Emotion (Factor effecting perceptual set)

Question 1

emotion

Answer 1

A strong feeling or mood can increase our sensitivity to certain aspects of our environment.

Question 2

Example of emotion effecting perceptual set (Santa)

Answer 2

Children tend to draw pictures of Santa that are bigger and with more presents before Christmas than they do just after Christmas as the excitement is over.

Question 3

Example of emotion effecting perceptual set (depression)

Answer 3

When someone is going through something traumatic their brain will block certain things out. For example, when dealing with depression the individual won’t notice positive things happening in their life.

Question 4

Supporting research

Answer 4

A study was done where ppts were shown a list of 10 words. 5 of the words were paired with mild electric shocks. In the second half they were shown words again that was going too fast for the ppts to see. However, a GSR showed a mild anxiety reaction in the second half as the ppts ‘noticed’ the words paired with electric shocks at a subconscious level.

Question 5

Weakness of the theory

Answer 5

There is contradictory evidence that emotion affects perceptual set. Some evidence suggests that we will notice more emotional material and other research says we won’t. We also don’t know why it changes. This makes it hard for psychologists to predict behavior.