Lecture Week 5 Flashcards
Define Emotion
- A state that involves psychological arousal
- cognitive appraisal of the situation that produced the state
- an outward behaviour that expresses the state ie smiling or crying
Describe Basic Emotions
- they are unlearned and universal
- reflected in facial expressions across cultures
- emerge in children based on biological timetable of development
- Usual basic emotions
- fear
- anger
- disgust
- surprise
- happiness
- sadness
Components of Emotion
- Cognitive - beleifs, appraisals, thoughts, expectations
- Physiological - Physical changes related to arousal e.g. sweat response, faster heart beat
- Behavioural - Expression, outward demonstration of emotional state e.g. door slamming
- Social/Cultural - Perceived rules for communication of emotion
Physiological Component of Emotions
Normal “Rest and Digest” state
vs
Aroused “Fight or Flight” state
Cognitive Component of emotions
- Emotion is a highly subjective experience
- Psychologists rely on participants verbal reports
Behavioural Component of Emotion
- People display emotions through chatersistic overt expressions
- Emotions are expressed in body language and non verbal bheaviour
Does motivation come before or after motivation
Motivation = energy + direction
►
Emotions = energy and it is directed towards a source
Emotion is complex product individual biopsychosocial context
How do we express emotion?
- Three Key Theories
- James-Lange Theory
- Cannon-Bard Theory
- Schachter-Singer Theory (two factor theory)
- Facial Feedback Hypothesis
- Evolutionary Theories
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
- Biological
- An event causes physiological arousal
- Experience emotion only after you interpret the physical response
e.g. walking late at night, heart pounds and begin to tremble
Interpret these physical response as fear.
Criticism of James-Lange Theory of Emotion
- We would need to have a unique pattern of physiological response for each emotion
- “complex emotion” is more than just Fight or Flight
e.g. screaming in terrified joy on a rollercoaster
- suggests that to feel emotion we must have an intact biological arousal response
- implies people with spinal cord injury cannot feel emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
- Situational
- An event causes a physiological and emotional response simultaneously
- One does not cause the other
e.g. walking late at night hear footsteps behind you, heart pounds, trembling and fear all at the same time.
Criticisms of Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
- Cannon-Bard improves on James-Lang by suggesting neurobiological approach that says amygdala and hypothalamus are involved in processing emotion
- suggests cognitive response and arousal occur simultaneously is too simplistic
Compare James-Lange and Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion
James-Lange says - Arousal first, then emotion
Cannon-Bard says - Arousal and emotion at the same time
BUT
Both theories underestimate the role of cognition
Schachter-Singer Theory of emotion (two factor theory)
- Event causes physiological arousal
- You must then be able to identify a reason and label for the arousal and emotion
e.g. walking late at night and hear footsteps, heart pounds and trembling begins. You know that walking at night is dangerous so you feel afraid.
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
- suggest muscular movements involved in facial expressions trigger corresponding emotions
e. g. smiling triggers happiness - studies demonstrating this effect is flawed
- often forgets about the role of cognition
- we can smile and express happiness but feel very angry
Evolutionary Theories of Emotion
- Emotions developed due to their adaptive value
- Emotions can be a social signal
e.g.
- fear would help to avoid danger
- anger helps survive dangerous or threatening situations
- disgust signals poisonous or rotten food
- evolutionary theories consider emotions innate reactions to stimuli
- babies show distress to communicate a need
Why do we express emotions
- Emotions have an evolutionary function
- Emotions are not instrumental
- weeping doesn’t solve the problem
- smashing plates doesn’t help
- emotions guide behaviour
- we respond and attend to emotion in people
- response is enhanced when emotion is highly aroused
- have survival value → monitors the environment and commences fight or flight function.
Cultural Similarities in Emotion
- There are six fundamental emotions that occur across cultures
- Happiness
- Sadness
- Anger
- Fear
- Surprise
- Disgust
- Cultures generally evaluate and describe situations in a similar way
e.g. pleasant vs unpleasant
expected vs unexpected
fair vs unfair
- Events that trigger specific emotions are similar across cultures
e. g. acheivement leads to joy
injustice leads to anger
Cultural differences – Display Rules
- Rules that dictate how emotions should be expressed
- Rules that dictate when and where emotional expression is appropriate
- Each culture has different display rules
- English has 550 words to express emotion – far greater than other languages
- Tahitians have no word for sadness
- Yoruba of Nigeria, Kaluli of New Guinea and the Chinese have no word for depression
- Lack of emotional concept words do not indicate that the emotion is absent from that culture
Gender Differences in displaying emotion
After a betrayal or harsh criticism
Men
- more likely to feel angry
- More likely to express anger in public settings
Women
- more likely to feel sad, hurt or dissapointer
- Respond with greater emotional intensity than men
Music and Emotion
- Music is associated with strong emotion which is elicited whenever music is played
- Associations are intimate and elicit rich emotional responses (weeping, chills, hair on the back of neck)
Emotion of Stress
Circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten well being and coping abilities
Types of Stress
- General
- Acute
- Chronic
- PTSD
General Stress
- Most frequent type of stress
- Resolves in a day or two
- No intervention required
Acute Stress
- Threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint
Chronic Stress
- Threatening events that have a long duration
- Often no readily apparent time limit
PTSD level of Stress
Enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event