Chapter 10 - Emotion Flashcards
What does the case study of Elliott teach us about the role of emotions?
Elliot had a tumor in his pre-frontal cortex, had it removed and was left with no emotions.
- This case study revealed to us that we NEED emotions to function (he was paralyzed by indecision, easily conned, went bankrupt, and had disastrous relationships)
What is the evidence that supports an evolutionary perspective on emotions?
Evolutionary perspective: We have emotions because they help us survive and meet challenges. Capacity to feel emotions are set.
- Evidence: emotions emerge without direct reinforcement. For example, infants smile in REM sleep and when they are alone and they learn something new
Describe Ekman’s cross-cultural research on facial expressions and his overall findings. How has recent research challenged some of his original findings?
- Ekman’s ORIGINAL experiment: He went to rural New Guinea and brought pictures of Americans making facial expressions, then he asked them to choose the appropriate facial expression based on the specific situation. He found that facial expressions are pretty consistent across cultures.
- UPDATE: Researchers went back to New Guinea and this time they became a part of the community and then conducted the experiment. They found that happiness is universal, but other emotions are not so universal. For example, what we see as fear/shock can be interpreted as anger.
What are the three components of emotion? Compare how James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter’s approach the combination of these different elements.
Components of emotion: 1) Arousal, 2) Expressive behavior, 3) Conscious experience
- James-Lange: your conscious response of an emotion FOLLOWS your physiological response.
- Cannon-Bard: your conscious response of an emotion and the physiological response HAPPENS simultaneously. James-Lange theory is incorrect because physiological responses for different emotions are too similar.
- Schacther’s Approach: emotion is determined by BOTH cognitive appraisal and physiological arousal.
ex: if an injection is given to you that increases your
heart rate, you do not have an emotional response
because you know its from the injection.
Describe the evidence for the James-Lange theory discussed in the lecture.
The James-Lange theory is not all wrong. There are subtle differences among physiological responses. Also, changing what your body does (“Fake it till you make it”) and facial expressions (facial feedback) can influence your emotions
Explain how misattribution of arousal relates to Schachter’s theory of emotion. How have studies demonstrated misattribution of arousal?
You need both physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal (Schachter’s theory). Sometimes if people’s physiologial arousal is amped up, they can mislabel it.
Bridge Study: this was a study where participants either crossed a scary bridge or a not so scary bridge. Then the male participants were approached by an attractive researcher who gave them her number. The ones who crossed the scary bridge called the researcher 50% of the time and the ones who crossed the not so scary bridge only called her 12% of the time. Note, if there is a delay between the participants crossing the bridge and the researcher approaching them, they are less likely to call.
What type of arousal is optimal when it comes to completing tasks?
Yerkes-Dodson Law: medium level of arousal is best. It is more complex than that.
- High level arousal is best when you know the task so well. It is one dominant movement (ex: running)
- Low level arousal is best for more complex tasks (ex: gymnastics)
What is the feel-good, do-good phenomenon?
When you’re happy, you are more likely to help.
What are common methods researchers have used to measure happiness?
- Life satisfaction: a survey that asks about your life satisfaction (cognitive type of measure)
- Ladder: has 10 rungs and asks you where you think you are relative to other people in the US
- Standard mood measure: a survey that asks how you often you have experienced 10 positive emotions and 10 negative ones (emotional perspective)
Explain the findings discussed in class related to the association between money and happiness/life satisfaction. Consider findings across countries, within countries, and at different levels of income.
People in wealthy nations are, on average, happier than poor nations. There are some weird exceptions, however there is a positive slope between money and happiness. However, happiness tops out at about $100,000 a year.
What is the “Danish effect”?
The ability to psychologically care for citizens at every income level. Even people at the bottom are taken care of. The more of this, the happier the country.
Explain the relevance of hedonic adaptation (i.e. the hedonic treadmill) to the understanding of happiness. How has the absolute version of hedonic adaptation been challenged by research (see the graph of happiness following major negative/positive events)?
Hedonic adaptation reveals that no matter what happens we will always get used to and it will feel neutral. If something really good happens in our life, we are happier for a little bit, but then it becomes neutral. This sounds like we are stuck but most people’s set level is pretty okay.
- However, hedonic adaptation is not as complete as we think. If something really bad happens to you, it does get better over time but we never really are as happy as before the bad thing occurred.
What types of things have researchers determined do and do not make you happy?
Distinguish between an emotion, a feeling, and a mood. What are the three components of an emotion?
Describe the difference between primary and secondary emotions.
