Chapter 1: Approaches to Understanding Emotions Flashcards
Week 1: Introduction and Theoretical Approaches
emotion
can be characterized as a psychological state that relates to an event that is out in the world or that is a person’s concern
- a key aspect of emotions is an internal experience that reflects the current contest related to an individual’s goals
priority and urgency
emotions give priority and urgency to specific goals/concerns
emotions are locally rational
they help us deal adaptively with concerns specific to our current social context and concerns related to safety, fairness, agency, etc.
emotional states are very social
they connect a person’s pressing concerns with potential courses of action within the social environment. expressions of emotions guide specific interactions that make up your day. emotions are subjective and interpersonal but also powerfully social
how are emotions expressed in humans and other animals? - Darwin
where do emotions come from? - Darwin
- according to Darwin, emotional expressions primarily stem from habits that were beneficial in our evolutionary or personal history
- emotional expressions are based on reflex-like mechanisms, often occurring regardless of their usefulness. they can be triggered involuntarily in situations similar to those that originally prompted these habits
- Darwin hypothesized that emotions have useful functions, such as helping us navigate our social interactions
William James - the bodily approach
challenged the common belief that emotions lead to specific actions. Instead, he proposed that emotion is actually the perception of bodily changes in response to a situation
James-Lange theory of emotion
emphasized the bodily nature of emotional experiences, noting how emotions manifest physically. believed that the core of emotional experiences are defined by these bodily responses, asserting that if we attempt to separate the emotional experiences from its physical symptoms, we find nothing
two ways in the study of emotions (guided by James)
- he focused on experience and proposed that our experience of many emotions involved changes in the autonomic nervous system (physiological reactions)
- James proposed that emotions give color and warmth to experience
Freud
one of his ideas was that certain events in a person’s life can be so damaging that they can leave an emotional impact that will affect them for the rest of their lives. argued that emotions are the core of mental illness.
psychoanalysis
what Freud used to treat his patients. The pateint would start by telling their life story. the stories often had gaps Freud would fill using interpretations. while doing so, the patient would come to relaise something that they have unconsciously been repressing
Bowlby’s attachment theory
the emotional life of adulthood is strongly influenced by the relationships an individual has with their parents or caregivers
Aristotle
believed that emotions are evaluative judgements of events in the world. in this way, we are responsible for our emotions because we are also responsible for our beliefs. our experience depends on our judgement
two important effects of tragic drama
- in the theater, audiences are emotionally moved as they witness a main character face unforseen, uncontrollable consequences. this character, generally a good person, suffers from circumstances partly of their own making. viewers feel both sympathy for the character and a sense of fear for themselves, recognizing a shared human experience in the unfolding drama
- we can experience catharsis of our emotions
two schools of philosophy after Aristotle’s death
- Epicureanism
- Stoicism
the epicurians
claimed that humans have a right to pursue happiness and live in harmony with their environment
- they taught that one should live simply and enjoy simple things in life rather than chasing after things that make one anxious. being guided by such desires can only lead to painful emotions
stotic philosophers
distinguished between the first movements of emotions, which are automatic and the second movements of emotions which are mental and involve judgement and decision-making
- a person can’t avoid the first movements since they occur in the body and we can’t do anything about them
- however, since the second move involves thought, they are up to the person to decide what to do
stotics thought
that emotions derive from desires and advised people to pursue rationality and good character. most emotions are damaging to the self and society and so the desires that lead to them should be disciplined out of a person’s life
six fundamental emotions (Descartes)
- wonder
- desire
- joy
- love
- hatred
- sadness
Descartes
distinguished emotions from external perceptions and from bodily sensations like hunger or pain. like Aristotle suggested that emotions depend on how we evaluate events
external and internal perceptions
external perceptions inform us about the world, bodily states signal internal needs, and emotions reveal what matters to us personally, reflecting our concerns and sense of self
brain and emotions
when emotions are disrupted due to brain damage (e.g. frontal lobe, Phineas Cage), people can’t determine which concerns matter and their actions can often be inappropriate
Cannon-Bard theory
claims that physiological and emotional responses happen at the same time and independently
the cortex
Canon found that the cortex acts to inhibit the subcortical regions where emotions reside. damage or removal led to experiencing intense emotions
fMRI
used to study emotion-related brain activation. detects changes in blood flow in regions of the brain when the neurons in those regions are active
empathy
can be defined as having an emotion that is in some ways similar to that of another person, which is elicited by observations or imagination of the other’s emotion
Tania Singer
conducted an experiment with fMRI where participants experienced painful shock and compared it to one elicited when the participants received a signal that their loved one was receiving a similar shock. some brain parts were only activated when they experienced the pain through their own senses. anterior insula and parts of anterior cingulate cortex were active for both
anterior insula
tracks physical sensations in the body and represents these sensations as a conscious experience of feeling
parts of the anterior cingulate cortex
engaged during the experience of negative emotions and conflict and also motivates action
sympathy
involves responding to someone else’s suffering by feeling concern and being motivated to help them
sympathy activates
- periaqueductal gray: enables nurturant behavior in mammals
- reward-related regions of the brain: ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and orbifrontal cortex
Magda Arnold
proposed that emotions are based on appraisals of events
Sylvan Tomkins
offered a theory about the relation of emotions and facial expressions
Arnold
proposed that an emotion related the self to an object. emotions are relational; they connect our internal concerns with external events and objects
primary motivation system (Tomkins)
human actions and thoughts result from the interaction of motivational systems, each designed to fulfill specific functions and each having the potential to dominate behavior. what priotizes these systems is emotion, which emolifies a particular drive
ethology
ethologists seek to understand behavior from a natural setting, from an evolutionary perspective. funding from ethology have shown that emotional expressions and experiences are the basic elements of interactions
split-brain operation
separated the left side of the cortex from the right side to stop the spread of epileptic disturbances. despite this operations, the patient’s IQ, personality, language, and ability to engage in meaningful interactions were not dimished
findings from split brain patients
revealed that certain regions of the brain are engaged in emotional experience. other regions are engaged as people label, narrate, and make sense of their emotional experiences
what shapes emotions
emotions are significantly shaped by different social contexts - family or culture
family
influences how you evaluate events in your life, the specific language you develop to conceptualize your emotions, how you express your emotions, and how you label, regulate, and express symbolically your experiences
culture
the culture a person grew up in and their social class can also influence emotions. a person’s culture of origin and current living shape the language and concepts on which we rely to interpret social contexts
affect
often used to refer to phenomena related to emotions, such as moods, dispositions, and preferences, are sometimes all grouped under the broad category of emotions
spectrum of emotional states in terms of duration
emotional episodes
generally refer to states that last for a limited time. facial expressions and most bodily responses generally last for seconds or minutes. typically have an object (to be about)
mood
refers to a state that may last for hours, days, or weeks. it is unclear when moods start or stop. object-less and free-floating
sentiment
now used less than it was before, but it’s a prolonged emotional state, like a mood but usually with an object
emotional disorders
most common are: depression and clinical anxiety states. these may last for weeks or months, sometimes years
emotional aspects of peronality
emotional aspects of personality can last for a lifetime. we refer to some people as warm or shy
traits
refer to the encuring characteristics that define a person’s personality
temperament
significant aspects of personality are based on temperament: the kind of personality a person is born with
