Ch. 15.1 Theories of Emotion Integrate Physiological and Behavioral Processes Flashcards
What is emotion?
A subjective mental state that is usually accompanied by distinctive behaviors, feelings, and involuntary physiological changes.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
The fight-or-flight system. A component of the autonomic nervous system that arises from the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord, and generally prepares the body for action.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
Generally prepares the body to relax and recuperate. A component of the autonomic nervous system, arising from both the cranial nerves and the sacral spinal cord, that typically inhibits the activity of organs such as the heart.
What is the common sense theory of the relationship between emotions and autonomic activity?
The autonomic reactions are caused by the emotions (feeling triggers autonomic reaction)
What is the James-Lange theory of the relationship between emotions and autonomic activity?
That our experience of emotion is a response to the physiological changes that accompany it. (autonomic reaction triggers feeling)
What is the Cannon-Bard Theory of the relationship between emotions and autonomic activity?
Our experience of emotion is independent of the simultaneous physiological changes that accompany it. (simultaneous feeling and autonomic reaction)
What is the Schachter & Singer theory of the relationship between emotions and autonomic activity?
Our emotional experience results from cognitive analysis of the context around us, such that physiological changes may accentuate emotions but not specify which emotion we experience. This theory is called cognitive attribution theory or the two-factor theory.
What is a polygraph?
A lie detector. A device that measures several bodily responses , such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Why is a polygraph not a good device for determining if a person is truthful or not?
Because it measures various aspects of autonomic arousal, such as heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, and so on - it is poor at distinguishing liars from truthful people who are anxious.
Describe the experiment used that demonstrated the cognitive attribution theory.
Schachter and Singer - participants were injected with epinephrine (adrenaline). Some participants were aware of the effect of the drugs and others were told they would not experience an effect from the injection. Those who knew about the drug had no emotion change but those who did not know experienced similar emotions to how those reacted around them. The result was the sympathetic activation may increase the intensity of emotion, but is does not completely determine which emotion we experience.
What is the individual response stereotypy?
The tendency of individuals to show the same response pattern to particular situations throughout their life-span. For example, using stimuli that provoke autonomic responses, some newborns respond vigorously with heart rate changes, other with gastric contractions, and still others with blood pressure responses. These patterns remain remarkably consistence throughout life.
