Emotion

Question 1

Theories of emotion: Darwin

Answer 1

○ Focus on emotional expression as communication
○ Same emotions for same species
○ Possibly innate
Historical

Question 2

Theories of emotion: Freud

Answer 2

○ Unconscious biases on behaviour
○ Originating from the id
○ Relationship between emotion and many psychiatric disorders

Historical

Question 3

Theories of emotion: James-Lange

Answer 3

○ Bodily states precede the emotional experience (e.g. sad because we cry)
○ Largely refuted
○ Some evidence that bodily experience can affect mental emotional experience
○ Related: Somatic Marker hypothesis (Damasio)
§ Emotional memories exrpressed bodily can facilitate decision making
§ Possible to anticipate future “as-if”

Question 4

Theories of emotion: Canon-Bard

Answer 4

○ Emotions are accounted for in the brain
○ Hypothalamus is the centre of emotion
§ Drives bodily states (homeostasis) and signal to cortex where consciousness is
○ Emotional experience -> bodily state

Historical

Question 5

Theories of emotion: Papaz-MacLean

Answer 5

○ Same as canon-Bard, but include some more brain areas to form the:
○ “limbic Brain”
Historical

Question 6

Theories of emotion: Ekman

Answer 6

○ Six universal emotions
§ Critique: cultural differences DO exist

Contemporary

Question 7

Theories of emotion: Feldman-Barret

Answer 7

○ Emotions are not distinctly different
○ Core affect system
○ Emotions are constructed
(circle picture)

Contemporary

Question 8

Theories of emotion: Rolls

Answer 8

○ Emotions as reinforcers
			§ Reward/punishment *presence/absence + intensity
		○ Emotions are constructed
		○ Dependent on stimuli and context
(Two axes)

Contemporary

Question 9

Theories of emotion: Appraisal

Answer 9

• Appraisal
  ○ Evaluation of situation
  § Event -> appraisal -> Emotion -> Action
  ○ Stressing contextualisation and reflection
  ○ Can account for differences in emotion to same event

Contemporary

Question 10

Theories of emotion: LeDoux

Answer 10

○ Survival circuits responsible for survival functions
§ E.g. Threat not fear
§ Not focus on feeling but on function
Contemporary

Question 11

Theories of emotion: Adolph & Andler

Answer 11

○ A theory of emotion should explain behaviour but not be grounded in feelings
○ Emotions as a group of latent variables
Distinguish feelings and emotions

Question 12

Emotions in the brain: Amygdala

Answer 12

• Small structure close to hippocampus
  
  • Memory (emotional content)
    ○ Especially fear
  • Learning
  • Storing
  • Perception of emotional expressions
  • Involved in fear conditioning
    ○ Neutral stimulus is learned to be associated with emotion (fear)
    ○ Train: Conditioned stimulus + Unconditioned stimulus
    ○ Test: CS -> Conditioned Response
  • Fast route vs. slow route
    Preparedness

Question 13

Emotions in the brain: Insula

Answer 13

• Cortex beneath the temporal lobes

- Disgust

Question 14

Emotions in the brain: Orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 14

• Value of stimulus
  ○ Reward/punishing
  
  • Changes in value
  • Decision making

Question 15

Emotions in the Brain: Ventral Striatum

Answer 15

• Part of the Basal Ganglia
  
  • Dopamine projections
    ○ Predicted rewards

Question 16

Emotions in the brain: Hypothalamus

Answer 16

• (Canon-Bard)
  
  • Expression of species specific innate behaviour
    ○ Social behaviour

Question 17

Anthropomorphism

Answer 17

• Treating non-human behaviour as motivated by human feelings
  
  • A tool to facilitate mental states
  • Can be very problematic when anthropomorphising emotional expressions in animals

Question 18

Emotions vs. moods

Answer 18

Emotions are brief, moods are lasting. Though emotions often outlast the duration of the stimulus (as opposed to e.g. reflexes)

Question 19

Emotions in the brain: Anterior cingulate

Answer 19

- Decision making
		○ Value of action
		○ Weighing cost/benefit
		○ Updating beliefs
	- Output of emotional processing 
	- Pain processing
		○ Self and other