BIOLOGICAL: Schacter and Singer Flashcards
what was the aim?
to test the two factor theory of emotion
if given a state of physiological arousal with no explanation, cognitive factors can lead the person to describe their feelings with any emotional label
what was the research method and design?
lab experiment
highly standardized
independent measures design
what was the first independent variable?
participant knowledge about the injection. ignorant misinformed or informed
what was the second independent variable?
emotional situation. euphoric or angry
what was the dependent variable?
The extent to which participants acted in a euphoric way or angry way
observational data through one way mirror
self report after experiment was completed
what was the euphoric condition?
And the participant would: join in the activity initiates a new activity watches stooge ignores stooge
what was the anger condition?
when a participant: agrees with a comment disagrees with a comment neutral to a comment initiate agreement or disagreement watches or ignores stooge
what was the sample?
185 male college students they received course credit University of Minnesota Took intro to psych classes volunteer sample health records were checked prior to experiment
what was the procedure?
told aim was to test the effect of subproxin on vision
asked permission to be injected
gave then right with withdraw
doctor entered the room and repeated instructions
took participants pulse
injected with placebo or adrenaline
placed into 1 of 3 conditions: informed, ignorant, misinformed
they were further split into two conditions: anger and euphoric
immediately after, the doctor left and the experimenter entered with this stooge
stooge was introduced as a new participant
it was stated that subproxin takes 10 minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and were taken to a waiting room
euphoric condition:
The messy room had rubber bands, rough paper and colored pencils and participants were told to help themselves
stooge re-introduced himself and made ice break your comments and then started his routine:
drew a fish on a paper and crunched it up made a game of basketball and made paper planes shooting them with rubber bands and played with hula hoops
he asked participants to join
stooge didn’t know which condition each participant was in (double-blind technique)
anger condition:
told to wait 20 minutes for subproxin to be absorbed into the bloodstream
they completed the questionnaire whilst waiting
stooge created a feeling of anger in the room
as questions became more personal, the stooge was more aggressive
Q- how many times a week do you have sexual intercourse?
-The hell with it
Q- how many men other than your father has your mother had extramarital relationships with?
-i am not wasting any more time
he ripped the questionnaire and threw it on the ground
when the stooge stage was over experimenter entered the room
Took their pulse and they were asked to complete the final questionnaire
Q- how irritated angry or annoyed do you feel now?
0-4
Q-have you experienced any palpitation?
0-3
experimenter stated that the experiment was over
debriefed participants
what are the 3 conditions told about the subproxin?
informed: side effects: shaky hands pounding heart flushed warm face
ignorant:
no side effects
(placebo were all ignorant)
misinformed: side effects: numb feet itchy sensation slight headache
what happened in the euphoric condition?
stooge played with: rubber bands folders paper pencils hula hoops
what happened in the anger condition?
told to wait 20 minutes for subproxin to be absorbed into the bloodstream
they completed the questionnaire whilst waiting
stooge created a feeling of anger in the room
as questions became more personal, the stooge was more aggressive
Q- how many times a week do you have sexual intercourse?
-The hell with it
Q- how many men other than your father has your mother had extramarital relationships with?
-i am not wasting any more time
what were the hypotheses?
1- if a person experiences a state of arousal for which they have no explanation, they will label this state depending on the cognitions available
2- if a person experiences a state of arousal for which they have an explanation, they’re unlikely to label this state depending on the cognitions available
what were the results?
1 participant didn’t agree to be injected
11 participants were curious and suspicious so their data was discarded
5 participants had no physiological reaction to the adrenaline so their data was discarded
participants who received adrenaline injection showed more arousal than those who received placebo injection
the misinformed condition was only run in euphoric condition as it was a control
adrenaline condition showed the most physiological response as in self reports suggest that they had a behavioral response to the increased level of arousal
from the self reports in the euphoric condition:
misinformed was the happiest
then ignorant
as they had the actual side effects but were misinformed so they had no explanation for the way they felt but the euphoric stooge
in the anger condition:
ignorant were the angriest
then placebo
as they had no explanation for the way they felt which made them more susceptible to the angry stooge
what were the conclusions?
supported the two factor theory of emotion
physiological arousal is the same for all emotions and are labelled according to the cognitions available
can be useful for treating people with anxiety as it will allow them to identify triggers that may cause physiological arousal
