Emotion & Mental Health

Question 1

What is mental health?

Answer 1

It is a sense of well-being

It is a subjective, emotional state with a positive outlook

Question 2

How does mental illness differ to mental health?

Answer 2

Mental illness involves the absence of abnormality

Question 3

What is emotion?

Answer 3

It is a construct

It is a subjective experience that involves the appraisal of a situation, as well as your thoughts about the situation

Question 4

What are the 4 components of emotion?

Answer 4

1. internal bodily responses
2. thought/action tendencies
3. facial expression
4. cognitive appraisal

Question 5

What is meant by ‘emotional leakage’?

Answer 5

When parts of the evidence don’t fit

Someone may say something but their facial expression says something else

Question 6

What is the difference between emotion and mood?

Answer 6

Emotion is reactive and short-lived

Moods are diffuse and persistent

Question 7

According to Ekman and Friesen, what are the 7 primary emotional states?

Answer 7

1. happiness
2. sadness
3. fear
4. anger
5. surprise
6. disgust
7. (contempt)

Question 8

According to Ekman and Friesen, what distinguishes the 7 primary emotional states?

How are other emotions formed?

Answer 8

They are biologically programmed and each has a distinctive facial expression

Other emotions are a blend of the primary emotions

Question 9

What was involved in Hohman’s study?

Answer 9

1. interviewed patients with spinal injuries
2. asked them about fear, anger, sexual excitement and grief, and a time they had experienced these emotions before and after injury
3. he measured the changes in intensity of the experiences (+2 strong increase, -2 strong decrease)

Question 10

What was the aim of Hohman’s study?

Answer 10

To see the degree to which a physical state within the body can underpin emotional state

Question 11

What were the findings of Hohman’s study?

Answer 11

The reduction in peripheral sensations is associated with a decrease in the intensity of emotional score

Question 12

What was Ekman et al’s study in 1991?

Answer 12

1. a group of volunteers and actors are given a primary emotion
2. they must pose faces and imagine/relive situations relating to the emotion
3. their heart rate and skin temperature are recorded

Question 13

What was the outcome of Ekman et al’s 1991 study?

Answer 13

1. an increase in heart rate is associated with anger, fear and sadness
2. peripheral temperature is increased in anger

Question 14

What are the stages involved in experiencing emotion in Pattern Theory (James-Lange)?

Answer 14

1. encounter
2. encounter involves specific physiological arousal and overt behaviours
3. this leads to the experience of emotion

Question 15

What does the James-Lange Pattern Theory suggest about experiencing emotion?

Answer 15

emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to events

people have a physiological response to environmental stimuli and that their interpretation of that physical response then results in an emotional experience

Question 16

What are the stages involved in experiencing emotion according to Cognitive Theory (Schachter & Singer)?

Answer 16

1. encounter
2. general physiological arousal
3. cognitive appraisal of the arousal
4. experience of emotion

Question 17

What does Schachter & Singer’s cognitive appraisal theory suggest about experiencing emotion?

Answer 17

emotions are extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in different people

the emotion experienced is based on the appraisal of the situation

Question 18

What was involved in Schachter & Singer’s 1962 experiment?

Answer 18

1. 1 group of people is injected with saline and another is injected with adrenaline
2. the original groups are split and they are given information about what the adrenaline will do to them

(this information is correct, incorrect or none is given)

3. they are in a waiting room with an actor and asked to fill out a questionnaire that involves mood ratings
4. the actor changes their behaviour to become increasingly emotional

Question 19

In Schachter’s study, which group experienced the biggest change in emotion?

Answer 19

The people injected with adrenaline and not given any information about the symptoms they will experience

Question 20

What does Schachter’s interpretation suggest about emotion when an explanation is given?

Answer 20

1. initial peripheral physiological arousal
2. explanation allows for the emotion to be labelled
3. individual experiences the emotion and behaves accordingly

Question 21

What does Schachter’s interpretation suggest about emotion when an explanation is not given?

Answer 21

1. initial peripheral physiological arousal
2. without explanation, evaluative needs lead to the individual searching their environment for a label or explanation
3. this allows them to label the emotion and behave accordingly

Question 22

How does the actor in the waiting room influence the people who had been given no explanation?

Answer 22

Without an explanation, the subject searches their environment for an explanation

They pick up on the behaviour of the actor and use this to shape their emotion

Question 23

What is the process involved in appraisal theories of emotion?

Answer 23

encounter + appraisal of encounter = experience of emotion

Question 24

What is meant by an appraisal theory in emotional response?

Answer 24

Emotions are mostly appraised responses to events

Certain appraisals are associated with specific emotions

Question 25

What are examples of appraisals associated with specific events?

Answer 25

If a desirable outcome occurs, this leads to happiness, but sadness if it does not occur If an undesirable outcome occurs, this leads to distress, and relief if it does not occur

Question 26

What is the purpose of facial expression in emotion?

Answer 26

it has a key role in communication and letting other people know how we are feeling It has a universality of meaning

Question 27

What will influence the expression of emotion?

Answer 27

Culture and gender shape the experience and expression of emotions They are experienced differently amongst these groups

Question 28

What is the key factor in detecting another person's internal state?

Answer 28

1. FACIAL EXPRESSION!! e. g. direction of gaze, fleeting microexpressions 2. tone of voice, what is said, body language

Question 29

What is biologically involved in the regulation of emotion?

Answer 29

Brain systems and neurotransmitters e.g. serotonin, limbic system and hypothalamus

Question 30

What part of the body is involved in emotion processing?

Answer 30

The amygdala It rapidly processes information and has a protective function (e.g. detects threat)

Question 31

When a normal person is interpreting facial expression, how do their eyes move? How is this different in someone with bilateral damage?

Answer 31

They form a triangle with their gaze - they look at the eyes, then mouth Someone with bilateral damage does not focus on they eyes

Question 32

What are the social learning approaches to the acquisition of emotion?

Answer 32

1. imitation via observational learning | 2. reinforcement - reward/punishment

Question 33

What is involved in the Bandura study?

Answer 33

Children are in a room where they watch an adult use a tool e.g. hammer When they observe an adult behaving in this way, they are more likely to imitate anger than if they had seen it in a cartoon

Question 34

What factors usually cause children to behave aggressively when they are older?

Answer 34

If they witness their parents behaving violently when they are young

Question 35

How are fears transmitted from parent to child?

Answer 35

There is an association between parental and child fear e.g.if a parent is afraid of the dentist, the child will feel the same this is evident in age 8 and younger

Question 36

What has been seen as life outcomes of happy people?

Answer 36

1. happy people have better life outcomes e.g. marriage, friendship, income, health 2. happiness predicts longevity in healthy populations

Question 37

What is the evolutionary bias to negative events?

Answer 37

It causes people to avoid these situations again in the future

Question 38

What are the 3 main results of positive psychology?

Answer 38

1. pleasant life gratitude for past events and optimism for future 2. engaged life 3. meaningful life services to organisations in the community e.g. medicine