4:2: Interpretations & Appraisals Flashcards
What is the term for a particular set of psychological interpretations of a current situation?
Appraisal.
True or false: Our bodily expressions can directly change the way we feel.
True.
Eg. Pen study - facial feedback hypothesis. We experiences joy because we express a smile.
Eg. Standing tall results in a feeling of more self confidence.
What theory did William James and Carl Lange develop?
The James-Lange theory of emotions:
The emotion is experienced after a physiological response.
Stimulus –> Perception / Interpretation –> Specific pattern of autonomic arousal –> A particular emotion experienced.
List three criticisms of the James-Lange theory.
- Emotions do not change when viscera are disconnected from the CNS.
- Artificially induced physiological changes can happen some time after someone has already experienced an emotion.
- Some physiological changes occur from different emotional experiences (eg. going for a run does not create fear).
How did Schachter & Singer alter the theory of emotions?
They proposed emphasis on both physiology as well as cognitive appraisals.
People’s perceptions of their physiological state and their appraisal of the situation lead to emotions.
Eg. Study giving people adrenaline or salt solution.
The scary bridge experiment is an example of:
Misattribution of emotions.
Lazarus’s cognitive-motivational-relational theory divides appraisals into primary and secondary appraisals.
How is a primary appraisal characterized?
By an assessment of whether an event is congruent with their own goals and how relevant the event is for themselves.
- Congruence
- Relevance
What do secondary appraisals involve?
Assessments of the options available for coping.
Also called self-efficacy.
What emotion-focused coping?
When someone changes the way they relate to a situation.
Changing a situation to make it congruent with goals is an example of what kind of coping strategy?
Problem-focused coping.
What are two key risk factors for depression?
- Environmental adversity.
2. Negative cognitive appraisals (self, world and others).
What is the optimism bias?
When people have positive expectations about their future despite having no evidence to predict it.
- Expect positive event
- Live longer
- Healthier than others
- Overestimated occupational success
- Optimistically biased updating pattern
- Incorporate desirable information into future predictions
People with depression overestimate the stressfulness of events and overestimate their contributions to events.
While these might be unrealistic appraisals, give an example of when depressed individuals might show more realistic appraisals.
They do not have the optimism bias.
