Emotional Experience, Expression And Nonverbal Communication

Question 1

What are the 4 dimensions of Emotion

Answer 1

• Biological: emotions produce certain physiological responses in our bodies
• subjective: specific to how an individual feels (based on characteristics innate to that individual like temperament)
• Agents of Purpose: they prepare us to do something
• Social Phenomenon: Emotions are expressed to others. They allow us to communicate to maintain social relationships

Question 2

What are the different views on emotion?

Answer 2

Historically, emotions were first thought to interfere with the process of reasoning and that they needed to be controlled to achieve higher levels of thinking (Plato, Descartes). Behaviorists believed emotions served no purpose and were a deeply flawed part of human function

Contemporary views of emotion understand them as fundamental to human function because they
- hold ppl together
- determine priorities
- signal relation to environment

Question 3

What are the 5 basic findings on early research on emotion recognition

Answer 3

• both facial and vocal cues are reliable sources of information about affective states
• different communication channels (verbal vs nonverbal) have differential accuracy in the recognition of basic emotions
• differences in emotion recognition are contingent upon the static or dynamic display of emotional content
  -men and women differ in terms of the accuracy of recognition of emotional expression
• different types of errors are committed in emotion recognition depending on the availability of visual or vocal cues

Question 4

What are the types of error in the recognition of emotional expressions?

Answer 4

Indices of Similarity:
- Quality of the emotion (most errors due to similarity in quality despite different intensities)
- intensity of the emotion
- valence of the emotion

Question 5

Why are nonverbal cues thought to be more reliable than verbal cues?

Answer 5

Because it’s unconscious nature impedes faking our internal state

Question 6

What is the argument that supports the vocal expression of emotions being better than visual expression of emotions?

Answer 6

Emotions cause specific changes in respiration, pitch and articulation which forms a unique configuration with specific acoustic signal which allows us to detect that correct emotion.

Question 7

What should you know about the research on static vs dynamic displays in emotional recognition?

Answer 7

• dynamic displays have more accuracy
• emotional facial expressions have unique micro muscle configurations
  -the speed at which a facial expression occurs is critical to helping us recognize it
• the duration of a facial expression is critical for us to reduce errors

Question 8

Describe the role of categorization in forming personality judgements and the two types of errors that can occur.

Answer 8

Categorization helps our mental efficiency by process new information quick via mental short cuts.

Over generalization, where we incorrectly place someone in a group based on some of their physical characteristics and the

Halo effect where we apply stereotypes to ppl based on physical appearance are 2 types of errors that can occur.

Question 9

Linking physical appearance and personality is done via attributions and expectations made of another person. Describe the 3 ways in which we form these attributions and expectations.

Answer 9

1.Genetic pre disposition: tendency for ppl who share similar attributes to behave in ways similar to the categories in which they are placed (basis of kernel of truth hypothesis)

2. Shared Experiences of cultural groups: social groups hold specific judgements about specific aspects of physical appearance (cultural stereotype hypothesis)
3. Personal Experience: our experiences cause us to transfer judgements about one person on to another similar looking person

Question 10

What is the role of attribution in assigning meaning to non- Verbal cues in relationships?

Answer 10

We assign meaning to nonverbal cues based on the attributions we make about their behavior.

We use attribution (inferences about behavior) to assign meaning on the individual, on the relationship, about the attributor’s role in the interact and on the communication itself to nonverbal cues.

Question 11

What is the Kernel of Truth Hypothesis?

Answer 11

There is accuracy in the personality judgement we make based on physical characteristics

Question 12

What is the Cultural Stereotype hypothesis?

Answer 12

All expected relationships between appearance and anticipated personality traits are caused by shared cultural expectations

Question 13

What are display rules and what is its role in expression of emotion?

Answer 13

Cultural differences in ways of emotion expression management or regulation as a function of social circumstances