Ch 11 Part 1 Flashcards
Emotion [placeholder]
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Emotion
- internal conscious states that we infer in ourselves and others (and in many animals)
- We cannot directly observe internal feelings but we could:
–> use “operational definition” such as running away
–> use measures of SNS to observe and measure them
Why do we have emotion?
We have emotions to keep us safe
Do we need some level of consciousness and arousal is most likely necessary to experience emotions?
Yes
- e.g.: absence seizures in epilepsy leaves person with no memory of and no emotions during the seizure
- Thus, since we believe there is lowered consciousness involved in an absent seizure, and during this time they show no emotions, we infer that consciousness and emotion are linked
Emotions help guide us when making important decisions
{info dump}
- Making decisions partly based on emotions
- in trolley, footbridge and lifeboat dilemmas, easier to pull switch than to push 1 person to their death to save 5
- pushing dilemmas activate cingulate gyrus and angular gyrus, areas that respond to emotion
“Gut feeling” can be useful guide
- most people exhibit increased heart rate when masked images of snakes or spiders are followed by shock
—> those most accurate at predicting shock also most accurate in detecting heart rate, suggesting that those most in tune with their bodies will have stronger emotions
cingulate gyrus
- involved in processing emotions and behavior regulation. It also helps to regulate autonomic motor function.
angular gyrus
- involved in a number of processes related to language, number processing and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, attention
If you cannot anticipate the feeling you get from unpleasant outcomes you tend to make poor decisions
{info dump}
- If you cannot anticipate the feeling you get from unpleasant outcomes you tend to make poor decisions
after damage to prefrontal cortex, one person understood consequences of decisions but still lost job, marriage and savings - two brothers with damage to prefrontal cortex since childhood lied, stole, abused others without guilt and couldn’t hold job
- people with damage to prefrontal cortex and amygdala cannot learn to identify penalties in “gambling task”
People with damage to prefrontal cortex or amygdala
Overall tend to make bad decisions because they have weakened emotions and can’t anticipate how they’ll feel as a result of various outcomes.
James-Lange Theory [placeholder
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James Lange Theory
- Autonomic arousal and skeletal actions come before feeling
—> I experience fear because I run away, i.e., my feelings are aroused by my actions
What disproves the James Lange Theory
- The cognitive component of emotions (this situation calls for me to feel happy) is separate
—> brain can categorize photographs as pleasant or unpleasant in as quickly as 120 ms, without waiting on feedback from the rest of the body
James Lange Theory Continued
- But James Lange does appear to hold for the feeling and physiological component of emotions:
- Persons with autonomic system failure can still report emotions as well as other people, but they don’t appear to feel them
James-Lange Theory - More support
- “Locked-in syndrome” due to damage to ventral brain stem
—> brain still receives sensations but can’t voluntarily move muscles, only the eyes or eyelids; basically total paralysis
—> These patients feet tranquil and emotionless
—> one interpretation is that the brain cannot arouse the body and therefore receives only tranquil feedback
- Thus, brain cognitively recognizes an emotional situation and then directs autonomic and skeletal responses which in turn produces the “feeling” of emotion
