Biopsychology of Emotion

Question 1

Name the 3 important qualities of fear

Answer 1

• It is the easiest emotion to infer(afleiden) from behavior in various species;
• It plays an important adaptive function in motivating the avoidance of threatening situations;
• Chronic fear is one common source of stress.

Question 2

1848 case of Phineas Gage

Answer 2

• Tamping iron through face, skull, and brain
• Before accident: responsible, intelligent, socially well-adapted person
• After: irreverent(oneerbiedig) and impulsive, abundant profanity(gescheld), unreliable and undependable.
• Damage in both medial prefrontal lobes

Question 3

Name the 3 main ideas of Darwin’s Theory of The evolution of emotion.

Answer 3

• Expressions of emotion evolve from behaviors that indicate what an animal is likely to do next.
• If this benefits the animal that displays them, evolve to better communicative function, original function may be lost.
• Antithesis(tegenovergestelde): opposite messages signaled by opposite movements and postures

Question 4

James-lange theory in 1884

Answer 4

Sensory stimuli received & interpreted by the cortex –> triggers changes in visceral organs via ANS and in skeletal muscles via somatic nervous system. Then, these both trigger experience of emotion in brain.

Question 5

Limbic(border) system

Answer 5

The amygdala, mammillary body, hippocampus, fornix, cingulate cortex, septum, olfactory bulb, and hypothalamus. (see figure)

Question 6

Sham rage (Bard in 1920)

Answer 6

Exaggerated, poorly directed and aggressive responses of decorticate animals.

Question 7

The modern biopsychological view of emotions

Answer 7

Perception(waarneming) of emotion-inducing(veroorzakende) stimulus, the autonomic and somatic responses to the stimulus, and the experience of emotion—can influence the other two.

Question 8

Cannon-Bard theory in 1915

Answer 8

Emotional stimuli 2 independent excitatory effects: feeling of emotion in the brain and expression of emotion in the autonomic and somatic nervous systems. Emotional experience and emotional expression are parallel processes that have no direct causal relation.

Question 9

Limbic system theory of emotion Papez in 1937 –> Paul MacLean revised and expanded in 1952

Answer 9

Emotional states:

• Expressed through the action of the other structures of the circuit on the hypothalamus
• Experienced through their action on the cortex

Question 10

Klüver-Bucy syndrome in 1939

Answer 10

Behaviors after removing anterior temporal lobes in monkeys:

• Eating everything
• Increased sexual activity often directed at inappropriate objects
• Tendency to repeatedly investigate familiar objects also with the mouth
• Lack of fear

Question 11

Evolution of threat displays (Darwin)

Answer 11

In combat enemies began to recognize aggressive behaviors –> survival advantage for attackers: communicate aggression and intimidate victims without actually fighting. –> elaborate threat displays evolved, and actual combat declined.

Question 12

medial prefrontal lobes

Answer 12

involved in planning, decision making, and emotion

Question 13

Decorticate

Answer 13

cortex has been removed

Question 14

Sham Rage can be elicited in…

Answer 14

Cats with removed cerebral hemispheres but not the hypothalamus; Conclusion: hypothalamus = critical for expression aggressive responses
cortex = to inhibit(remmen) and direct these responses.

Question 15

Polygraphy

Answer 15

Method of interrogation that employs ANS indexes of emotion to infer the truthfulness of a person’s responses. Can be a useful addition to normal interrogation, but far from infallible.

Question 16

Guilty-knowledge technique (concealed information test)

Answer 16

Polygrapher has information concerning the crime which only the guilty person knows. Checks suspect’s reaction to list of actual details of crime. Innocent suspects react to all details the same because they know nothing of the crime the guilty react different.

Question 17

Mock-crime procedure

Answer 17

Volunteers participate in mock crime then subjected to a polygraph test by examiner who is unaware of their “guilt” or “innocence.”

Question 18

Control-question technique

Answer 18

Usual interrogation method –> physiological response to target question compared with physiological responses to control questions whose answers are known. Lying = greater sympathetic activation.

Question 19

Universality of facial expression

Answer 19

People of different cultures make similar facial expressions in similar situations & can correctly identify the emotional meaning.

Question 20

6 primary facial expressions by Ekman and Friesen

Answer 20

Surprise, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, and happiness. Other facial expressions are mixtures of the above.

Question 21

Facial feedback hypothesis

Answer 21

Our facial expressions influence our emotional experience

Question 22

Rutledge and Hupka in 1985

Answer 22

Participants feeling more happy and less angry when they viewed slides while making a happy face and less happy and more angry when they viewed slides while making an angry face.

Question 23

Name 2 ways to check if an expression is true or false

Answer 23

1. micro-expressions of the real emotion often break through the false one(last 0,05 seconds)
2. subtle differences between real and false expressions
   Both can be detected by skilled observers.

Question 24

French anatomist Duchenne in 1862

Answer 24

Fake smile can be distinguished from real smile, by checking facial muscles:
1. orbicularis oculi —> encircles eye, pulls skin from cheeks and forehead toward eyeball
2. zygomaticus major —> pulls lip corners up
Second can be controlled voluntarily, whereas first only contracted by real smile. Ekman named the genuine smile the Duchenne smile.

Question 25

Facial expressions: 4 current perspectives

Answer 25

Video recording technology changed Ekman’s original theory.

1. Six primary facial expressions rarely occur in pure form—they are ideals with many subtle variations.
2. Existence of other primary emotions has been recognized.
3. Body cues also play major role in expressions of emotion
4. Six primary facial expressions may not be as universal as originally believed.

Question 26

Name 2 issues on which research on the role of ANS in emotion has focused on

Answer 26

• Degree to which specific patterns of ANS activity are associated with specific emotions
• Effectiveness of ANS measures in polygraphy.

Question 27

Emotional specificity of the autonomic nervous system

Answer 27

The specificity of ANS reactions lies somewhere between the extremes of total specificity and total generality.

• Not all emotions associated with same pattern of ANS activity;
• No evidence that each emotion is characterized by a distinct pattern of ANS activity.