Exam 3: Emotion Flashcards
Emotion
A complex psychological state involving subjective experience, physiological response, and behavioral expression.
Emotional Valence
Refers to how pleasant or unpleasant an emotion is (e.g., joy = positive valence; fear = negative valence).
Emotional Intensity
Describes how strong or weak an emotional experience is.
Evolutionary Adaptive Value of Emotions
Emotions have evolved to help us survive and reproduce by guiding behavior (e.g., fear triggers escape from danger).
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Emotion results from our perception of bodily changes (e.g., we feel afraid because our heart races).
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Emotion and physiological responses occur simultaneously and independently.
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Emotions arise from a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of the situation.
Appraisal-based theories of Emotion
Emphasize that emotions result from evaluations (appraisals) of events in relation to personal goals.
Constructionist theory of Emotion
Suggests emotions are constructed from basic psychological ingredients (like core affect and conceptual knowledge).
Paul Ekman
Psychologist who identified six universal facial expressions of emotion and supported Basic Emotions Theory.
Basic Emotions Theory
Proposes a small set of biologically innate and universally experienced emotions with distinct neural signatures and distinct facial expressions.
Robert Plutchik’s Emotion Wheel
A model that organizes eight primary emotions and shows how they combine to form complex emotions.
Affective Neuroscience
The study of the brain systems that underlie emotion and mood.
The Papez Circuit
A brain circuit (including hippocampus, thalamus, cingulate cortex) thought to be important for emotional processing.
The Role of The thalamus in Emotion
Acts as a relay center; quickly routes emotional information to the cortex and amygdala.
The Role of The amygdala in Emotion
Key brain region for detecting and responding to emotional stimuli, especially threats; crucial for fear and emotional learning.
Patient SM
A woman with damaged amygdalae who shows impaired recognition of fear and lacks typical fear responses.
Urbach-Wiethe disease
A rare genetic condition that can result in bilateral damage to the amygdala (as in Patient SM).
Conditioned Emotional Response
A learned emotional reaction (like fear) to a previously neutral stimulus, through classical conditioning.
The Role of The hypothalamus in Emotion
Regulates physiological responses to emotions (e.g., changes in heart rate, hormonal release).
Pituitary Gland
The ‘master gland’ that releases hormones under the control of the hypothalamus.
The Posterior Pituitary Gland
Releases hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin directly into the bloodstream.
Oxytocin
A hormone involved in bonding, trust, and social behavior; often called the ‘love hormone.’
The Anterior Pituitary Gland
Produces and releases hormones like ACTH that influence stress and other body functions.
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
A system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many body processes; key to cortisol release.
The Role of The Insula in Emotion
Processes bodily awareness and subjective emotional feelings (especially disgust and empathy).
The Role of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) in Emotion
Involved in emotional awareness, error detection, and conflict monitoring; links emotion and attention.
The Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in Emotion
Critical for regulating emotions, decision-making, and evaluating emotional significance.
The Role of the Ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) in Emotion
Important for emotional regulation, value-based decision-making, and social behavior.
The Role of the Dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) in Emotion
Supports cognitive control over emotions; helps reappraise emotional situations.
The Role of the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) in Emotion
Evaluates reward and punishment outcomes; helps in flexible emotional responses and social decision-making.
