Chapter 10 - Emotion and Motivation Flashcards
(205 cards)
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!
.
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