Lecture 6 Flashcards
Characterize emotions
- They are a complex reaction patter to personally relevant events (physical and social challenges and opportunities)
- They involve experiential, behavioural/expressive and physiological elements
- They are short-lived and specific (towards specific people or events)
What is the James-Lange theory?
- Emotions are the result of perceiving bodily changes in response to some stimulus in the environment
STIMULUS —> PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE —> EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
What are the issues with the James-Lange theory?
- It can take quite a bit of time for the body to respond to some types of emotional stimuli, and even longer for these bodily impulses to make their way back to the brain
- Bodily changes are not always enough to produce emotional experience
What is the Canon-Bard theory?
- Bodily response and emotional experience occur at the same time following a stimulus
Physiological response / STIMULUS \ Emotional response
What are the issues with the Canon-Bard theory?
- Our physiological responses to emotions are quite general
- It is not easy to distinguish the bodily changes associated with different emotions
- Why do we have the subjective impression that our bodies are doing things in different emotional states?
How does the study of emotional experience in patients with spinal cord injuries support the James-Lange and Canonbard theories?
- Ps incapable of receiving feedback from their autonomic nervous system
- Ps still experience emotions but they are less intense
What is the Schachter-Singer Two-Factor theory?
- Physiological changes are crucial for emotional experience, but emotion involves cognitive judgments bout the source of these changes, not just the perception of these changes
- Emotional responses are the result of an interpretative label applied to a bodily response.
What are the findings of the experimental test of the schachter-singer theory?
- Ps receive epinephrine injection and are told it is a vitamin. They were in two conditions where they were either meeting with an angry confederate or an euphoric confederate. Ps exposed to angry confederate reported feeling angry and ps exposed to euphoric confederate reported feeling happy.
Explain the functionalist view of emotions.
- Emotions serve important functions
- The emotional responses provide a toolkit for solving problems
- They help direct and prioritize our attention, interpret events, move us to action, mobilize resources, provide important social signalling functions
Explain the evolutionary perspective of emotions.
- Emotions are biologically-based, genetically encoded adaptations that emerged in response to selection pressures, threats to survival faced by our ancestors
- Can be found in other species
What does fear do?
- Increases vigilance to threat-related cues
- Focus attention on identifying available resources and avenues of escape
- Shifts motivational state
- Changes the sympathetic nervous system (increased heart rate, respiration) —> helps prepare for physical exertion
What does shame do?
- Key emotional response to threats to the social self
- Characteristic behavioural display; head down, slumped posture, averted gaze
- Thought to serve as a social signal that functions as an appeasement strategy to reduce social conflict
- Increase in pro inflammatory cytokines
What are focal emotions?
-Emotions that are particularly common within a culture
Ex: shame more common in interdependent cultures
Explain the Affect valuation theory.
Emotions that promote important cultural ideals will be more valued and will be more focal.
What is display rules?
Culturally specific rules that govern how, when and to whom people express emotions
