Emotions Flashcards
1
Q
how is emotion defined?
A
4 aspects of emotions
1. physiological arousal - displays of somatic and autonomic responses, facial expressions (helps us respond in emergencies)
2. motivational programs - coordinated responses designed to solve specific tasks/achieve specific goals
3. actions - emotions cause us to do something
4. feelings - subjective labels placed on an emotional state
2
Q
how does emotion develop in humans?
A
- show basic emotions at birth, show all basic emotions by 8 months, and achieve most emotions by age 3
- birth: distress and contentment
- 3 months: joy, sadness, disgust
- 4-8 months: anger, surprise, fear
- 18-24 months: self-awareness develops, ability to predict emotions of others, embarrassment, empathy, envy
- 2-3 years: become able to evaluate behaviour against a standard, pride, shame and guilt emerge
- lying is innate and only mitigated through social learning
3
Q
how do facial expressions differ across cultures?
A
- cross-cultural similarity in emotional expression
- cross-cultural differences in display and interpreting emotional faces
- cultural differences may modulate facial expression of emotions, exaggerate or suppress
4
Q
what is the paralinguistic theory?
A
- face is active as a communication channel, not just a reflection of internal emotions
- may help communicate and alert members of the group about important event
5
Q
what is the folk psychology theory of emotion?
A
- stimulus -> perception -> emotion experienced -> pattern of autonomic arousal
- emphasizes that feelings and emotions always come before physiological arousal, in a linear sequence
6
Q
what is the james-lange theory of emotion?
A
- stimulus -> perception -> pattern of autonomic arousal -> emotion experienced
- emotion provoking stimuli in environment cause the arousal first
- arousal leads to a perceived emotion
- sometimes difference emotions mediated by different patterns of arousalwh
7
Q
what are some problems with the james-lange theory of emotion?
A
- physiological arousal can sometimes be similar across different emotions
- predicts that motions are entirely dependent on feedback from the body, which is not true
- people with spinal cord injuries can still experience emotions
8
Q
what is the cannon-bard theory of emotion?
A
- stimulus -> perception -> general autonomic arousal AND particular emotion experienced
- stimuli in environment cases simultaneous increase in arousal and perception of emotional experience
- brains sees stimulus and 1) decides which emotion is appropriate and 2) activates arousal systems
- proposed that both are independent and parallel pathways that don’t influence each other
9
Q
how did schachter and singer test the emotion theories?
A
- two groups of subjects that received epinephrine
- one group was told they would feel increased arousal
- only those not warned of effect reported emotional experience (supports james-lange, not cannon-bard)
- particular emotion experienced could be altered depending on context
- happy confederate = happy subject
- counter to one idea of james-lange theory because arousal was same in both cases
10
Q
how do beta-blockers affect emotion?
A
- drugs that block peripheral effect of epinephrine can reduce anxiety
- block B-receptors in the body but do not readily cross the blood brain barrier
- affect the body’s stress response but not the brains
11
Q
what was the capilano suspension bridge experiment?
A
- male subjects met female confederate on suspension bridge (high arousal) or on stone bridge or office (low arousal)
- those on suspension bridge rated confederate as much more attractive
- more likely to call the confederate after the study
- interpreted as misattribution of arousal
12
Q
what is schachter’s cognitive attribution model?
A
- emphasizes reciprocal interactions with all three factors, stimuli, autonomic arousal, and emotion
- proposed that arousal only adds intensity of emotion, does not distinguish between emotions
- more recent research suggests subtle differences in physiological arousal for emotions like fear and sadness
13
Q
are there differences in emotional control for the right and left side of the brain?
A
- general perception is that the right hemisphere is more emotional than the left (not true)
- left hemisphere stroke damage = most depressive symptoms, frontal lobes most sensitive
- depressed patients show less activation in left frontal areas
- right hemisphere lesions = very cheerful
- similar effects with unilateral brain inactivation
- facial expressions of emotions emerge sooner and there are a greater magnitude on the left side of the face
14
Q
what theory is there on the role of left and right hemispheres in emotion?
A
- anterior left is responsible for approach processes
- anterior right is responsible for withdrawal processes
- left frontal damage = anhedonia, less initiating behaviour
- right frontal damage = less withdrawal behaviour, less negative emotions
15
Q
what happens if we remove an animal’s cortex?
A
- animals can burst into sudden undirected fits of intense rage
- stimulate subcortical regions can also trigger emotional, rage-like effect
- lesions to certain subcortical regions can reverse effect of cortex removal on sham rage
- conclusion: subcortical structures can regulate some emotions, direction and inhibition of emotions are controlled by cortex
16
Q
what is kluver bucy syndrome?
A
- removal of temporal lobe in monkeys or other animals
- show lack of fear, strong oral tendencies, hypersexuality
- subsequent studies showed damage to amygdala is the main temporal region involved in the effects
- conclusion: amygdala is one subcortical region that regulates generation of some emotional responses
17
Q
what is the papez circuit?
A
- also called the limbic system
- three main players…
1. hippocampus: memory centre (temporal lobe)
2. amygdala: mediates emotional responses, both autonomic and behavioural responses (temporal lobe)
3. prefrontal cortex: integrates inputs from temporal lobes and other regions to coordinate appropriate response (frontal lobes)
18
Q
what happens when we have orbital/medial prefrontal cortex damage?
A
- normal emotional responses to intense stimuli, language, motor skills, IQ are unaffected
- impoverished affect, patients show inappropriate bursts of emotion
- inappropriate in social situations
- core deficit: impaired emotional regulation
- insensitive to emotional consequences of actions at the time, inability to view situations from different perspective
- psychopaths display reduced PFC activation, may explain lack of guilt/empathy
- more subtle deficits in sarcasm and humour
19
Q
how did PFC lesions affect primates?
A
- disrupt social behaviour, decrease social interaction and dominance, altered social preference
- decreased motor, facial, vocal expressions
20
Q
why do we remove the amygdala in some people?
A
- surgical removal to treat epilepsy
- urback-wiethe disease: genetic abnormality causing selective calcification of amygdala
21
Q
what happens when the amygdala is damaged or removed?
A
- blunted affect and emotional responses, especially fear
- inability to distinguish fear faces
- disruption in generation of emotional responses to conditioned stimuli
- core deficit: inability to learn emotional significance of external events
22
Q
how are the amygdala and PFC connected to control emotion?
A
- amygdala learns about stimuli related to what’s good or bad in the environment
- PFC interprets these signals and chooses appropriate course of action/inaction
- PFC can exert inhibitory influence over amygdala which may refine/suppress emotional responses generated by amygdala
23
Q
how do PFC-amygdala interaction in emotional situations change over development?
A
- childhood/adolescence = increased amygdala and PFC activation
- adulthood = PFC shows greater activation, associated with reduced amygdala activation
- PFC gets better at inhibiting the amygdala as we age
- PFC gains greater control over subcortical emotion generators
24
Q
what did we find when we took images of the emotional brain?
A
- subjects told to recall intense emotional episodes
- measured physiological arousal and imaged brain activation during different emotions
- physiological responses came before reporting an emotional reponses
- some brain regions are involved in different emotions
- different patterns of activation in multiple brain regions for different emotions
- there is not one emotional centre, multiple brain regions interact in different ways to process different emotions
25
how is stress defined?
- ultimately defined as any change in homeostasis
- broken down into three components
1. stressful stimulus
2. processing/assessment of stimulus
3. stress response
- stress response refers to physiological changes designed top deal with short term problems
26
what are the benefits of acute stress?
- designed to enhance fight or flight response
- increases energy, metabolism
- enhanced attention, vigilance
27
what is the most damaging type of stress?
- chronic stress has detrimental effects on the body and brain
- most damaging type of stress is unpredictable or uncontrollable stress
28
what is the sympathetic nervous system's stress pathway?
- direct projects from the brain (via spinal cord) stimulate adrenal medulla to release adrenaline
- rapid response increases HR, respiration, vasoconstriction, pupillary dilation
- increased blood flow gets more oxygen/glucose to muscles to prepare for activity
29
what is the hypothalamic-pituitary axis stress pathway?
- limbic regions send signals to hypothalamus
- hypothalamus releases CRH into pituitary, which releases ACTH in blood and hits adrenal cortex
- adrenal cortex releases glucocorticoid (CORT)
- CORT increases glucose metabolism and decreases inflammation to get the body ready for action and/or damage
- reorganizes energy usage, shuts hown unrelated systems like digestion
30
how do the central nervous system and immune responses influence each other?
- hypothalamus monitors levels of immunity proteins in the blood
- autonomic nervous system provides inputs to immune organs
- activation of B lymphocytes produces antibodies that neutralize pathogens
- T lymphocytes act as killer cells
31
how do B cells work to neutralize pathogens?
- scan pathogens and their proteins
- B cells produce antibodies that bind to that protein
- remove the protein to neutralize
32
how do the HPA system and chronic stress affect the immune response?
- HPA suppresses the immune response
- chronic stress reduced levels of both B and T cells
- can be observed in stressors that are severe, moderate, and somewhat mild
- ulcers associated with chronic stress are due to a bacteria present in most people, but stress reduced immune response and allows it to cause ulcers
33
how does social stress affect presence of B cells?
- being a loser in a game reduced B cells compared to control and winners
- winner had the most B cells, then control, then losers
34
how does stress affect cognition?
- acute stress, or just CORT, can enhance function of memory centres (hippocampus)
- lots of CORT receptors on hippocampal neurons
- CORT can increase excitability of these neurons, leading to better memory encoding
- acute stressors can enhance many types of cognitive function; memory encoding and retrieval, attention, short term memory
-cognitive-enhancing effects of acute stress partly due to increased release of monoamines in the brain (dopamine, norepinephrine), in regions like PFC
35
how does chronic stress affect the brain?
- chronic stress and chronic increases in CORT can lead to death of hippocampal and prefrontal cortical neurons
- chronic stress can impair memory formation and prefrontal functioning
- chronic injections of cortisol alone can also lead to neuronal atrophy and memory impairments in animals
- excessive monoamine release in brain can also impair cognitive functioning
- impaired cognitive function is adaptive because we shut down more complex systems in emergencies
36
how do stress and CORT affect testosterone release? why does this happen?
- increased CORT release causes decreased testosterone
- decreased testosterone is adaptive because it reduces energy usage mediated by testosterone
37
how does the effect of CORT on testosterone change over time?
- CORT's effect on testosterone disappears over time
- predictable stress is not as detrimental
- in a parachute training study, more days of jumping led to testosterone levels returning to normal
38
how does social stress affect primates?
- subordinate males have higher CORT levels, lower T, and shorter lifespans
- dominant males don't necessarily have higher T levels, but show faster recovery of T levels after stressor
- repeated social stressors can lead to long term reductions/increases in T in losers/winners
39
how does social stress affect humans?
- social stress is one of the most common forms of stress experienced by humans
- fear of embarrassment or close proximity to people is sufficient to activate stress response
- there was greater epinephrine release in commuters when the train was crowded
- more subtle social stressors like giving a talk induce large CORT release and activates sympathetic nervous system
40
what are the different types of aggression?
predatory: may be viewed as feeding behaviour
defensive: response to attack
social: unprovoked attack at same species for establishing/maintaining social hierarchy
41
why do cats sometimes play with mice rather than attacking them?
- cats playing with mice is a defensive behaviour
- if we give them anti-anxiety drugs and less play time, they kill more efficiently
42
how does testosterone affect aggression in animals?
- castration in males decreases social aggression
- testosterone replacement reinstates aggressive behaviour
- in females, removing ovaries (estrogen and T), doesn't make a big difference
43
how does testosterone affect aggression in humans?
- correlational studies with T levels are inconclusive
- aggression is not eliminated by castration
- aggressive behaviours are not reliably increased by T injection
- T injection does lead to slight increases in feelings of anger/hostility
44
what are some possible confounds for the relationship between T and aggression in humans?
- experience can alter levels of T; winners show increase in T, losers show decrease
- can occur even after a loss of sports team or political candidate you are backing
- T levels may be related to dominance more than aggression
- many aggressive outbursts in humans are overreactions to threat, and is better viewed as defensive aggression
- in animals, T levels are not correlated with defensive aggression
45
how do steroids affect aggression? what are some possible explanations?
- some evidence that steroids increase aggression
- link may be due to placebo effect and expectations
- some who use steroids may have been aggressive before
- aggression may be an indirect consequence of muscularity
- steroids are much more potent than T
- aggression may not be due to direct activation of T receptors, but due to negative feedback loops associated with steroids
46
how does serotonin affect aggression?
- negative correlation between serotonin and aggression
- more aggressive monkey had lowest levels of serotonin
- mice depleted of serotonin are hypoer-aggressive
47
how does GABA affect aggression?
- enhancement of GABA transmission reduces aggressive behaviour in humans playing a computer game
- engage in less attacking behaviours during the game
- take points away from the opponent even though it doesn't actually benefit them
