21 - Emotion and Mental Health Flashcards
What is mental health?
A sense of well-being
- A subjective, emotional state
- Positive
The absence of abnormality
How do emotions differ from moods?
Emotions –> reactive and short-lived
Moods –> diffuse and persistent
What was Ekman and Friesen’s study on emotion?
Basic emotional states
Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust –> these are biologically programmed, distinctive facial expression
Others are a blend of these
What was Hohman’s study on emotion?
Physiological arousal and emotional intensity
Interviewed patients with spinal injuries and recorded changes in fear, anger, sexual excitement, grief
Recorded decreases in fear, anger, sexual excitement
Disruption of the autonomic nervous system and its afferent return causes notable changes in experienced emotional feelings. The more extensive the disruption, the greater the decrease in some emotional feelings.
Higher spinal lesion = less peripheral feedback = less sensory information given
How did Ekman study the physiological differentiation of emotions?
Using volunteers and actors, made them imagine or relive situations
Evoked anger, fear, sadness, disgust
Recorded heart rate, skin temp etc
What was the outcome of Ekman’s study on the physiological differentiation of emotions?
Only anger associated with change in skin temp
Sadness, happiness and fear associated with increased heart rate
Heart rate low with happy, disgust and surprise
Idea that specific physiological events change with emotion
What are the 2 broad theories of emotion?
- Pattern theory
- Cognitive theory
Who came up with the pattern theory?
James-Lange
What is the pattern theory?
Encounter –> specific physiological arousal and overt behaviours –> experience of emotion
Who came up with the cognitive theory?
Schachter and Singer
What is the cognitive theory?
Encounter –> general physiological arousal –> cognitive appraisal of arousal –> experience of emotion
How did Schachter and Singer conduct their experiment?
3 stage experiment
- Injection of adrenaline/saline
- Information (correct, incorrect, none)
- Waiting room with accomplice of experimenter (increasingly emotional behaviour e.g. anger or happiness)
Who experiences greatest change in mood?
What was Schachter’s interpretation?
People need to make sense, need evaluate and appraise their emotion
What were the results of Schachter and Singer’s experiment?
With explanation:
Peripheral physiological arousal –> label the emotion –> experience emotion, behave accordingly
Without explanation:
Peripheral physiological arousal –> Evaluative needs –> search environment for label and explanation –> label the emotion –> experience emotion, behave accordingly
What are appraisal theories?
Emotions mostly appraised responses to events
certain appraisals associated with specific emotions
Encounter + appraisal of encounter –> experience of emotion
Certain appraisals are associated with specific emotions
Predictable how you will feel (e.g. good/bad exam results)
eg. desirable + occurs = happiness
undesirable + occurs = distress
How does gender/culture etc influence emotion?
Self-regulation and display rules
e.g. men typically not meant to show emotion
How can we detect each other’s internal states?
- Facial expression (key)
- Tone of voice
- Body language
- Emotion expression and regonition
What is the theory of mind?
Theory of mind refers to the ability to understand the desires, intentions and beliefs of others, and is a skill that develops between 3 and 5 years of age
Absent in autism
Explanation of acquisition and regulation of emotion?
- Brain systems and neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin)
- Amygdala and emotion processing (fear conditioning, rapid processing)
- Social learning approaches (imitation via observational learning, reinformcement by reward/punishment)
What is the amygdala?
A roughly almond-shaped mass of grey matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions.
What was the case of SM?
An American woman with a type of brain damage that prevents her from experiencing fear (failure to recognise fear from facial expressions). First described by scientists in 1994, she has had exclusive and complete bilateral amygdala destruction
What was Bandura’s conclusion regarding acquisition of emotion?
Imitative aggression
Children influenced more by ‘live’ model than viewing cartoon
How do happiness and health relate?
- Happy people have better life outcomes – marriage, friendship, income, health
- Happiness predicts longevity in healthy populations
Evolutionary bias to negative events – avoid situations in the future
