Emotion

What does extremley high emotional arousal do?

Extremeley high emotional arousal can interfere with performance. As physiological arousal increases up to some optimal level, performance can actually improve. BUT, BEYOND that optimal level, further increases in arousal IMPAIRS performance.

What is 2. Cognitive Theories of Emotion ?

According to the Cognitive Theories of Emotion, emotions are products of thinking rather than the other way around. -No discrete emotions, there are as many emotions as there are kinds of thoughts -Cognitive Theories include: James-Lange (you see a bear, your body reacts first, then you feel emotion) Cannon-Bard (you see a bear, and both your body and emotions are evoked at the same time). Somatic Marker ( gut reaction, body informs the mind ) Two-factor theory of emotion (physiological arousal and cognitive label)

What is 1. Discrete Emotions Theory ?

According to the Discrete Emotions Theory, there is a small number of core emotions that humans, even if they combine them in complex ways. -Newborn infants smile during REM sleep. -Adaptive significance of motor reactions to emotions such as disgust, fear, anger E.g., Fear: when we are afraid, we open our eyes wide.

What are the 3 Theories of Emotion?

*1) Discrete Emotions Theory* Evolutionary basis of emotion Cultural basis of emotion *2) Cognitive Theories of Emotion* James-Lange Cannon-Bard Somatic Marker Two-factor theory *3) Unconscious Influences on Emotion* Automatic generation and facial feedback

Hierarchy of Emotions

*Universal Emotions:* Positive & neggative affect First to appear *Basic Emotions:* Appear later *Subtle Emotions:* Influenced by culture Dereived from basic emotions

What is the Adaptive value of Emotions regarding Social Communication?

- Emotions also play an important role in SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. Information about our internal state, influences others' behaviour toward us. Emotions elicit empathy and help.

What is the main adaptive value of Emotions?

- Emotions have important adaptive values. - Emotions direct our attention to something important that is happening.

Difference between Motivation and Emotions?

- Motives operate as INTERAL stimuli that energize and direct our behaviour toward some goal or incentive. - Emotions are basically REACTIONS, or RESPONSES, to events that relate to important goals.

What is the Adaptive value of Negative Emotions? What is the Adaptive value of Positive Emotions?

- Negative emotions, such as fear or anger, NARROW our attention to the potential danger and, in turn, increases our physiological senses to fight or flight. - Positive emotions, such as joy, excitement, love, BROADEN our thinking and behaviour so that we explore, consider new ideas, try new ways to achieve goals, play and savour what we have.

What are Expressive Behaviours? What do they allow us to do?

-Expressive Behaviours are Observable displays of emotion. -They allow us to infer the emotions of others so that we can react accordingly. -Evokes EMPATHY.

How are Motivation and Emotion linked to each other?

-Motivation and Emotion BOTH involve states of arousal- that is, they both trigger action. Example: flight in the case of fear and attack in the case of anger. -Motivation and Emotion are both derived from "to move." -We react Emotionally only when our motives and goals are gratified, threatened, or frustrated. -Emotional reactions are especially strong when an experience is pertinent to goals that are very important to us.

Parts of the brain that produce a 3. Physiological Response to emotions?

-Subcortical structures, such as the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the hippocampus, and other limbic system structures play major roles in emotion. -Interactions between cortical & subcortical. -Stimulation of these areas produce aggression. Destroying these areas results in no aggression. -The Cerebral Cortex has many connections with the hypothalamus and limbic system, allowing constant communication between cortical and subcortical regions. -Cognitive appraisal processes surely involve activities in the Cortex. *-The PREFRONTAL CORTEXT has the ability to regulate emotions.*

What is 1. Eliciting Stimuli?

1) First, emotions are responses to external or internal eliciting stimuli. -Innate biological factors help to determine which stimuli have the greatest potential to arouse emotions. -Newborn infants come equipped with the capacity to respond emotionally with either interest or distress to events in their environment. -Adults, too, are biologically primed to experience emotions in response to certain stimuli that have evolutionary significance. -Learning from previous experiences also influences the ability of particular objects or people to arouse emotions. For example, Little Albert.

The 4 Features of Emotions

1) First, emotions are responses to external or internal eliciting stimuli. 2) Second, emotional responses result from our interpretation or Cognitive Appraisal of these stimuli, which gives the situation its perceived meaning and significance. 3) Third, our bodies respond "physiologically to our appraisal." We may become physically "stirred up," as in fear, joy or anger, or we may experience decreased arousal, as in contentment or depression. 4) Fourth, emotions include "behaviour tendencies." Some are "expressive behaviours (e.g., exhibiting surprise, smiling with joy, or crying). Others are "instrumental behaviours," ways of doing something about the stimulus that aroused the emotions (e.g., studying for an anxiety-arousing test, fighting back in self-defence, of running away).

What is 2. Cognitive Appraisal ?

2) Second, emotional responses result from our interpretation or Cognitive Appraisal of these stimuli, which gives the situation its perceived meaning and significance. -Appraisal means to "assess" something or someone. -Both conscious and unconscious is involved in how we appraise things. -Cognitive Appraisal is involved in every aspect of emotion. -How we choose to look at something, determines how we are going to emotionally respond to it. -Cognitive Appraisal is part of our subjective experience of emotion, and it influences how we express our emotions and act on them. -Through the power of Cognitive Appraisal, the same event can evoke different responses. -For example, a guy treated you badly on a date. You can either be offended and angry, or you can be grateful that there is still a better guy out there and this one simply was it. -COGNITIVE APPRAISAL processes involve activities in the CORTEX.

What is 3. Physiological Responses ?

3) Third, our bodies respond "physiologically to our appraisal." We may become physically "stirred up," as in fear, joy or anger, or we may experience decreased arousal, as in contentment or depression.

What is 4. Expressive Behaviors of Emotions?

4) Fourth, emotions include "behaviour tendencies." Some are "expressive behaviours (e.g., exhibiting surprise, smiling with joy, or crying). Others are "instrumental behaviours," ways of doing something about the stimulus that aroused the emotions (e.g., studying for an anxiety-arousing test, fighting back in self-defence, of running away).

How does Task Complexity + Emotional Arousal influence performance?

As task complexity increases, the optimal level of arousal for maximum performance decreases. Thus, even a moderate level of arousal can disrupt performance on a highly complex task. EXAMPLE, surgeons have to be extremely calm. For simple tasks, performance drops off less at high levels of arousal. In fact, even the highest levels of arousal can enhance performance of very simple tasks, such as running or lifting something. EXAMPLE, superhuman effect. Mother was able to lift her car when she realized her son was under there.

What is Cannon-Bard theory of Cognitive Emotion?

Cannon-Bard theory An emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to an emotional and bodily reaction.

Where do emotional expression come from?

Charles Darwin argued that emotional displays are products of evolution that developed because they contributed to species survival. Darwin emphasized the basic similarity of expression in animals and humans.

What are Cultural Display Rules?

Cultural Display Rules: The norms for emotional expression within a given culture are called DISPLAY RULES. Cultural Display Rules dictate when and how particular emotions are to be expressed. Innate biological factors & culture display rules combine to shape emotional expression.

Discrete Emotions Theory and Cultural Evidence

Discrete Emotions Theory & Cultural Evidence: -People recognize and generate the same emotional expressions across cultures, which could be due to globalization of culture. -There are a small number of primary emotions that exist across all cultures: Happiness, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, contempt, and anger -New research also suggests "pride" may also be a universal cross-cultural primary emotion -BUT, the fact that there are certain emotions that exist across most cultures doesn't mean that cultures are the same in their emotional expression Cultures differ in terms of their display rules: societal guidelines for how and when to express emotion

Discrete Emotions Theory and Emotion Physiology

Discrete Emotions Theory & Emotional Physiology: -Can differentiate some primary emotions physiologically: heart rate increases with negative emotions digestive system slows down with fear -Not all emotions though: happy and sad looks the same in brain scans multiple brain regions are active in all emotions

What are Emotions?

Emotions are mental states or feelings associated with our evaluation of our experiences. Emotions are positive or negative feelings (affective states) consisting of a pattern of cognitive, physiological, and behavioural reactions to events that have relevance to important goals or motives. Emotion is a dynamic, ongoing process.

Hemisphere Activation and Emotion

Evidence for Left Hemisphere activation underlying some POSITIVE emotions. :D Evidence for Right hemisphere activation underlying some NEGATIVE emotions. :(

What does the Evolutionary View say about emotional expression?

Evolutionary View: Certain emotions are innate Can be modified by learning

Facial Expression of Emotion

Facial Expressions -Judging emotion is done best in context. -General agreement across cultures -Women generally more accurate

Unconscious Influences on Emotion: Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Facial feedback hypothesis you are more likely to feel emotions that correspond to your facial features. Muscular feedback to the brain plays a key role in emotional experience Supporting research, but could be due to classical conditioning.

Innate biological factors and culture display rules combine to do what?

Innate biological factors & culture display rules combine to shape emotional expression.

What are Instrumental Behaviours?

Instrumental Behaviours are directed at achieving some goal. Emotional responses are often the "calls to action," requiring some sort of response to the situation that aroused the emotion. EXAMPLE, a highly stressed out student copes with his anxiety by studying.

What is the role of the Amygdala in emotion?

Involved in generating immediate responses to emotional stimuli, unconsciously and before interpretation by the cortex. Initiates fight or flight- Autonomic Nervous System. Doesn't require high level brain.

What is the James-Lang theory of Cognitive Emotion?

James-Lange theory Emotions result from our interpretations of our bodily reactions to stimuli. We react first, then we feel.

Unconscious Influences on Emotion

Many emotional reactions may be generated automatically. -Subliminal exposure to positive or negative cues influence our mood. -Mere exposure effect (showing some picture of an angry person and afterward, they respond in correspondence to that photo). And liking more familiar stimuli (if it's familiar, you will like it more).

What is happening in the left and right Prefrontal area when you experience emotions?

Prefrontal asymmetry in activation: Greater left prefrontal activity Associated with positive affect Greater right prefrontal activity Associated with negative affect Lower immune system

What did the removal of the Visual Cortex in rats do in terms of fear? Were people with hippocampal damage still able to acquire a fear response?

Removal of visual cortex (wasn't able to process stimuli) in rats did NOT impair classically conditioned fear response BECAUSE OF THE AMYGDALA. People with hippocampal damage (unable to learn a connection between CS and US) still acquire a fear response because the AMYGDALA is still intact.

What two facial expressions that are hard to determine across cultures? What is one facial expression that is VERY much universal?

SADNESS and FEAR are hard to determine across cultures. Pride (winning something) is a very univeral emotion.

What is the Somatic Marker theory of Cognitive Emotion?

Somatic marker theory we use our "gut reactions" to gauge how we should act.

What are the TWO key findings that suggest that humans have Innate/Fundamental Emotional Patterns?

The Fundamental Emotional Patterns 2 Key findings: 1) First, the expressions of certain emotions (rage and terror) are similar across lots of cultures- suggesting that certain expressive behaviours are wired into the nervous system. 2) Second, children who are BLIND from birth seem to express these basic emotions in the SAME way that sighted children do- ruling out the possibility that they are learned only through observation.

What is the Dual Pathway of Emotion ?

The Thalamus, which rotues sensory input to various parts of the brain, sends these messages along TWO different neural pathways. 1) One, directly to amygdala which coordinates and triggers physiological and behaviour reactions, unconsciously. 2) One, to cerebral cortex where sensory input is organized as perceptions and consciously interprets the stimuli.

What is the importance of the Dual Pathway of Emotion?

This means that the Amygdala can recieive direct input from the senses and generate emotional reactions before the Cerebral Cortex has had the time to fully interpret what is causing the reaction. This PRIMITIVE mechanics has SURVIVAL value because it enables the organism to react with GREAT SPEED to a potentially dangerous stimulus. Shortly afterward, the Cerebral Cortex responds with a more carefully processed cognitive interpretation of the situation. EXAMPLE: you think you see a snake but after a few seconds, you realize it was just a rope. THAT IS, the amygdala emotionally processes the stimuli without conscious awareness.

What is the Two-Factor theory of Cognitive Emotion?

Two-factor theory emotions are produced by an undifferentiated arousal ("alertness"), with an attribution of that arousal. We link the arousal we are experiencing with what is happening around us. Arousal and cognitive labelling are based on situational cues. The intensity of physiological arousal tells us HOW STRONGLY we are feeling something, but situational cues tell us WHAT we are feeling - fear, love, anger, etc.

What did Autonomic Responses of Emotions lead to?

We cannot control Autonomic nervous system activation with exposure to emotion-evoking stimuli. This simple observation led to the idea that changes in physiological arousal might tell us whether someone is lying to telling the truth. Thus, the POLYGRAPH (lie detector) was made.

The Effect of Culture on Cognitive Appraisal

While there are cultural similarities in appraisals for basic emotions like joy, anger, sad, disgust, shame and guilt across all cultures, the same type of situation can also evoke different appraisals and resulting emotional reactions depending on culture as well. For example, being along in Thailand is considered a bad thing and so it evokes a response of fear in people. In Western society, however, being alone gives us some time away from the hustle and so it evokes feelings of relaxation and happiness.