Emotions

Question 1

Define emotions.

Answer 1

Cognitive evaluations, subjective changes, autonomic and impulses to action. 
An internal process that modifies the way an organism responds to a certain class of external stimuli.

Question 2

Name some characteristics of emotions.

Answer 2

State associated with stimuli that are rewarding/punishing.
Gets your attention.
Transient.
Particular feeling state - bodily response.
Elicit particular external motor outcomes.
Associated with motivation to act.
Goal direct/ can be the goal themselves.
Emotions affect cognition.

Question 3

History of emotion research.

Answer 3

Case of Phineas Cage. 
Darwin's theory of the evolution of emotion. 
James-Lange. 
Sham rage. 
Limbic system theory of emotion
Kluver-Bucy syndrome.

Question 4

Explain the case of Phineas Gage.

Answer 4

Large iron rod through skull.
Most of left frontal lobe destroyed.
Motor skills worked but behaviour changed - impulsive, short-tempered, no planning.
Other studies with frontal lobe damage: poor decision-making, disinhibited, inappropriate behaviour.

Question 5

Explain Darwin’s theory of evolution of emotion.

Answer 5

Focus on outward expression of emotion. 
Emotions are a product of evolution. 
Innate. 
Serviceable. 
Communicative function. 
Adaptive (expression might evolve to enhance their communicative function + their original physiological function might be lost).

Question 6

What is antithesis?

Answer 6

Opposite messages are often signalled by opposite movements + postures (Darwin).

Question 7

Explain James-Lange peripheral feedback theory.

Answer 7

Stimulus - perception - bodily arousal - emotion.
Perception of bodily changes produce emotional experience.
Emotion is our awareness of physiological response to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Question 8

What is a weakness of James-Lange’s theory?

Answer 8

Based on introspection + correlational research.

Question 9

Explain the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion.

Answer 9

Stimulus - Perception - Emotion + bodily arousal.

Occur simultaneously. Physical reaction isn’t dependent on the emotional reaction.

Question 10

Is physiological arousal necessary for emotion?

Answer 10

Spinal cord injury affects generation of SNS responses and affects sensory feedback of body state.
May dampen emotional experience. Decline in intensities of feelings of fear + anger depends on how high up injury is.
Pure autonomic failure - nervous system no longer regulates organs - reports of less intense emotions.

Question 11

Explain cognition-plus-feedback-theory; two factor model of emotion (Schachter & Singer).

Answer 11

Physical arousal is not enough to explain range of emotions experienced. Cognitive label is needed.
Emotion is determined by cognitive labelling + physiological arousal.
Arousal state occurs - we look for cues as to why we feel the way we do.
Physical arousal still primary but arousal might be the same for a variety of emotions.
Look at diagram if necessary.

Question 12

What two things influence the type of emotion (Schachter & Singer).

Answer 12

Perception and thought about a stimulus.

Question 13

What influences the intensity of an emotion (Schachter & Singer).

Answer 13

Degree of bodily arousal.

Question 14

Explain one study which provided evidence for the Schachter & Singer model.

Answer 14

Adrenaline study.
IVs: adrenaline ignorant, adrenaline misinformed, adrenaline informed + control group; euphoria/anger context (confederate acted either one out).
Results: misinformed were happiest in euphoria context, ignorant were most angry in anger context.
Shows cues are important - euphoric confederate = interpret side effects as happiness.
Effects stronger in pps who had not been informed about side effects.

Question 15

Name a weakness of Schachter & Singer’s model.

Answer 15

Later attempts to replicate adrenaline study failed.
Marshall & Zimbardo - behaviour of the confederate had little impact. Arousal was negatively perceived.
Maslach - replication using hypnotic suggestion as source of arousal - unexplained arousal was AGAIN perceived negatively in all conditions.
Therefore - evidence is lacking.

Question 16

What is a weakness of all older emotion theories?

Answer 16

Highly theoretical.
Brain networks involved in emotion?
Newer techniques + lesion studies explore neural basis of emotion more.

Question 17

Explain the Papez circuit.

Answer 17

Circuit connections the hippocampus + thalamus as neural basis for emotional experiences.
Thalamus - receives sensory input + sends out to sensory cortices. Communicates with hypothalamus which implements body’s response.
Two circuits - cortical + thalamic.

Question 18

What did Maclean add to the Papez circuit?

Answer 18

Added amygdala.

Question 19

Name the weaknesses of the Papez circuit.

Answer 19

Some regions not primarily involved in emotion (e.g. hippocampus).
Different types of emotion maybe have different neural bases?
Later work implicated other brain regions.
Several emotion networks.

Question 20

How is disgust processed in the brain + evidence for this?

Answer 20

Anterior insula activated. Insula receives sensory input.
Damage = failure to experience disgust + recognise disgust ->
Similar neural system for viewing + feeling an emotion! Shows communicative function of emotion - emotions are contagious!
Evidence: anterior insula stimulation evokes feelings of nausea. Anterior insula transforms unpleasant sensations to bodily sensations.

Question 21

How does insula activity correlate with the perception of body states?

Answer 21

Pollatos - high awareness pps - more insula activity + higher experienced intensity of emotions.
Insula bridge between body + cognition?

Question 22

Are brain regions specialised for single or multiple emotions?

Answer 22

Multiple.

E.g. insula involved in processing range of emotions.

Question 23

Explain the emotion network.

Answer 23

Subcortical - hypothalamus (expression of emotion), amygdala (fear/anger).
Cortical - PFC (controlling emotion).

Question 24

Describe a study which showed the role of the hypothalamus in emotion expression (Bard).

Answer 24

Cat study.
1. Removal of cortex but not hypothalamus. Behaviour = sham rage.
2. Removal of both areas. Behaviour = no sham rage.
Results: hypothalamus critical in expression of aggressive responses. Cortex critical in inhibition + direction of aggressive responses.

Question 25

Define sham rage.

Answer 25

Coordinated, undirected emotion expression.
Disconnection hypothalamus + brain stem = no sham rage.
Electrical stimulation of hypothalamus = rage response.

Question 26

Describe the effects of stimulation on the MEDIAL and LATERAL part of the hypothalamus.

Answer 26

Medial - affective aggression (threat but not actual attack).
Lateral - predator aggression (silent-biting attack, no threatening gestures).

Question 27

Explain the Kluver-Bucy syndrome.

Answer 27

Dominant monkey with MEDIAL temporal lobe lesions (e.g. amygdala) - when returned to colony becomes highly submissive.
Unusual tameness + lack of fear.

Question 28

What is the role of the amygdala in emotion?

Answer 28

Connected to hypothalamus, insula + PFC.
Fear conditioning. Emotion stimuli activate amygdala (especially negative emotions!). Rapidly detects fear expressions.
Amount of amygdala activation to emotional pictures correlates with self-reported intensity/arousal.
Sensitivity to individual differences in fear reactivity.
Activated by most emotions but responses strongest for fear + anger.

Question 29

Describe the effects of amygdala lesions.

Answer 29

Display less intense negative emotions.
Worse at recognising facial expression of negative emotions.
Worse encoding/recall of emotion-related memories.
Can accurately label emotional content but report less emotional arousal to negative pictures.
Therefore, amygdala responsible for arousal component of emotional processing.

Question 30

Describe the role of the PFC in emotions.

Answer 30

Damage to PF regions - disinhibited/inappropriate expression of emotion.
Can dampen amygdala activity - fear extinction.
Lateral PFC important for regulating emotion.

Question 31

Describe a study that showed the effects of the lateral PFC in emotions.

Answer 31

Pps shown highly negative images. Either passive viewing or reappraisal condition (told to view images unemotionally).
Reappraisal reduced self-reported arousal ratings + amygdala activity.
LPFC activated with reappraising - evidence that PF involved in emotion regulation.

Question 32

Briefly explain the subcortical pathway for threatening emotional stimuli.

Answer 32

Emotional stimulus - thalamus superior colliculus - sensory visual cortex - amygdala - emotional response.
Low level route: emotional stimulus - thalamus superior colliculus - amygdala - emotional response.

Question 33

Explain Claparede’s study on amnesic patients.

Answer 33

Pricked patient when she shook hands.

Patient didn’t want to shake hands but couldn’t remember why.

Question 34

Explain the theory of unconscious emotions in regards to angry faces.

Answer 34

Angry faces conditioned with unpleasant stimulus.
Angry face flashed and masked with neutral face - not perceived consciously but there was still a physiological response!
Emotional processing can be automatic and unconscious!
fMRI recording - increased amygdala activity.

Question 35

Describe some evidence for the existence of the low level route of unconscious emotions.

Answer 35

Patients with damaged visual cortex (partial/total blindness).
Patients can ‘guess’ emotions in faces. No conscious awareness. ‘Unseen’ fearful faces can activate amygdala (not PFC).

Question 36

What were Ekman’s 6 standardised emotions/emotional expressions?

Answer 36

Fear, disgust, sadness, anger, happiness, surprise.

Later expanded his list - amusement, contempt, contentment. Some of these involved postural and facial components.

Question 37

What is simulation theory?

Answer 37

Understanding emotions in others by simulating them in ourselves.
Changes have been recorded in individuals facial muscle when viewing a face.

Question 38

What 2 things can disrupt simulation theory?

Answer 38

Biting a pen can disrupt recognition.

Botox can reduce emotion perception ability.

Question 39

What is facial feedback theory (Adelman & Zajonc) and what studies provide evidence for this?

Answer 39

Could sensory feedback from the expression contribute to the emotional feeling?
James-Lange - emotions arise from bodily states!
Strack: people who held a pen between their teeth inducing a smile - rated cartoons as funnier than those holding a pen to induce a pout.
However, this was not always replicated. Smiles not necessarily for happiness.
Hennenlotter: pps asked to imitate angry face - bottom impaired imitation ability - activity in amygdala lower.
Facial feedback modulates neural activity in amygdala.

Question 40

Where are fake smiles processed (Duchenne smile)?

Answer 40

Motor cortex. Voluntary.

Question 41

Where are real smiles processed (Duchenne smile)?

Answer 41

Frontal lobe + thalamus.

Lesion studies have confirmed the dissociation between voluntary facial movements + emotional facial expressions.

Question 42

Are emotions universal?

Answer 42

Strong universal component. Can cross cultural barriers.
Ekman said his basic emotions were universal.
Ekman’s five culture study - high accuracy across all cultures.
Ekman + Friesen’s studies in New Guinea - South Fore people = very limited contact with other cultures. Generally chose correct expression (but only had 3 to choose from!!!).
Cultural difference may be more than assumed. Papua New Guinea adolescents interpret gasping face as conveying anger and threat. Misinterpretations/misunderstandings between cultures. Could be different display rules. Are emotional expressions really innate?

Question 43

Briefly explain Ekman’s neurocultural theory of emotion.

Answer 43

Recognition/expression of emotion largely universal.
Skill not learnt, it is an evolutionary basis.
People use ‘display rules’ to control + override the operation of the universal facial affect program.
Display rules vary across cultures; they are norms that serve to intensify, diminish, neutralise or mask emotional displays that are automatic.
Culture also effects what events cause us to experience emotions + how to act on emotions.

Question 44

Is the perception of facial expression universal?

Answer 44

Cultural differences in recognition - attentional focus to different face features. Japan = eyes, US = mouth.

Question 45

What did Darwin propose the expression of emotion was (innate vs learnt) and what’s the evidence for this?

Answer 45

Innate.
Evidence: infants born deaf + blind exhibit normal facial expressions.
But.. these are less refined because of lack of practice and feedback.
Expressions more difficult to recognise in blind individuals than controls.
Expression of happiness is an exception - recognised accurately.