Emotion Flashcards
Define Emotion
natural instinctive state of mind derived from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others
What are the 3 elements of emotion?
- Physiological response: arousal stimulated by autonomic NS; changes in heart rate, breathing rate, skin temp, BP
- Behavioral response: facial expressions and body language
- Cognitive response: subjective interpretation of the feeling being experienced; based on one’s memories from past and perception of cause of emotion
What are the 7 universal emotions?
- happiness
- sadness
- contempt
- surprise
- fear
- disgust
- anger
James Lange Theory of Emotion
- Physiological -> Emotion*
- stimulus results in physiological arousal -> secondary response is emotion being labeled
- stimulus -> nervous system arousal -> conscious emotion
- requires connection between sympathetic NS and brain
- asserts that emotional experience is primarily based on physiological arousal, and that each different physiological state is associated with an emotion
Example of James Lange Theory of Emotion
“I am angry because my skin is hot and my BP is high”
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
- Physiological = Emotion*
- suggests that our physiological arousal and experience of emotion happen simultaneously and independently
- action is secondary response to stimulus
- person responds with an action after experiencing the emotion both mentally and physically
- thalamus processes sensory information, sends it to the cortex and sympathetic NS
- focuses on the central role of the hypothalamus in regulating emotions and is less specifically concerned with physiological cognition and activation
Example of Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
“I am afraid because I see a snake and my heart is racing”
What is one weakness of the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?
it fails to explain the vagus nerve conveying information from peripheral organs back to CNS
Schacter-Singer Theory of Emotion
- Physiological + Cognitive -> Emotion*
- also called cognitive arousal theory or two-factor theory
- emotional experience is determined by one’s physiological state and the cognitive interpretation of that state
- both arousal and labeling of arousal based on environment are required to feel emotion
- to feel an emotion one must consciously analyze the environment in relation to NS arousal
- stimulus -> nervous system arousal + cognitive appraisal -> conscious emotion
- if one experiences physiological arousal without an explanation then they attribute arousal to surrounding environment
Example of Schacter-Singer Theory of Emotion
“I am excited because my heart is racing and everyone else is happy”
List the structures of the Limbic System involved in emotion
- amygdala
- thalamus
- hypothalamus
- hippocampus
- temporal lobe
- prefrontal cortex
- ventral PFC
- ventromedial PFC
- autonomic NS
Emotional Memory
- unconscious (implicit) memory
- storage of the actual feelings of emotion associated with an event
- determines expression of past emotions
What are the 8 primary emotions?
- anticipation
- joy
- acceptance
- fear
- sadness
- anger
- disgust
- surprise
Who defined the 8 primary emotions?
Plutchik
What is the general flow of the James-Lange Theory?
stimulation -> physiological response -> aware -> feel emotion
What is the general flow of the Cannon-Bard Theory?
stimulation -> transmission of stimulus to cortex -> feel emotion and arousal at the same time
What is an issue with both the cannon-bard and james-lange theory?
- Don’t talk about what happens when you are exercising – ex. when running and have increased heart rate don’t necessarily feel emotion
- not emotion specific physiological changes
What is the general flow of the Schacter-Singer Theory (Two Stage Theory)?
stimulus -> physiological change -> cognitively interpret the situation/check out environment in order to determine/interpret what emotion we are feeling -> emotion
What is one criticism of the James-Lange Theory?
- we will not feel any emotion if we don’t feel arousal NPR will we feel emotion if we are not aware of the arousal
- ex. people that are paralyzed go against this theory
Lazarus Theory of Emotion/Cognitive Appraisal
- stimulus -> cognitive appraisal (interpretation) -> emotional and physiological arousal at the same time
- explains why people could be in the same situations but feel different emotions in response to them
- ex. rollercoasters – one person sees a rollercoaster (stimulus) and interprets it as fun and gets excited VS. person who see rollercoaster (stimulus) and interprets it as scary so is scared (fear) and starts to sweat
we use the same ____ ____ for each emotion but the ____ in which we express emotions is not always the same across ____.
- facial expressions
- situation
- cultures
Catharsis Hypothesis
- decrease the feeling of anger by releasing it through aggressive actions/fantasies
- doesn’t actually decrease anger long-term and could even increase anger long-term
- ONLY refers to anger
- ex. punching a pillow
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
- not just info that comes from our brain to tell facial muscles what expression to make
- muscles tensed/relaxed in each facial expression transmit info back to the brain about your emotional state too
