Modules 35, 36, 37 Flashcards
emotions are a mix of:
expressive behavior
bodily arousal
conscious experience
ex: anger
expressive behavior: yelling, accelerating
bodily arousal: sweat pounding heart
conscious experience: thoughts, especially labeling !! angry, scared, better calm down
emotion
a full body/mind/behavioral response to a situation
chicken vs egg
thoughts vs body changes
do body changes that go with an emotion or thoughts (conscious awareness and labeling of an emotion) come first?
James-Lange theory on body vs thoughts
body before thoughts
emotion is our conscious awareness of our physiological responses to stimuli
“we feel afraid because we tremble, sorry because we cry”
if something makes us smile, we may then feel happy
Cannon-Bard theory on body vs thoughts
body with thoughts
we have a conscious/cognitive experience of an emotion at the same time as our body is responding, not afterward responses run parallel
adjusting the theory:
- emotions are not just a separate mental experience – when our body responses are blocked, emotions do not feel as intense
- our cognitions influence our emotions in many ways, including our interpretations of stimuli: ‘is that a threat’? then I’m afraid
Singer-Schachter/Two-factor theory on body vs thoughts
physical feeling –> identification/label –> REAL EMOTION
emotions do not exist until we add a label to whatever sensations we are feeling
found from spillover effect
Zajonc, LeDoux theory on thoughts vs body
body/brain without conscious thoughts
some emotional reactions, especially fears, likes, and dislikes, develop in a “low road” through the brain, skipping conscious thought
-showed image of scary stuff too fast for brain to comprehend what it was but the person still felt scared
spillover effect
arousal caused by epinephrine – subjects interpreted agitation to whatever emotion the others in the room appeared to be feeling– label “spilled over”
Lazarus
- even in emotional responses that operate without conscious thought, “top-down” cognitive functions such as appraisal of stimuli can be involved
- unconscious appraisal
sympathetic nervous system triggering physiological arousal
dilates pupils decreases salivation skin perspiration increases respiration accelerates heart inhibits digestion secrete stress hormones reduced immune system functioning
sympathetic nervous system physiological calming
pupils contract increases salivation dries skin decreases respiration slows heart activates digestion decreases secretion of stress hormones enhances immune system functioning
left FRONTAL lobe - emotions
positive / “approach” emotions: joy, love, goal-seeking
right brain hemisphere - emotions
negative / “withdrawal” emotions: disgusts, fear, anger, depression
detecting emotion - introverts vs extroverts
introverts are better at detecting emotions; extroverts have emotions that are easier to read
detecting emotion - priming
- we are primed to quickly detect neg. emotions, and even negative emotion words
- abuse victims are biased toward seeing fearful faces as angry
detecting lies - visible signs
polygraphs sometimes fail – they can think about traumatic events that
- visible signs: eye blinks decrease and increase after the lie
Duchenne smile
includes eye muscle – smiling eyes too
- associated with happiness
- perceived better than a fake smile - shows cooperation, altruism
gender - emotional expression and detection
women - greater and more complex emotional expression, also more skilled at detecting emotions in others
- people tend to attribue women’s emotionality to their dispositions and attribute men’s emotions to their circumstances
- mean? oh she’s always just a b.
- man? he’s going through a rough time
nicer gender neutral face = female, non nice = male
evolutionary theory of the origins of emotional facial expressions
- people blind from birth show the same facial expressions as sighted people – origin must be genetic
- survival: snarl (back off from competitors) surprised faces let us take in info
shared smiles build protective social bonds, which may explain why we smile more when facing someone
facial feedback effect
facial position and muscle changes can alter which emotion we feel
- fake a relaxed smile and you might feel better
- even extending a thumb or middle finger results in a more hostile vs positive perspective
experienced emotion - universal emotion (10)
10 basic emotions
Joy - mouth forming smile, cheeks lifted, twinkle in eye
Anger (brows drawn together and downward, eyes fixed, mouth squarish)
Interest (brows raised or knitted, mouth softly rounded, lip pursed)
Disgust (nose wrinkled, upper lip raised, tongue pushed outward)
Surprise (brows raised, eyes widened, mouth rounded in oval shape)
Sadness (brow’s inner corner raised, mouth corners drawn down)
Fear (brows level, drawn in and up, eyelids lifted, mouth corners retracted)
contempt
shame
guilt
2 dimensions of emotion: valence (james russell)
up-down:
pleasant, positive up
vs unpleasant, negative down
2 dimensions of emotion: arousal (james russell)
low arousal to high arousal (left to right)
flash vs persistent anger
flash - gives us energy and initiative to fight or otherwise take action when necessary
persistent anger can cause more harm than whatever we’re angry about
preventing persistent anger
distraction, constructive action, problem-solving, exercise, verbal expression, allowing others to be wrong
calm down and move on
catharsis (anger)
- myth refers to idea that we can reduce anger by releasing it by acting aggressively (yelling, punching a pillow)
- it usually worsense it and any release reinforces aggression, making it a conditioned habit
- somtimes releasing can cause harm and result in guilt
happiness
a mood, attitude, social phenomenon, cognitive filter, a way to stay hopeful, motivated, and connected to others
feel-good, do-good phenomenon
when in a good mood, we do more for others. reverse too: doing good feels good
adaptation-level phenomenon
when our wealth or other life conditions improve, we are happier compared to our past condition, but then we adapt to a “new normal” and most people need another boost to feel the same satisfaction
relative deprivation
feeling worse off by comparing yourself to people who are doing better
happiness correlated to
- high self esteem (in individualistic countries)
- optimism, outgoing, agreeable
- close friendships or satisfying marriage
- work and leisure that engage their skills
- active religous faith
- sleep well and exercise
happiness not as related to
age, gender, parenthood (having/not having children), physical attractiveness
lifestyle: increasing chances at happiness
- look beyond wealth for satisfaction
- bring your habits in line with your goals; take control of your time
- smile and act happy
- find work and leisure that engages your skills
- exercise, or just move
- focus on the needs and wishes of others
- work, rest, SLEEP
- notice what goes well and express gratitude
- nurture spirituality, meaning, community
- make your close relationships a priority
brain activity during a lie
light up anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex activity up
levels of happiness (timing)
happiest at 5pmish and then it goes downhill after midnight
happiest friday sat sund
wealth vs happiness
after lifitng you from exterme povertay makes no difference
genetic correlation of happiness
baseline level of what we adapt to and go back to always
and potentially genetic predisposition to happiness
