Emotion Flashcards
what are emotions characterised by?
- physiological changes
- behavioural responses
- changes in cognition
- subjective feelings
what do fear responses include?
- changes in heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance
- facial expression, immobility, avoidance behaviour
- enhanced attention and memory
- the feeling of fear
what are emotions driven by?
biologically significant stimuli
they are an interaction between biological responses and cognitive processes
adaptive benefits of fear responses
- avoiding danger
- finding food and water
- signalling intent
maladaptive benefits of fear responses
- causing phobias
- PTSD
- drug addiction
what does the james-lange theory claim?
distinct patterns of biological responses characterise different emotions- ‘people are afraid because they run away’
james-lange theory
- the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which produces a peripheral biological response
- in response to the specific pattern of these changes, a subjective emotion is felt
what does the james-lange theory suggest about emotions?
they can only be experienced by interpreting the peripheral response. this is evidence of a cause-effect relationship
what does the cannon-bard theory claim?
peripheral changes are not sensitive or different enough to mediate various emotions
cannon-bard theory
- the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which generates a peripheral response
- upon perception of the stimulus there is a direct production of the emotional, subjective state
what does the cannon-bard theory claim about cause-effect?
there is no cause-effect between peripheral response and subjective experience as they are triggered simultaneously
what does the cannon-bard theory believe about feelings?
feelings can influence the peripheral response, e.g., feeling afraid means running away faster
what does the schachter-singer theory claim?
the pattern of peripheral responses does not determine emotions
schachter-singer theory
- the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which generates a peripheral response
- the peripheral response tells us that a certain emotion must be felt, which is decided through environmental interpretation of the external context
transitional implication of theories
these theories have great relevance for the application of lie detectors, as polygraphs record peripheral responses such as sweating
these peripheral responses involuntarily increase with fearful or guilty responses
how does phineas gage provide evidence that emotion is a product of the brain?
engaged in much more risky behaviour after suffering a severe frontal lobe injury- due to an inability to use emotional cues to regulate behaviour
how does kluver-bucy syndrome provide evidence that emotion is a product of the brain?
a rare human syndrome that has been replicated in studies
removing the temporal lobe had emotional effects in monkeys- made them emotionally dull
the emotional elements of this were replicated by destroying the amygdala
what is the limbic system?
a group of brain areas (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cingulate cortex) associated with emotion
where is the amygdala located?
it is a small area in the centre of the brain, where sensory information is processed
what is the amygdala involved in?
coordinating the outputs associated with fear and anxiety, and mediates emotional responses
when the amygdala is stimulated, what do patients report feeling?
anxious or afraid
what does damage to the amygdala result in?
timidity and change in fearful behaviour, with people being unable to experience fear conditioning
what was found in patient SM?
showed negligible amounts of fear and was unable to express fear in daily life
following amygdala damage, what is impaired?
the facilitation of memory by emotive content
this provides evidence for emotional memory, as the amygdala is recruited during emotional situationa
core expressions
- anger
- sadness
- happiness
- fear
- disgust
- surprise
how can emotional facial expressions signal internal state?
by being observed in social situations
the combination of facial, vocal, and postural elements interact to signal internal state
damage to the amygdala impairs recognition of fearful faces, but not ___________
recognition of identity or vocal elements
what were amygdala patients found to have?
abnormal eye movements, as patient SM rarely looked at eyes in pictures
what can amygdala patients be trained to do?
recognise emotional expressions
this suggests amygdala damage causes a poor accuracy of recognising facial expression, which alters behaviour- rather than an innate change
when is the amygdala activated?
by fearful faces, and its function occurs at a subconscious level
what is the temporal lobe involved in?
processing emotional facial expressions
the _____ is important to produce emotional facial expressions, and why?
amygdala- the dulled effect of kluver-bucy syndrome can be replicated with lesions to the amygdala
laterality in the production of emotional facial expressions
the left side of the face is more expressive, meaning the right side of the brain may play a greater role to play
- or there is faster brain activity in the right side, which causes quicker expression of facial expressions
why is there a neural basis of facial expressions?
if core emotional facial expressions are accepted, this suggests they are innate- involuntary, unconscious, and automatic
evidence to suggest emotional facial expressions are involuntary and automatic
- volitional facial paresis
- emotional facial paresis
volitional facial paresis
the ability to voluntarily control facial muscles is damaged, but genuine emotional facial expressions can still be produced- cannot be elicited voluntarily
emotional facial paresis
impairs the production of genuine emotional facial expressions, but these can still be replicated by moving facial muscles
what does the expression of automatic emotional facial expressions suggest?
they have a biological and evolutionary basis
ekman & freisen (1971) found…
cross-cultural generalisability between facial expression recognition in new guinea and western society- argues in favour of innate expressions between cultures
peleg (2006) found…
recognisable facial expressions in congenitally blind people- more similar between relations than non-relations
what was found in the facial expressions of new-born infants?
they were somewhat reminiscent of those observed in adults
what does the amygdala attribute?
emotional significance to events
what is the function of the prefrontal cortex?
believed to inhibit the expression of emotion, as emotional responses may run out of control when the vPFC is less function
what is the vPFC involved in?
emotional decision making
what is the prefrontal cortex involved in?
memory extinction- the process of a new memory that inhibits the expression of the previous memory
what happens when the PFC is absent in rats?
extinction does not occur
it should be easier to regulate these responses if there is a strong pathway
where is the periaqueductal grey located?
around the central aqueduct, and it has different subdivisions
different subdivisions of PAG
- dorsolateral periaqueductal grey (dPAG)
- ventrolaterial periaqueductal grey (vPAG)
dPAG stimulation in rats
they run away- an active response
vPAG stimulation in rats
they freeze- an escape response
how is a freezing response coordinated?
the amygdala activates the PAG, showing its involvement in the selection of defensive emotional responses
PFC is _________ and PAG is ________
upstream, downstream
how can evidence be found to support implicit bias?
can study implicit emotional responses to racial outgroups
what does behavioural data suggest about implicit racial bias?
greater fear response (MRI amygdala action) to black faces when presented unconsciously
when was this greater fear response reduced?
when presenting faces to ensure they entered the unconscious, suggesting automatic implicit biases can be inhibited- but this takes work
what is the dorsolateral PFC associated with?
attempts to control unwanted prejudicial responses
