Chapter 10: Emotion Flashcards
Affective flexibility
Book definition: “The ability to process the relevance of various emotional stimuli depending on one’s current goals and motivation. (p. 459)”
Amygdala
Book definition: “Groups of neurons anterior to the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe that are involved in emotional processing. (p. 437)”
The amygdala is involved in the processing of memory, decision-making and emotional reactions. It plays a key role in emotion, and damage to the area has, such as in the case of patient S.M., resulted in a complete lack of fear. Another aspect of this is its role in implicit learning – while S.M. showed no physical signs of fear conditioning (i.e. skin conductance response) in an experiment, her explicit knowledge was intact.
The amygdalae may have some hemispheric specialization; experiments have shown association between the left amygdala and positive emotions, and the right amygdala and negative emotions, episodic memory, and fear conditioning (i.e. implicit learning).
As the amygdala consists of a collection of 13 different nuclei with varying functions, some consider it neither a structural nor functional unit. The many nuclei can be grouped into three main amygdaloid complexes:
- The basolateral nuclear complex, which consists of the lateral, basal, and accessory basal nuclei, and receives input from all sensory systems.
- The centromedial complex, which consists of the central and medial nucleus, and is the output region for innate emotional responses including behavioral, autonomic, and endocrinal responses.
- The cortical nucleus, also known as the olfactory part of the amygdala, as its primary input comes from the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex.
Attentional blink
Book definition: “A phenomenon often observed during rapid serial presentations of visual stimuli, in which a second salient target that is presented between 150-400 ms after the first one goes undetected (p. 446)”
Basic emotions
Book definition: “An emotion with unique characteristics, carved by evolution, and reflected through facial expressions. (p. 430)”
There are currently though to be six basic emotions, which are reflected in facial expressions: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise. In addition, pride and shame are being considered as possible basic emotions.
In the case of Patient S.M., severe atrophy to both amygdalae caused a complete lack of the ability to recognize or experience the emotion of fear. Although she could grasp the concept of it, she could not recognize fearful facial expressions, nor draw a face depicting such. This has provided strong evidence of the amygdala’s role in experiencing this emotion.
Complex emotions
Book definition: “Combinations of basic emotions, some of which may be socially or culturally learned, that can be identified as evolved, long-lasting feelings. (p. 430)”
Unlike basic emotions such as anger or joy, complex emotions are not linked to specific facial expressions. In addition, complex emotions are also longer lasting.
Consider the basic emotion “joy” versus the complex emotion “love” – although similar in nature, the former is linked to a specific facial expression and may change in a matter of seconds; the latter could be expressed in a variety of expressions and may take years to change.
Core affect
Book definition: “A mental representation of the sensory input from the body and from the world. (p. 436)”
Dimensions of emotion
Book definition: “A way to describe emotions that are fundamentally the same but that differ along one or more dimensions, such as valence (pleasant or unpleasant, positive or negative) and arousal (very pleasant to very unpleasant) (p. 430)”
Emotion
Book definition: “An affective (positive or negative) mental response to a stimulus that is comprised of a physiological response, a behavioral response, and a subjective experience (e.g., by change in heart rate, facial expression, and speech). (p. 427)”
An emotion should not be confused with a feeling. A feeling is the subjective experience of an emotion, while emotions involve multiple systems such as experience (i.e. feeling), behavior, and physiological state. Emotion should not be confused with mood either, as emotions often have identifiable triggers.
Emotions can be either unlearned responses or learned responses (e.g., fear conditioning).
Emotion generation
Book definition: “Typically a combination of a bottom up emotional response in combination with a top down emotional response that involves memory and linguistic representation. (p. 430)”
Emotion regulation
Book definition: “Intentionally regulating how we experience and respond to our stimuli. (p. 455)”
Emotional stimulus
Book definition: “A stimulus that is highly relevant for the well-being and survival of the observer and automatically provokes an emotion. (p. 430)”
Facial expression
Book definition: “The nonverbal communication of emotion by manipulation of particular groups of facial muscles. Research findings suggest six basic human facial expressions represent the emotional states anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise. (p. 431)”
Fear conditioning
Book definition: “Learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires aversive properties by virtue of being paired with an aversive agent. (p. 439)”
In the time of behaviorism, the case of Little Albert was a famous example of fear conditioning. By making loud noises every time anything white and fluffy, such as a rat or bunny, was near a baby named Albert, behaviorist John Watson conditioned the baby to fear white, fluffy objects.
Feeling
Book definition: “Either the sensation of touch or the conscious sensation of an emotion. (p. 427)”
Flow
Book definition: “Described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the enjoyable state of being “in the zone.” He suggests that people are really happy when totally immersed in a challenging task that closely matches their abilities. (p. 461)”
Insula
Book definition: “A part of cortex known to process gustatory information. (p. 459)”
Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)
Book definition: “A region of the frontal lobe, located above the orbits of the eyes, that is implicated in a range of functions, including perceptual processes associated with olfaction and taste, as well as those associated with monitoring whether one’s behavior is appropriate. (p. 449)”
