment)

-Dependant on the infant having a concept of 'self', evidence for which emerges at about 18 months. Two different methods: 1. Mirror Self-Recognition 2. Awareness of own body (Shopping cart study)

Significance of studying Emotions in the brain

-Importance of parts of the limbic system to emotional experience and recognition (evidence from fMRI and neuropsychological case studies)

Facial expressions communicate emotions

-Influential work by Paul Ekman supported Darwin's hypothesis on the universal nature of experienced emotion - along with the existence of basic emotional expressions recognizable even among groups people from cultures isolated from the rest of the world. -While experience of emotion may be universal, extent of expression differs across cultures.

Emotions have a physiological component

-Some attempts to categorize based on these two dimensions. (Arousal and Valence). -Such attempts are controversial, since there seem to be emotional states that have functions that are not easily fit in such 'circumplex' models (guilt, shame, pride, disgust).

Distinguishing "self conscious" emotions (e.g. guilt, shame, embarrassment

-Some emotions (e.g. embarrassment, shame) require a notion of self ... and evidence of this emotion is typically not seen in situations that might provoke it (i.e. the infant being the center of attention) until the infant has developed a sense of self (about 18 months)

Examples of pitfalls of lie detection techniques

-Study done attempting to detect children lying -it turns out children's lies are very hard to detect.

Use of facial blood flow monitoring to detect hidden emotions.

-When CHILD is lying, their facial expression is typically neutral. But they're feeling a whole range of emotions. Either haven't kicked in or they're hiding it. When we feel different emotions, our autonomous system changes blood flow in face. -When PEOPLE lie, facial blood flow in cheeks decreases and blood flow in nose increases. Developed technology to measure blood flow and connect to the emotions being felt. Can use that to see what emotions someone is feeling.

Testing Schacter-Singer theory Results

-When participants received the adrenaline and were told how their bodies would respond to the drug, they had an easy explanation for their arousal. They attributed it to the adrenaline, nt t to the situation. -In contrast, when participants received adrenaline and were not given information about its effects, they looked to the environment to explain or label their bodies response.

Cannon-Bard Theory

-argues that physiological responses are not specific enough to generate all the different emotions we might feel.... Suggest instead that an emotional reaction is triggered alongside a more general physiological arousal response.

Amygdala and emotions in the brain

-emotional significance of stimuli. Especially fear. Damage to this component (patient SM) results in lack of fear conditioning, as well as difficulty generating social inferences from faces. .. e.g. trustworthiness

James Lange Theory

-emotions are specific physiological reactions that correspond to the emotions we feel. Predicts that if we behave in such ways as to cause a physiological response we will feel that emotion (facial feedback hypothesis)

Secondary Emotions

-have been characterized as 'blends' of primary emotions, but some (guilt, shame) might be better thought of as having specific functions (and are dependent on a self concept)

Singer-Schacter Theory

-incorporated elements of both theories ... argued that a general physiological arousal response is labeled as a specific emotion dependent on our interpretation of the situation we are in. Evidence for this theory in the study where participants injected with adrenaline were likely to experience the emotion being exhibited by a confederate who had been instructed to act angry or euphoric.... But only if they were not told about what the physiological response to the injection would be.

Arousal

-physiological activation, non conscious, autonomic nervous system. -Digression: lie detection based on detection of arousal, on hidden emotions

Emotion functions in Moral judgement

1.Emotion brain areas play a role in moral reasoning 2.Psychopaths have problems in moral-emotional system -Suggestion that an emotional reaction comes first, and justification later... recent evidence suggests a role for the emotion of disgust in influencing our moral and political views. -Ex. Paper published this month argues that 'disgust sensitivity' predicts absolutist objection to GM foods.

Cognitive requirements of culturally specific display rules:

1.NOT showing your internal emotion 2.Producing responses for a DIFFERENT emotion

Communicative Functions of emotions

1.Universal facial expressions (Edman's cross cultural work) 2.Culture specific display rules and their development 3.Emotions can communicate important information about ambiguous stimuli

Clip: Horrible Christmas Gifts

Parents give their children horrible presents, such as half-eaten sandwiches, and the children throw tantrums. -The children show their emotions and don't follow the social rule that you're supposed to show the gift-giver you appreciate the gift, even if you don't like it. You're supposed to show your emotions at certain times and be reserved at other times, but children don't follow those rules.

Communicative functions of emotional expressions: "social referencing"

Using emotion expression cues to guide actions in ambiguous situations. -Example: visual cliff

Testing Schacter-Singer theory Hypothesis

Whatever a person believes caused an emotion will determine how the person experiences and labels the emotion. -participants were given either adrenaline or a placebo.

Learning culturally specific "display rules

When it's okay to express certain emotions: 1. Such rules exist in all cultures 2. Specific rules differ in different cultures

Valence

how negative or positive an emotion is.

Insular

particularly important for experience and recognition of disgust. -Patient with insular damage as a result of Huntington's disease impaired specifically on recognition of disgust from multiple cues (expressions, situation descriptions)

Primary emotions

thought to be innate, evolutionarily adaptive, and universal. •First guy identified 6 basic emotions. Marked by facial expressions that appear to be recognized across cultures (see later). Present in infants at or very soon after birth.