Lecture 6d: emotion

Question 0

what role does development play in emotion?

Answer 0

some emotion is learned (the secondary emotions), these are complex blends of emotions that develop with experience such as awe and inspiraton

Question 1

why might someone say that emotion is primitive?

Answer 1

because emotion is in your genes (at least the primary ones are), emotions that we naturally experience are experienced by all humans, in the same way and for the same reasons

Question 2

which facial expressions are universal? (7)

Answer 2

anger, happiness, fear, surprise, disgust, sadness, and contempt

Question 3

what effect do facial expressions have on your emotions?

Answer 3

emotion causes facial expressions, but facial expressions also cause emotion, this is called facial feedback
e.g., if you smile you will get happier

Question 4

mood contagion and facial expression

Answer 4

mood contagion is when your facial expressions effect the facial expressions and emotions of others
-this is especially true for babies

Question 5

are facial expressions influenced by culture?

Answer 5

yes, but people from one culture can most often identify what a person from another culture is feeling based on facial expression, some emotions are harder than others

Question 6

how would facial expression be influenced by context?

Answer 6

• facial expressions tend to occur people are around other people, but not as much when they are alone
• the same expressions may mean different things in different situations (smiling can mean good or very very bad)
• they can even be used for fooling people, rather than conveying emotion

Question 7

what happens in the brain when you experience emotion?

Answer 7

certain areas are responsible for certain emotions, if one part of the brain is damaged, you may not be able to experience that emotion anymore

Question 8

what part does the amygdala play in emotion?

Answer 8

it is responsible for fear, the fight or flight response, although, the fear can be suppressed by higher mental processing. once the amygdala recognizes a danger, there is autonomic arousal, and hormonal secretions. if you were to ever damage your amygdala you may have trouble experiencing fear, and may have trouble recognizing it in others

Question 9

what part do hormones play in emotion?

Answer 9

although the brain produces signals for generating emotions experience, it is the hormones that generate the actual physical experience of emotion. the adrenal glands are what releases the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, which then increases arousal and alertness.

Question 10

how does a polygraph machine work?

Answer 10

it measures the physiological activity (breathing, heartrate, sweating, ect.) it works based on the assumption that lying creates an emotional reaction associated with physiological arousal. in reality the polygraph can miss, or give false results.

Question 11

so can lies be detected through emotion?

Answer 11

there is no known physiological “signature” for lying to permit any method of lie detection valid enough

Question 12

the theory that thoughts cause emotions, by gregorio maranon (1924)

Answer 12

if emotion is only physiological arousal, increasing arousal with drugs should always cause emotional experiences. however this is not usually the case.

Question 13

cognitive appraisal theory of emotion (schachter & singer)

Answer 13

said that: emotions require physiological arousal, but a mental interpretation of the arousal is necessary for genuine emotion. they came to this conclusion by injecting people with norepinephrine and seeing what emotion they got. the emotions actually varied depending on the situation

Question 14

commonsense theory of emotion:

Answer 14

i tremble because i am afraid

Question 15

james-lange theory of emotion:

Answer 15

i feel afraid because i tremble

Question 16

cannon-bard theory of emotion:

Answer 16

the dog makes me tremble and feel afraid (the emotion and the physiological arousal are separate)