Emotions Final Exam
Dopamine
-Appetitive (desire) behaviors, positive mood -Pathway running from the VTA to nucleus accumbens (pleasure circuit) Complex cognitive operations + motor control (hallmark of Parkinson's Disease)
Experience Sampling
-Ask participants about their emotions in the real world as they experience them, better for ecological validity -Handheld technology used to log info about current situation in real time, participants get periodic alerts to check in
Insular Cortex
-Associated with taste and distaste -Activity reflects interoception (perception of inside body)
Limitations of Cannon-Bard
-Assumed that bodily responses do not influence emotion, but evidence suggests otherwise -Their work was based on animal studies, which may not generalize to humans -Over-emphasized the role of thalamus, other parts also play important roles (amygdala)
Panksepp Reading Week 2
-Basic Emotion Theory -Animal testing is key -Brain imaging technology isn't sufficient -Electrical brain stimulation leads to emotional behavior even though it doesn't cause feeling -Medicine for anxiety doesn't work for panic & pleasure seeking drugs have distinct effects, demonstrating distinct brain difference -Research shows different areas of brain activation for different positive and different negative emotions -Synthesis of Nativist + Constructivist views
Levenson Reading Week 3
-Basic/Discrete Emotion Theory 6 distinct emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise -Physiological differences in emotion when subjects asked to copy facial expressions (consistent to population) -Relive emotions tasks lead to similar results
Modern Theories of Emotion
-Basic/Discrete Emotions (Panksepp, Levenson) -Core Affect / Psychological Construction (Baret) -Component Process Model
Gray's Brain Circuit Model
-Behavioral Approach System-> prepares for interaction with attractive stimuli -Fight or Flight System-> prepares for fleeing or aggressing during aversive events -Behavioral Inhibition System-> leads to freezing during aversive events
Emotion Elicitation Typical Techniques
Allows us to manipulate/measure emotion and therefor study it experimentally
Darwin's Emotions Taxonomy
Blushing + blood vessels -> shame Body contact + somatic muscles -> affection Clenching fists + somatic muscles -> anger Crying + tear ducts -> sadness Frowning + facial muscles -> anger, frustration Laughing + respiratory organs -> pleasure Perspiration + sweat glands -> pain Hair on end + dermal apparatus -> fear, anger
Where did Darwin propose his arguments about emotion?
The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals
EEG
Records electrical activity of the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp
Dimensions of Component Process Model
(ex: novelty, pleasantness, expectedness, certainty, goal conduciveness, need for change, controllability)
Epinephrine
-Adrenaline -Has effects similar to that of sympathetic nervous system activation, but lasts longer -Considered a stress hormone
Schachter-Singer Experiment 2
-Adrenaline, saline control, or blocker injected Participants put in humorous situation -Adrenaline people laughed the most, blocked group laughed the least
Serotonin
-Appears to be important in emotional experience, but its role remains unclear -Involved in memory, appetite control, and sleep -Associated with aggression and anger
What Does Darwin's Emotion Taxonomy Explain?
- The distinct physiological/expressive responses associated with basic emotions
Schachter-Singer Theory
-Bodily feedback is important, but does not determine the type of emotion -Type of emotion is determined by a cognitive interpretation, cognition alone is unable to determine emotion -Emotions are produced by the combination of cognitive and visceral response -Brain searches for interpretation of visceral arousal... use information to interpret why our body reacts a certain way (gun = fear, sex = love)
Amygdala Human Research
-Case study of SM -Can classify pleasant/unpleasant things, but have minimal arousal to unpleasant things -Don't see some people as more safe or trustworthy than others -Don't experience PTSD -Experience of suffocation was scary, but she was willing to do it again
Opioid Peptides (Endorphins)
-Class of neurotransmitters related to pleasure and behavioral reinforcement Beta-endorphin-> acts as a painkiller, released during sex, runner's high, and exciting music -Endorphin receptors add to pleasantness and addictive potential of cocaine, alcohol, nicotine, etc. -Endorphin may alleviate social pain (rejection)
Prefrontal Cortex Research
-Damaged PFC, Elliot-> Mostly normal, but had difficulty making decisions (unable to plan ahead, focused on trivial details, unwise investments), prominent deficit in emotional reactivity, unable to associate actions with rewards/punishments
fMRI
-Depicts oxygenated areas of the brain (higher oxygen concentration indicates greater activity) -Magnetic resonance realigns iron/blood cells in your body to create an image
Sequence of Events + Theories
-Disagreements about whether things happen sequentially -Fixed order theorists disagree about the particular order -Those who equate emotion with one component consider the others to be causes/consequences -Those who equate emotion with the whole episode may split the episode into antecedent and consequent parts
Cortisol Research
-Disruptions associated with stress and mental health issues, low waking levels associated with depression and life stressors, blunted cortisol response associated with abused children
Motivational Neurotransmitter Pathways
-Dopamine, Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Endorphin
Basic/Discrete Emotions Theory
-Each basic emotion serves a distinct adaptive function -Basic emotions coordinate the individual components of emotion to produce a suite of adaptive responses -Conceptual categories we have reflect distinction among naturally occurring categories of human experience
Evolutionary Biology Viewpoint
-Each brain structure contains a program for guiding emotionally coordinated activity -Explains rapid onset of coordinated emotional responses -The programs may be for detecting features of the environment that would have been relevant to the survival of our ancestors and acting on them with adaptive behaviors
Advantages of Self-Report
-Ease of collection -Cheap
Nucleus Accumbens
-Eeceives info relating to reward, focuses attention, and energizes behaviors that might lead to reward Predicts future rewards and punishments -VTA sends input to the Nucleus Accumbens, pleasure circuit of the brain
Ekman, Levenson, Friesen Experiment
-Ekman (1983) recruited actors to experience specific emotions on command and then measure ANS responses (HR, skin temp, skin conductance) -Measure blushing, tears, pupil dilation and constriction, drool, hair follicle response -Supports specificity of a few emotions
Physiology of Canon-Bard Theory
-Emotion is associated with activation of SNS, thalamus activates emotional response patterns and are checked by the cortex, which receives appropriate sensory information -Thalamus also responsible for activation leading to bodily changes, and thus expression of emotion is simultaneous with activation of the body.
Canon-Bard Emergence Theory
-Emotional stimuli trigger 2 independent effects: They excite the feeling of the emotion in the brain and the expression of emotion in the autonomic and somatic nervous system Perception-> emotion feeling + bodily changes -> behavior
James-Lange Theory
-Emotions come from bodily experiences we have in response to our environment (we notice our actions and that causes us to feel) -Opposite to the common sense view (that we feel an emotion and that makes us act) -Perception> bodily changes> emotion>behavior -No bodily changes = no emotion, without bodily arousal we wouldn't feel
How Are Emotions Understood in Terms of Their Coping Functions?
-Emotions occur to help animals deal with important life tasks, adapt to changing environments -Exploration, vomit, socialization, fighting
Component Process Model
-Emphasizes the importance of cognitive appraisals, which are dimensional and used to evaluate everything we experience -Different theorists argue different sets of dimensions -Assumes physiological and behavioral responses are real + predictable and are determined by different appraisal dimensions
Fear Conditioning & the Amygdala
-Fear creates higher blood pressure in rats, unless they don't have amygdala -No amygdala decreases freeze response
Core Affect / Psychological Construction Models
-Feeling = primary component of emotion -Dimensional models
Components of Emotions + Theories
-Frijda (1986) equates all emotions with states of action readiness (motivation) -Some say the motor component is just a consequence of the emotion -Others distinguish spontaneous (emotion) and planned (consequence) behavior
Sex Hormones
-Gender differentiation in proportions --Increased E in women and increased T in men linked to mood enhancement Testosterone-> sexual motivation, aggression, risk taking
Universality of Emotions in Congenitally Blind People
-Give the same spontaneous and posed expressions as people with sight -Proves emotional facial expression is genetically encoded, not socialized
Psychological Construction Models
-Holds that emotional experiences such as fear and anger are constructed, not naturally occurring categories -Similar to Schatcher-Singer Theory
Darwin's Conclusions About Emotions
-Human emotions are vestigial (adaptations that are no longer useful) -Emotions originated as signals among animals -Sneer (reveals teeth) demonstrates threat of biting -Emotions are biologically based, helped animals adapt -Emotion displays are beneficial similarly to displays of physical characteristics (like height) -Expressiveness is functional, so emotions are subject to natural selection -Concluded that facial expressions were similar across cultures
Prefrontal Cortex
-Important for cognitive functions (planning, working memory, inhibition) -Communication with amygdala enables voluntary reduction in emotional intensity and consideration of emotional consequences
Serotonin Research
-Increasing serotonin is a strategy for treating depression -But, depressed people have roughly normal levels of serotonin to begin with -People rapidly depleted of serotonin do not report feelings of depression
Schachter-Singer Experiment 1
-Injected ppl with adrenaline and asked them to introspect about experience -Few ppl gave responsive indicative of emotion -Many "cold" reports: I feel "as if" I was happy or afraid -If given a cognition beforehand gave more of an emotional reaction
Emotions supported by Gray's Brain Circuit Model
-Joy, fear, rage, and anxiety
Universality Study #1
-Judgement of facial expressions by literate cultures -Subjects in different countries labeled emotions from photographs -Results: high agreement for anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise (where 6 basic emotions come from) -Limitation: all countries had learned labels for these expressions from media
Universality Study #3
-Judgement of facial expressions by literature cultures of faces from preliterate cultures -Americans were asked to label emotion expressions of people from New Guinea -Results: high agreement for anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise
Universality Study #2
-Judgement of facial expressions by preliterate cultures -Subjects from New Guinea choose the story that best described emotion expressions in photos -Results: high agreement for anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise
Oxytocin
-Known as "bonding hormone" but is also a neurotransmitter -Levels increase for sexual arousal and orgasm -Promotes pair-bonding in parents-offspring and relationship partners -Possibly increases feelings of trust -Administered via nasal spray, not clear how much is delivered to the brain -Blood and saliva measurements of oxytocin assumed to reflect levels in the brain (maybe not actually true)
Cortisol
-Leads to increase in blood sugar, promotes secretion of glucose from liver to bloodstream -May prompt breakdown of muscle and fat to produce glucose, may prompt storage of fat in the long term -Elevates blood pressure through retention of sodium -Has a daily cycle (peaks after waking providing energy for activity, slow decline through afternoon and evening)
Disadvantages of Physiological Measurements
-Many overlapping physiological reactions -Many of the reactions occur in unrelated situations (exercise)
Opioid Peptides (Endorphins) Research
-Morphine stops infant guinea pigs from crying when separated from mothers, naloxone makes them cry harder (it blocks endorphin activity) -In humans endorphin receptors predict individual differences in rejection sensitivity and pain response
Izard Reading Week 3
-Natural Kinds (+ Emotion Schemas) -Emotions = primary motivation system, always ongoing -Interest, joy, sadness, anger, disgust, fear -Emotions cannot be learned -Schemas include consideration of consequences, start in infancy -Neural, bodily, expressive, feeling, motivational components -Universal Expressions -Basic + emotions facilitate learning, basic - emotions help w survival -Analogy to 4 basic tastes -Categorical and dimensional approaches complement each other
Insular Cortex Research
-People who performed better on interoceptive tasks report stronger experiences of negative emotions (know their own HR) -People with insula damage have weaker than average emotional feelings and demonstrate less empathy -fMRI scan showed activation to disgust expressions
Purpose of searching for brain activation
-Proof of biological origins of emotion
Baret Reading Week 2
-Psychological Construction Theory -Based on Darwinian approach -Affective predictions get modified to situations -Emotions = sensations related to the body and conceptually making sense of those in relation to the situation -Reducing something to individual parts isn't effective for an evolutionary system (holism approach)
Alternative Methods of Emotion Elicitation
-Put participants in real situations intended to elicit a specific emotion, improving ecological validity (but limited by ethical considerations) -Ask participants to pose facial expressions characteristic of target emotion -Ask participants to listen to emotional music -Still not as intense as real life emotion
Amygdala
-Receives sensory input and associates stimuli with their consequences (fear associations) -Sends info to pons and other areas controlling startle reflex -Amygdala activity associated with viewing emotional facial expressions (even subliminally), especially in fearful expressions
Hypothalamus
-Regulates the overall internal environment of the body (temp, glucose levels, hydration, overall homeostasis) -Collects sensory information from outside the body and inside the body (pheromones, stomach fullness) -Attempts to anticipate potential disruptions in the future to prepare in advance, a salient feature of emotion -Promotes appetitive behaviors (mating, eating)
Limitations of Basic Emotions Theory
-Research suggests discrete categories are not the best description of subjective feelings
Qualities of a Good Theory
-Should distinguish between emotions and non-emotions -Specifies the content of emotion components -ex) feeling component means there must be a positive or negative flavor -Explains what is happening between the stimulus (input) and the emotion (output) -Which stimuli cause the emotion and what mechanisms enable it? -Distinguish between emotions and moods
Elicitation Problem
-Some but not all of the stimuli elicit the emotion -Which stimuli elicit the emotion, and what mechanisms enable the organism to determine this?
Why are unique responses expected for each emotion according to Ekman?
-Specific ANS response suggests behavior has an adaptive value
Universality Study #4
-Spontaneous facial expressions of emotion -American and Japanese students facial expressions recorded during a stressful film -Results: Same facial expressions at same scenes in the film
Functions of Emotion
-Stimulus evaluation/appraisal -Monitoring -Preparation for action -Action
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
-Subjective aspect of emotion comes from feelings brought on by movement of the facial muscles, changes in facial temperature, changes in glandular activity in the facial skin Weak version-> facial feedback enhances emotion that already exists
Physiological Measurements: ANS
-Sympathetic Nervous System: initiates bodily changes necessary to cope with environmental challenges (fight or flight) -Pupil dilation, saliva, increased heart rate -Parasympathetic Nervous System: regulates bodily functions to conserve energy (calming down) -Slows heart rate
Core Affect
-The aspect of emotion in terms of pleasantness and arousal -Low to high, or possibly independent negative and positive that can both be low/high -Proponents doubt that components of emotion hang together tightly or at all, doubt that emotions occur in naturally occurring categories
Evolutionary Perspective on the Components of Emotion
-The components of emotion may be understood in terms of how they contribute to our ability to adapt at both individual and social levels -If they are truly evolved adaptations, it seems reasonable to conclude that everyone has them the way we all have eyes, hearts, hands, etc.
Facial Feedback Experiments
-Tricky to test, have to get people to smile or frown without realizing they've done so and seeing if it made them happy or sad -Holding a pen in your mouth with either you teeth (smile) or lips (frown) -Smile condition rate cartoons as funnier, frown condition rate them as less funny -Replication experiments have not gone well
Criteria of Basic Emotions
-Universality, innate, initiated by the same circumstance, unique and distinct expression, distinct and predictable physiological response -Suggests that components of emotion hang together tightly, consistently, and reliably -Aligns well with James-Lange
Why does it matter what causes emotion?
-We can organize theories of emotion based on this answer -The correct answer will help us understand the true theory of emotion
Mauss, Levenson, McCarter, Wilhelm & Gross (2005): Emotion Coherence
-Within subjects design to test how well components of emotion hang together -Participants' self-rating and physiological arousal at one time compared to self-rating and physiological arousal at other times -Method: Watched 5-min film that changed from funny->sad->funny, used a dial of 0-8 to indicate their amusement and sadness, measured cardiovascular activity and skin conductance (3 separate times) -Viewing #1, participants watched the clip and their facial expressions were recorded Viewing #2, participants used dial to rate amusement Viewing #3, participants used dial to rate sadness -Results: Self-reported emotion strongly correlated with facial expression -Somewhat correlated with cardiovascular and electrodermal measures
Limitations of James-Lange Theory
1) bodily changes can be eliminated without eliminating the emotions 2) bodily changes that occur in emotional states are virtually the same regardless of the emotion 3) Internal guts (visceral) providing feedback to the brain are not very sensitive 4) Changes in internal organs are too slow to account for the experience of emotion 5) artificially inducing an aroused emotional state does not lead to an emotional feeling
Sympathetic Nervous System
Active while using body's energy stores Increases blood flow, adrenaline, increase hr, release of glucose Prepares for emergency situations
Measuring Emotions: Self-Report
Ask participants about their feelings, often through Likert scales where participants rate the extent to which they are experiencing a given emotion or rate the intensity of the emotion (1-10)
Disgust Physiology Ekman Study
HR decreased, skin temp decreased
Prototype Definition of Emotion
Characterizing a family of experiences that have commonalities in psychological states and expression -But, classification is a matter of degree and there are not sharp boundaries between emotional and nonemotional experience
Functions of Emotion:Stimulus evaluation/appraisal
Cognitive Component
Components of emotion
Cognitive, feeling, motivational, somatic, motor
Physiological Measurements: Hormones
Cortisol-> response to stress associated with negative emotions, aggression Collected via blood or saliva samples (expensive to analyze) Not instantly detectable, must take lag into account (cortisol takes 20 minutes to appear after stresser is applied)
Behavioral Measurements
Facial Action Coding System (FACS): tool for measuring facial expressions by analyzing movements of the facial muscles. Each emotion can be described by its characteristic labeled pattern of muscle movements.
Disadvantages of Self-Report
Difficult to interpret because..... Subjective reports may differ from person to person Reports may differ over time for the same person in response to the same stimulus May conflict with behavioral observations (not smiling but saying you're happy) Reluctance to give an honest answer Nuances of emotion can be lost when translating between languages Some populations cannot self-report (infants, people with brain damage)
Stimulus Definition of Emotion
Emotion is a sequence of reactions to stimulus: cognitions, physiological changes, and behaviors -But, there are borderline cases (interest, confusion, hunger, pain)
Advantages of Emotion Elicitation
Face validity: these techniques seem like they should bring about the desired emotions They isolate specific emotions for study
Functions of Emotion: Monitoring (control/regulation)
Feeling Component
Sadness Physiology Ekman Study
HR ^, Skin conductance decrease
Anger Physiology Ekman Study
HR ^, Skin temp ^
Fear Physiology Ekman Study
HR ^, Skin temp decrease
Adaption Definition of Emotion
Help the individual adapt to life circumstances
Disadvantages of Emotion Elicitation
Lack ecological validity: things in lab may not occur in ordinary life (emotions are not as intense in lab environment, can't induce real life experience)
Joy Physiology Ekman Study
Low and stable Hr + skin temp +conductance
Functions of Emotion: Preparation + Support of Action
Motivational & Somatic Components
Functions of Emotion: Action
Motor component
Limits of FACS
People can obscure their true expressions Potential lack of inter-rater agreement Time consuming/expensive to encode (expressions last 1-2 sec so video must be slowed down and viewed repeatedly to identify the action units.... 1 minute can take an hour to code)
Techniques for Measuring Emotions
Recollection of past emotional experience, imagining self in emotional situation, view emotional photos, watch emotional videos -Using a combination of these techniques and getting similar results increases our confidence in the findings (triangulation)
Limitations of Experience Sampling
Still unlikely to catch people in the middle of intense emotions
Why did Darwin talk about emotions?
To show that humans must have evolved from more primitive organisms
Autonomic Nervous System
controls endocrine system - glands secrete their hormones directly into the bloodstream
