Emotions

Question 1

Define emotion

Answer 1

= a feeling state of short duration that involves a pattern of cognitive, physiological and behavioural reactions to events.

Question 2

Identify the 4 main features of emotions

Answer 2

1. eliciting stimuli
2. appraisals of stimuli
3. physiological response
4. behavioural response: expressive behaviour and instrumental behaviour

Question 3

Explain the factors contributing to how strongly a stimulus elicits an emotional response

Answer 3

Eliciting stimuli are internal and external. Some stimuli have a greater potential to arouse emotions because of innate biological factors. We are primed to respond to stimuli or events of evolutionary importance. But we can also learn emotional responses to previously innocuous stimuli.

Question 4

Identify the major brain regions underlying the emotional response, and describe the evidence for this involvement.

Answer 4

Brainstem (pons), limbic system (amygdala and insula), cerebral cortex (prefrontal), hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Evidence for the involvement of the amygdala in fear is patient SM. They have atrophy of the amygdala, therefore there is a profound inability to recognize and experience fear. Regarding social threats, faces regarded as untrustworthy activate the amygdala. For strong emotions, fMRI shows activation in the amygdala.

Question 5

Explain how facial and bodily expressions can be used to convey emotion, and how this is influenced by culture.

Answer 5

Facial and bodily expressions can be measured with EMG using Facial Acting Coding System, respectively Bodily Actibg Coding System. People are better at recognizing faces when they have situational cues. Facial expressions of emotion can be influenced by social norms. Am experiment with Japanese and American students showed that Japanese students showed emotions when alone, and a more neutral face when surrounded by people.

Question 6

Describe the relationship between the level of arousal and task performance.

Answer 6

Emotional responses are often ‘calls to action’. Relationship between the level of arousal and task performance takes the shape of an inverted U. It depends on the complexity of the task: simpler tasks require higher optimal levels of arousal.

Question 7

Critically analyze the 3 main theories of emotion with respect to experimental evidence.

Answer 7

James- Lange theory says that our bodily responses determine the subjective emotion we experience. Evidence for this is that spinal cord lesions report lower intensity of fear and anger due to impaired perception of bodily reactions. Also, facial feedback theory says that facial movement can influence emotional responses.

Cannon-Bard theory says that the arousal response might take seconds, whereas the emotional response is immediate. They do not cause one another, they are independent. Evidence for this is that Cannon severed the nerves of animals that provide feedback from internal organs to the brain: emotional responses persisted, In humans, there is no lowered intensity of experience for people with spinal cord lesions.

Two-factor theory of emotion means that emotion is produced by 2 independent factors: the intensity of physiological arousal tells us how strong we are feeling something. Situational cues give us the information we need to label what we are feeling. Evidence comes from an experiment where participants were injected with adrenaline, tranquillizer and placebo without them knowing. they watched a short funny movie. The ones that showed high arousal were the ones injected with adrenaline, and the ones that showed low arousal were the ones with the tranquillizer.

Question 8

Dual-Pathway model (Le Doux)

Answer 8

Thalamus can send messages along two independent neural
pathways: “High road” to the cortex and “Low road” to the amygdala. Low road enables the amygdala to receive direct input from senses., thus being the first activated.

Question 9

HPA axis

Answer 9

Hypothalamus activation via the “low road” pathway can trigger the release of stress hormones via the pituitary gland. These hormones trigger the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands, leading to an “adrenaline rush”. This typically triggers a “fight-or-flight” response

Question 10

Circumplex circle

Answer 10

Proposes that emotion varies along two continua:
- Valence (unpleasant ↔ pleasant)
- Arousal (activation ↔ deactivation)

Question 11

What are the 6 basic emotions

Answer 11

Anger
Disgust
Enjoyment
Fear
Sadness
Surprise