emotion & arousal

Question 1

James-Lange theory of emotion

Answer 1

stimulus —> arousal —> emotion

• we detect emotion by differentiating the type of arousal / bodily sensations
• criticized because many different emotions can manifest themselves in similar ways (physiologically)

Question 2

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

Answer 2

stimulus —> brain activity —> emotion & arousal

• created as criticism to James-Lange
• our general physiological responses can be similar to each other
• e.g. you see/hear a bear (perception) —> brain associates bear with danger —> sends a signal to body (e.g. fight or flight) —> feel scared (emotion) & heart races (arousal)

Question 3

Schachter’s 2 factory theory of emotion

Answer 3

stimulus —> arousal —> appraisal —> emotion

• emotion is based on 2 factors: physiological arousal & a cog interpretation

Question 4

Schachter & Singer 1962 (epi study)

Answer 4

injected males with epi (heightened physiological arousal
- drug-informed (told abt effects) = less influenced by confederate
- drug-uninformed (not told abt effects) = reported feeling happy or angry depending on confederates performance
- placebo = less influenced by confederate

concluded that when we are unclear abt our emotional states we sometimes interpret how we feel by watching others

Question 5

what is arousal

Answer 5

• a state of being alert
• causes physiological responses

Question 6

what is emotion?

Answer 6

• a complex reaction pattern involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements

Question 7

what is excitation transfer

Answer 7

the process where arousal caused by one stimulus is added to arousal from a second stimulus and the combined arousal is attributed to the second

e.g. work out = high level of arousal (increased heart rate etc.). someone takes your parking space = you become irrationally angry

Question 8

Dutton & Aron (bridge experiments)

Answer 8

1st exp: 1m & 1f interviewer asked men to complete questionnaire + gave them their phone number. 2 conditions - high bridge & low bridge. found that men on high bridge had more sexual content in the story + more likely to call interviewer after
2nd exp: same as 1st but only f interviewer + p’s were approached before going on bridge or 10 mins after - results comparable to 1st

Question 9

meston & frohlich (rollercoaster)

Answer 9

• approached people (single&taken) in line for or just exiting a rollercoaster
• asked p’s to rate a picture of someone of opposite gender & seat partner on attractiveness
• taken = results were practically the same before & after ride
• single = arousal from ride led to increased ratings of attractiveness
• very consistent with excitation transfer theory

Question 10

what is misattribution of arousal?

Answer 10

incorrectly assuming what is causing you to feel aroused

caused when there is an initially unexplained arousal that could be interpreted as diff emotions