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Psychology of Emotions > Chapter 4: Functions of Emotion > Flashcards

Chapter 4: Functions of Emotion Flashcards

1
Q

What is one way to study the function of emotions? (2)

A
  1. By observing people who don’t experience typical emotions (brain damage, autism, neurodegenetive disease). 2. Observing people who don’t express emotions or regularly try to suppress their emotions.
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2
Q

People who do not experience typical emotions usually show what signs? (4)

A
  1. Lack of empathy. 2. Anti-social behaviors. 3. Poor decision making. 4. Trouble holding a job.
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3
Q

People who don’t express emotions or regularly try to suppress their emotions typically show what signs? (4)

A
  1. Lower martial satisfaction. 2. Fewer friends. 3. Feel less close to others. 4. Lower social satisfaction.
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4
Q

What can a repressive emotional style result in? (2)

A
  1. Lower marital satisfaction. 2. More negative feelings.
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5
Q

What is emotional intelligence?

A

The capacity to recognize out feelings and others’ feelings to motivate ourselves, and to manage emotions in ourselves and in our relationships.

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6
Q

What are the benefits of having high emotional intelligence? (2)

A
  1. Less conduct disorder and drug use. 2. More success in marriage and business.
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7
Q

Is IQ or EI more correlated with financial success?

A

Emotional intelligence.

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8
Q

What is the polyvagal theory?

A

A theory focusing on the evolution of the vagus nerve.

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9
Q

What is the vagus nerve?

A

A major PNS pathyway that connects the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system.

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10
Q

In what 3 stages did the vagus nerve evolve in mammals?

A
  1. Immobilization system (unmylenated). 2. Mobilization system. 3. Social communication system.
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11
Q

What does mylenated vagus allow us to do?

A

Regulate our emotions.

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12
Q

What behavior is the immobilization stage of the evolution of the vagus nerve associated with?

A

Freezing up.

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13
Q

What behavior is the mobilization stage of the evolution of the vagus nerve associated with?

A

Fight or flight.

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14
Q

What behavior is the social communication system stage of the evolution of the vagus nerve associated with?

A

Counteracts the sympathetic nervous system and HPA axis activation allowing us to regulate our emotions to allow for communication.

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15
Q

People with sensitive/responsive vagus nerve show what kind of social outcomes?

A

Better social outcomes.

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16
Q

What is the cognitive theory of emotion?

A

That humans coordinate adaptive behavior by regulating our goals.

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17
Q

According to the cognitive theory of emotion, when do specific emotions occur?

A

When progress towards specific goals are interrupted.

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18
Q

According to the cognitive theory of emotion, what are the functions of emotion?

A

To redirect and reorganize the person’s behavior in service of a specific goal.

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19
Q

What is the main communicative functions of emotion for the dyad?

A

Need to know how other is feeling so you can predict their behavior and respond appropriately.

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20
Q

What are two examples of facial expressions being used as a behavior regulator?

A
  1. Infants recognize and use facial expressions before they acquire language. 2. Social referencing.
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21
Q

What is social referencing?

A

The seeking of another’s reaction to a situation to guide own behavior.

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22
Q

What experiment showed that social referencing occurred in infants?

A

The invisible cliff experiment.

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23
Q

What is considered the basis of observational learning?

A

Social referencing.

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24
Q

By what age does social referencing usually appear?

A

By 6 months of age,

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25
Q

What are three communicative features of the eye?

A
  1. Eye widening in fear expressions easily recognizes and signals threat. 2. Allows direction of eye gaze: tells observers of the expresser’s intentions and what they are responding to. 3. Observer’s attention automatically drawn to direction of fearful eye gaze.
26
Q

What did Lee et al. (2013) find out about direct attention?

A

The more eyes are open, as in fear, the better they direct someone else’s gaze.

27
Q

What did Marsh et al. find out about prompt to action in reference to perceiving fear or anger? (2)

A
  1. The perception of anger helped approach more quickly (push faster). 2. The perception of fear helped participants avoid more quickly (pull faster).
28
Q

What are the main functions that emotions serve in group settings? (4)

A
  1. Creation of groups. 2. Enforcing group norms. 3. Group governance. 4. Facilitate collective action.
29
Q

When do people tend to form groups?

A

When a group of people experience the same emotion they feel more similar and atypical members converge on the group norm.

30
Q

What emotions result when a person is perceived to have violated a group norm? (2)

A
  1. Shame. 2. Embarrassment.
31
Q

How does shame and embarrassment serve the group?

A

The behaviors and expressions that result from the emotions facilitate either fleeing from group rejection or attempts to re-enter the group

32
Q

Damage to the orbitofrontal areas associated with self-conscious emotions is associated with the loss of what emotion?

A

Shame.

33
Q

What functions do the emotions anger, contempt, and pride serve in consolidating group governance?

A

They communicate superiority and power to lower status group members, maintaining hierarchy.

34
Q

What functions do the emotions embarrassment and awe serve in consolidating group governance?

A

They can communicate submissiveness and appeasement.

35
Q

What can the collective action of expressing anger, guilt, or shame predict? (2)

A
  1. Apologies and reparations from governments. 2. Fighting against inequalities such as discrimination.
36
Q

What are some characteristics of happy people? (5)

A
  1. Have more energy and are more productive. 2. Earn more money. 3. Are better liked and more generous. 4. More creative. 5. Get sick less and live longer.
37
Q

Do positive emotions drive success or do successes drive positive emotions?

A

Positive emotions drive success.

38
Q

What was the nun study?

A

Study that found that happier nuns lived longer than less happy nuns.

39
Q

What was the cold study? (2)

A
  1. People were injected with a cold. 2. Happier people were less affected by the virus.
40
Q

What are positive emotions linked to? (6)

A
  1. Lower levels of stress hormone. 2. Higher levels of growth-related and bond-related hormones. 3. Increased dopamine and opioids. 4. Enhanced immune system. 5. Lower blood pressure. 6. Better sleep.
41
Q

What did Fredrickson and Cohn, 2008 assert about the function of positive emotions?

A

That they are evolved adaptations that function to building lasting resources.

42
Q

What is the Broaden and Build Model? (2)

A

2 Main proposed functions of emotions. 1. Broaden: Widen attention and cognitive processes; encourage exploration. 2. Build: Play and exploration build skills, knowledge, resources.

43
Q

According to the Broaden and Build Model, negative emotions alter us to? And positive emotions signal what?

A
  1. Danger. 2. Safety.
44
Q

According to the Broaden and Build Model, negative emotions may lead to what?

A

Narrowing our thinking to focus on the threat.

45
Q

According to the Broaden and Build Model, positive emotions may lead to what?

A

Opening up our thinking and actions to entertain new possibilities.

46
Q

According to the Broaden and Build Model, the visual processing task shows what about the function of positive emotions?

A

That they broaden attention and global processing.

47
Q

Positive emotions had what effect on own-race bias?

A

Positive emotions reduced own-race bias.

48
Q

What is the own race bias? What creates this effect generally?

A

People have better memory for faces of own race. This effect is linked to more global (expert) processes applied to own but not other race faces.

49
Q

According to the broaden and build model, why might happiness reduce own-race bias?

A

Happiness should reduce bias by increasing global processing.

50
Q

What does ego resilience reflect?

A

An individual’s ability to adapt to changing environments.

51
Q

What is life satisfaction?

A

An evaluation of how things are going right now, whether goals are being met.

52
Q

What relation do positive emotions have with life satisfaction and ego resilience?

A

Positive emotions predict both.

53
Q

According to the study on soccer players, anger was associated with what kind of response?

A

A stronger noradrenergic response.

54
Q

According to the study on soccer players, fear was associated with what kind of response?

A

A stronger adrenergic response.

55
Q

According to the cognitive theory of emotion, what triggers emotions?

A

A juncture (an interruption of the current goal/activity).

56
Q

According to the Broaden and Build Model, positive emotions do what to a person’s ability to pay attention to a visual scene?

A

They allow people to explore visual scenes more extensively; pay more attention to the periphery of the scene.

57
Q

How did Fredrickson and Branigan test their Broaden and Build model on broadening of attention?

A

By using films to produce a high arousal, positive emotion (amusement), a low arousal one (contentment), or neutral feelings (control) in their participants.

58
Q

What did Fredrickson and Branigan find when they tested their Broaden and Build model on the broadening of attention?

A

They found that amused and content participants made the broad attention response significantly more often than those in the control.

59
Q

According to Fredrickson and Branigan and their broaden and build model of positive emotions, why is it useful to broaden the full set of attentional and behavioral responses?

A

Because it leads to a building of lasting physical and psychological resources that can be relied on in the future.

60
Q

According to Fredrickson and Branigan and their broaden and build model of positive emotions, what is another function that positive emotions have?

A

To undo the harmful physiological effects of negative emotions.

61
Q

What is a dyad?

A

Two people who are interacting in some way.

Psychology of Emotions (16 decks)

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