Emotion Theory (1a)

Question 1

3 main theories of emotions

Answer 1

evolutionary
appraisal
psychological constructionism

Question 2

define affect

Answer 2

umbrella term to define affective state, including mood and emotion

Question 3

define mood

Answer 3

typically last longer than emotions, diffuse and global as opposed to specific
no specific cause

Question 4

define core affect

Answer 4

part of an emotional response according to some theorists
constantly experienced, but nature and intensity vary over time

Question 5

basic properties of emotions

Answer 5

specific cause (something that creates an emotional response)
brief
help achieve goals

Question 6

3 components of emotional response

Answer 6

behavioural (facial expression)
physiological (inside you e.g., heart rate/ breathing/ sweating)
experiential (what you feel)

Question 7

Darwin’s evolutionary theory (1870s) - emotions have a ….

Answer 7

biological basis (innate capacities)

Question 8

Darwin’s evolutionary theory (1870s) - purposes of emotions

Answer 8

survival and communicative
e.g., disgust when eating poisonous fruit = expels things from mouth and prevents the intake of odours through the nose / tells others not to eat it

Question 9

Ekman’s (1934) evolutionary theory: what are the six basic emotions

Answer 9

happiness
anger
sadness
disgust
surprise
fear

Question 10

Ekman & Friesen (1971) study

Answer 10

showed still photos of faces to people who had no contact with the Western world to identify which emotion corresponded to the six basic emotions.
60% (strong) agreement = shows universality of emotional expression

Question 11

criteria for basic emotion

Answer 11

universal expression (face/ voice/ body)
discrete physiology
presence in other primates
automatic appraisal/ evaluation of the environment

Question 12

what does BET claim about basic emotions?

Answer 12

not always expressed in the same way
can change as the person gains knowledge through individual experience (Ekman & Cordaro, 2011)

Question 13

evolutionary theory suggests we have an _____ which reacts to stimulus

Answer 13

innate affect program

Question 14

crtitical evaluation of Ekman’s findings

Answer 14

preselected set of emotion words acting as priming
face vs. full body (Barrett et al., 2011)

Question 15

appraisal theory (Frijda et al., 1966)

Answer 15

very few objects or events cause the same emotion in all people
e.g., failing an exam = angry or sad?

Question 16

what theory explains the variations, not the sameness of emotional life?

Answer 16

appraisal theory

Question 17

according to the appraisal theory, what do emotions arise from?

Answer 17

the interpretation of the situation
(rather than the situation itself)

Question 18

appraisal theory: conditions of Dutton & Aron’s (1974) study

Answer 18

90 male participants crossing bridges (scary and not scary bridge conditions)
male/ female interviewers

Question 19

appraisal theory: results of Dutton & Aron’s (1974) study

Answer 19

men on scary bridge meeting female interviewer gave her a call about 40% of the time
men on non scary bridge and men meeting male confederates rarely called

Question 20

appraisal theory: what do the results of Dutton & Aron’s (1974) study suggest?

Answer 20

misattribution of feelings - arousal from the bridge vs arousal experience in the presence of attractive researcher
men labelled their increased heart rate as ‘fear’ with male experimenter, but mislabelled it as ‘sexual arousal’ with female experimentor

Question 21

appraisal theory: different emotions (Siemer et al., 2007)

Answer 21

participants experiencing anger tended to believe that they had some control over what they had experienced and felt that they were not to be blamed (responsibility of the experimenter)
participants who thought they had no control over what happened tended to experience shame and guilt
participants who felt that it definitely was not their responsibility but felt they had some control over what happened reported experiencing positive emotions

Question 22

appraisal theory: Smith and Ellsworth’s (1985, 1987) 8 dimensions of reappraisal

Answer 22

pleasantness
anticipated effort
attentional activity
certainty
human agency
situational control
perceived obstacle
importance

Question 23

what does psychological constructionism aim to explain

Answer 23

the huge variation both within and across individuals in how emotions look and feel

Question 24

what does it mean to say that emotions are psychological realities (a construct we create)

Answer 24

the perception of emotions is based on people’s knowledge of emotion words that they use to make meaning of general bodily feelings
emotions are concepts we create to make sense of our feelings and the world

Question 25

what are the ‘ingredients’ of emotions? (Lindquist, 2013)

Answer 25

core affect
exteroceptive sensations
conceptual knowledge
executive functions
conceptualisations

Question 26

define exteroceptive sensations

Answer 26

what’s happening outside - e.g., what you see, hear etc.

Question 27

define conceptual knowledge

Answer 27

what you know about the world - e.g., memory

Question 28

define executive function

Answer 28

what you pay attention to

Question 29

define conceptualisation

Answer 29

process by which sensations form inside and outside the body are transformed into a discrete emotion
quick/ automatic/ implicit

Question 30

conceptual act theory (Barrett, 2014)

Answer 30

hypothesises that physical changes in the natural world become real as emotion when they are categorised as such using emotion concept knowledge within a perceiver

Question 31

summarise evolutionary theory

Answer 31

emotions are biologically evolved, functional responses to certain opportunities and challenges posed by the environmen

Question 32

summarise appraisal theory

Answer 32

emotions are elicited and differentiated by evaluations (appraisal) of the environment with respect to current goals and interest

Question 33

summarise constructionism theory

Answer 33

emotions exist via categorisation and are not stable biological entities, they are elaborated within linguistic and cultural contexts