Chapter 10 - Emotion and Motivation Flashcards
Emotion
Feelings that involve subjective evaluation, physiological processes, and cognitive beliefs
Emotion vs mood
Emotion = temporary, specific response to an environmental event Mood = long-lasting emotional state
People who are over emotional or under emotional…
Tend to have psychological problems
Alexithymia
Causes people to not experience the subjective components of emotions
Primary emotions
They are evolutionarily adaptive, shared across cultures, and associated with specific physical states (fear, anger, sadness, disgust, happiness, and possibly surprise and contempt)
Circumplex model
Emotions are arranged in a circle with 2 core dimensions. Valence (horizontal) indicates how positive or negative emotions are. Activation indicates how arousing they are.
Arousal
Physiological activation )like increased brain activity) or increased autonomic responses (increased heart rate, sweating, muscle tension)
We can experience positive and negative emotions simultaneously!
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Positive activation states are associated with…
An increase in dopamine
Negative activation states are associated with…
An increase in norepinephrine
Why do we cry?
When negative events leave us unable to respond behaviorally to the emotions we are feeling. We also cry when we are happy, but usually because an event makes us a bit sad at the same time (graduating from high school)
How is crying beneficial?
Crying relieves stress through activation of parasympathetic nervous system. Also crying brings about sympathy and social support.
Secondary emotions
Blends of primary emotions. These include remorse, guilt, submission, shame, and anticipation (you neglect your boyfriend and you’re angry you’re being accused and sad you hurt him, and that equals guilt!)
James-Lange Theory
In 1884, William James said that a person’s PHYSICAL changes leads the person to feel an EMOTION
Physical change –> emotion
Elliot
He lost his emotions due to brain surgery, and then his life fell apart - he appeared to function normally, but he could no longer make decisions or learn from mistakes, had unhappy marriages, he lost his job, he had s lack of motivation
William James said we feel sorry because we cry, afraid because we tremble
Etc
Critique of James-Lange theory
Physical reactions are not specific enough to fully explain the subjective experiences of emotions
Support of James-Lange theory?
Studies in brain imaging found that different primary emotions produce different patterns of brain activation
More support of James-Lange: facial feedback hypothesis
If you mold your facial muscles to mimic an emotional state, you activate the associated emotion
James Laird tested the facial feedback hypothesis by taking pics of ppl holding a pencil between their teeth or upper lip and had people rate the pictures in terms of how funny they were. What happened?
Ppl thought the ones holding the pencil in their teeth, like in a smile, were the funniest
Cannon-Bard theory
Emotion and physical reaction roughly happen together, independent of one another. For ex, when a grizzly bear threatens you, you feel afraid and heart rate goes up at the same time
Cannon-bard said the body is slower to experience emotion and the mind is faster
Etc
Cannon said Many emotions produce similar bodily responses. And…
This makes it hard to determine quickly what emotion you’re experiencing
What is the limbic system?
James Papez proposed that many subcortical brain regions were involved in emotion. Paul McLean expanded this list and called it the limbic system
Criticism to limbic system
We now know that many structures outside of the limbic system are involved in emotion
For understanding emotion, what are the two most important brain regions?
The amygdala and prefrontal cortex
What does the amygdala do?
The amygdala processes the emotional significance of stimuli and generates immediate emotional and behavioral reactions
What else about the amygdala?
Helps with classical conditioning learning (fear learning) and helps protect us against danger
Information reaches the amygdala in 2 separate pathways. What are they?
- Quickly - the “quick and dirty sensory info (sensory info goes from thalamus to amygdala)
- Slower - with more deliberate evaluation (sensory info goes from thalamus to cortex to amygdala)
Emotional events are likely to be __
Stored in memory - amygdala helps with this
The amygdala modifies how the hippocampus consolidates memory. Why is this helpful?
Helps us remember fearful situations and avoid them in the future
What else does the amygdala do?
It is involved in the perception of social stimuli (detecting emotional meanings of other ppl’s facial expressions)
The amygdala reacts the most to seeing a person with a fearful face. This is becuz well, who knows what the person is afraid of? It might be a threat to you too. It’s ambiguous
Etc
What facial expression does the amygdala react the most to?
A fearful expression
If the amygdala is damaged, what happens?
Social impairments
Ppl with damage to amygdala….
Are friendly to strangers, have trouble gauging someone’s trustworthiness, etc
Summary of amygdala
The amygdala processes the emotional significance of stimuli and generates immediate emotional and behavioral reactions. It is associated with emotional learning, memory of emotional events, and the interpretation of facial expressions of emotion.
Prefrontal cortex hemispheres/cerebral asymmetry
Greater activation of the right prefrontal cortex is associated with negative affect. Greater activation of the left prefrontal cortex is associated with positive affect. Right = negative. Left = positive THIS PATTERN IS KNOWN AS CEREBRAL ASYMMETRY
People can be ___ in one cerebral cortex hemisphere
Dominant
People who are left hemisphere dominant…
Tend to move their eyes to the right
Schachter-Singer Two Factor Theory
According to this theory, a person experiences physiological changes, applies a cognitive label to explain those changes, and translates that label into an emotion.
Ex of Schachter-Singer 2 factor theory
You see a grizzly bear and your heart rate goes up and you sweat. You look at the context, label those bodily reactions as responses to the bear, and realize you’re experiencing fear.
Schachter-Singer experiment?
2 groups of ppl are given a vaccine.. But it’s actually adrenaline. (And some ppl don’t actually receive adrenaline, they recieve a placebo.. But that’s kinda irrelevant)Group 1 is told they will feel excited and aroused after taking the drug. Group 2 is not. The 2 groups are put into separate rooms with a confederate. The confederate in the 1st INFORMED group is all happy, and the first group is like oh well, these are just the effects of the drug. The confederate in the 2nd UNINFORMED group is all happy and the second group is like woah I feel happy cuz my heart’s pounding and I feel aroused and this guy is all happy and he must be making me happy. (Supports schachter singer theory). They also had an angry confederate which showed the same idea but with anger
Misattribution of arousal and bridge experiment
Physical states caused by a situation can be attributed to the wrong emotion. For example, a study was done on a swinging bridge vs a sturdy bridge. Men who went down the swinging bridge and saw the woman offer her phone number were more likely to call her and ask her on a date. This is because the guys think they’re attracted to her because they feel sweaty and their heart rate goes up. But really they’re just feeling adrenaline because of the swinging bridge. The guys on the sturdy bridge were less likely to call.
Criticism of the bridge-woman study?
Maybe men who crossed the less stable bridge were more likely to take risks and ask women on dates
Excitation transfer
Residual physiological arousal caused by 1 event is transferred to a new stimulus. After exercising you see a hot guy and think you’re attracted to him. But really it’s just the residual after effects of exercise.
In order to regulate our emotions, what is something we do?
We put ourselves in certain situations and avoid other situations. For ex., you don’t go to your sister’s soccer game if you’re jealous of her soccer skills zzz
How else do we manage our emotional state?
We focus our attention on certain aspects of situations - if you’re on a plane and afraid of flying, distract yourself by reading
Reappraisal
Reappraise an event in a different way. If you’re scared of a scary movie, remind yourself that they’re all just actors, not ghosts
Good ways to regulate mood and bad ways to regulate mood?
Good ways: humor and distraction
Bad ways: thought suppression and rumination
Humor
It stimulates endocrine secretion, improved immune system, and stimulates the release of hormones like dopamine and endorphins. It mimics the affects of physical exercise
Thought suppression
Trying not to feel or respond to emotion at all
Rebound effect
This happens after thought suppression. It means you think more about something AFTER suppression than before.
Rumination
Thinking about, elaborating, and focusing on undesired thoughts or feelings. This response prolongs the mood and impedes successful mood regulation strategies. (Not good nt)
Distraction
Doing something other than the troubling activity, or thinking about something other than the troubling thought. Distraction can help, but also can be bad if you binge drink or overeat to distract yourself, or if you end up thinking about other problems as a way of distraction.
Emotions are adaptive. For ex they prepare and guide successful behaviors like running from a threat
Etc
Goal
A desired outcome, usually associated with some specific object or some future behavioral intention
Charles Darwin says emotions are adaptive because they communicate how we are feeling. Facial expressions help us predict other ppl’s behavior and see what other ppl think of us
Etc
What are the 2 main areas that communicate emotional information?
The eyes and mouth
Which is better for interpreting emotion when seeing the whole face?
Mouth
However, when presented with pics of just eyes or just mouths, ppl are better at determining info from the…
Eyes
Darwin said that the face communicates emotions to others and that these emotions are understandable by….
All people, regardless of culture
Researchers have done experiments with like ppl in New Guinea (kinda isolated) and they predicted emotions from facial expressions well
Etc
Ppl are best at determining ___ from facial expressions across cultures
Happiness. Ppl have trouble determining fear and disgust tho
Research suggests that pride responses are innate too. (Blind athletes showed pride similar to no blind athletes)
Etc
Display rules
Rules learned through socialization that dictate which emotions are suitable to given situations
Differences in display rules explain different stereotypes (loud and obnoxious Americans, the cold and bland English, etc.)
Etc
Display rules differ between women and men in cultures… Elaborate
Women display emotions more readily, more frequently, easily, and intensely! Men show dominance, defensiveness, and competitiveness
Why do women show emotion more readily?
It’s actually evolutionarily adaptive. Women are thought to be nurturing, warm caregivers
Tho women show more emotion, do they feel more emotion than men?
No, not necessarily.
Emotions and cognitive functions are interconnected. We don’t just see a house, we see a handsome house, an ugly house. Emotions color our perceptions
Etc
Our decisions are affected by emotions
Etc
How do emotions affect decision making?
We anticipate our future emotional states and that influences our decisions. Emotions serve as heuristic guides.
In decision making, emotions cause us to make risk judgments. What are those?
Risk judgments = 9/11 happened and you decide not to fly on a plane for a few years
Affect-as-information theory
We use our current moods to make judgments and appraisals, even if we do not know the sources of our moods. For ex, ask someone how satisfied they are with their life, and they’ll just say they’re satisfied if they’re in a good mood rather than reflecting on their life totally
If ppl are aware of the sources of their moods, their feelings have less influence over their judgments
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Somatic markers
Bodily reactions that arise from the emotional evaluation of an action’s consequences. For example, when you see a speed limit sign and you see you’re going way over and think oh jeez, I might get pulled over, your heart rate goes up
Elliot did not have somatic markers. He did not use past outcomes to regulate future behavior. For instance, a gambler with Elliot’s condition, would continue to use a risky move. They don’t experience increased arousal and thus fear.
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When we interact with others…
We use emotional expression as powerful nonverbal communications
Although infants can’t talk, they can express their emotions through body language
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The need to belong in a group?
Humans have a better chance of survival if they are in a group. We have an evolutionary need to be in a group. Therefore, ppl are very sensitive to anything that might lead them to be kicked out of a group.
Guilt strengthens social bonds
Guilt occurs when someone feels responsible for another person’s negative state. Guilt can arise even if we did not directly cause the negative state (being a survivor while everyone else died).
