PSY1001 SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 1

Question 1

what are emotions?

Answer 1

display of feelings that are evoked when important event happens, relatively brief and occur in response to event (little agreement on set definitions

Question 2

how are emotions distinct from moods

Answer 2

mood is longer lasting, unable to be attributed to specific events or stimulus

Question 3

what is latin background for emotions

Answer 3

“to move” and “to stir up”

Question 4

what do many past definitions for emotion include

Answer 4

links perception, bodily responses or change. most recent (Keltner et al, 2013) includes our challenges and opportunities such as social goals
overall, links to internal states and take into account psychological response to specific stimulus

Question 5

define affect

Answer 5

any mental state involving an evaluate relationship with environment. important categories of emotions and mood

Question 6

define emotion (as subsection of affect)

Answer 6

usually relatively intense and short-lived affective condition which involves taking an evaluative position with respect to an intentional object (eg: anger, disgust)

Question 7

define mood (as subsection of affect)

Answer 7

less intense, longer lasting affective state not direction on any specific object, reflecting more diffuse and generalised evaluative processes (eg; calm, tense)

Question 8

whats affective well-being

Answer 8

generalised evaluative of affect that is more enduring than mood. severely impaired affective wellbeing is feature of affective disorders - depression, anxiety

Question 9

give 3 emotional components

Answer 9

reaction to stimulus, appraisal, organisation of responsee

Question 10

explain reaction to stimulus (emotional component)

Answer 10

physiological response attentional orientation

Question 11

explain appraisal (emotional component)

Answer 11

relevance to goals, evaluation of meaning

Question 12

explain organisation of response (emotional component)

Answer 12

overt actions, facial expressions

Question 13

name 2 main models for how emotions relate to one another

Answer 13

discrete/categorical, and dimensional

Question 14

outline discrete (categorical) model for emotions

Answer 14

sets of basic and fundamental emotions which are innate, universally irreducible (which is why they are basic). correspond to specific neurophysiological systems. facial expression of emotion is universally recognisable, and number of basic emotion vary

Question 15

what are some basic emotions included in the discrete model, according to Ekman, or Plutchik

Answer 15

Ekman (1973): 6 basic emotions which are now seen as 7
Plutchik (1980): also included acceptance/trust, and expectancy/anticipation

Question 16

how did Ekman find evidence for basic emotions (discrete models)

Answer 16

South Fore Tribe (New Guinea), never exposed to western culture, asked ppts to imagine specific sutuations and videotaped emotions, 86% accurately identified by US students
recently replicated in UK, US (2010)

Question 17

give 3 evaluative points against basic emotion (criticisms of discrete theory)

Answer 17

1. facial expression doesn’t reflect emotion but is social tools for communication (can smile when sad)
2. context where emotion showed important
3. universality in facial expression of valence of emotion chosen (positive/negative) but less in individual basic emotion (fear/anger) in Himba tribe

Question 18

explain Circumplex model of affect (dimension model of emotion)

Answer 18

emotion arises from 2 dimensions = pleasure and arousal (instead of many separate and discrete emotions)
each emotion is linear combination of these 2 dimension

Question 19

according to circumplex model of affect (dimensional emotional model) what is happiness and anxiety?

Answer 19

happiness = high pleasure and moderate arousal
anxiety = low pleasure and high arousal

Question 20

define Darwins theory of emotion

Answer 20

emotion is innate, unlearned, biological response consisting of complex set of movements

Question 21

how did Darwin believe emotion envolved

Answer 21

allows humans and animals to survive, and reproduce
feelings of fear = fight/flight
feelings of love = seek mates & reproduce

Question 22

In Darwins theory of emotion, why is emotion expression universal, and why is understanding other species emotion important?

Answer 22

emotion expressions are consistent within and across species (universal)
understanding other species emotion allows safety and survival = understand if animal is defensive, if interactions will threaten survival

Question 23

define James-Lange emotions theory

Answer 23

emotions are experience of sets of bodily changes that occur in response to emotive cues in world

Question 24

outline how the James-Lange emotion theory works

Answer 24

1. emotion producing situation elicits an appropriate set of physiological response (tremble, sweat) and behaviours (clench fist)
2. brain receives sensory feedback from muscles and organs producing these responses
3. feelings of emotion results from this feedback

Question 25

apply James-Lange to meeting a bear

Answer 25

meet bear, you run, interpret run as fear

Question 26

give critical evaluating points of James-Lange, from Cannon (1927; 1931)

Answer 26

-autonomic activity doesn't differentiate all emotion states -same bodily changes occur in non-emotional states such as fever, exposure to cold -separating organs from brain in animals doesn't impair emotion behaviour -body changes too slow to be a source of emotive feeling (sweat production takes while) -artificial activation of body insufficient to generate emotion (increased adrenaline to increase individuals HR)

Question 27

outline Cannon-Bard thalamic theory of emotion

Answer 27

hypothalamus are involved in emotional response to stimuli physiological change in body, subjective emotive experience occurs simultaneously response inhibited by neocortical regions, and removing cortex allow uncontrolled emotive displays (sham rage)

Question 28

how is decortication, or lesion studies/sham rage support Cannon-Bard thalamic theory of emotion

Answer 28

decorticated cat shows sham rage (an inappropriate anger outburst) lesions (Phineas Gage) to prefrontal cortexes show problem to emotional processing given that removing cortex doesn't eliminate emotion, undermines James-Lange theory

Question 29

what is Schachter and Singer's theory of emotion?

Answer 29

physiological arousal alone doesn't explain all emotional reactions, and can be interpreted as any emotion= requires cognitive assessment to determine whether state of arousal corresponds to anger/fear/etc emotion is determined from both perception of physiological response, and cognitive appraisals

Question 30

outline Schachter & Singer research study (1962) with adrenaline injection

Answer 30

ppts told received vitamin (was actually adrenaline/or placebo) 4 conditions: anger provoking situ, neutral situ, either informed about potential side effects/not those informed reported less anger due to appraisal of physiological response determined emotion (attributing side effect to jab)

Question 31

outline how suspension bridge study supports Schachter-Singer

Answer 31

male ppt more likely to contact researcher following suspension bridge, due to attributing arousal to attractions

Question 32

define appraisal

Answer 32

emotions extracted from our evaluations of event causing specific reaction

Question 33

name 5 social factors which implicate emotion (Parkinson & Manstead, 2015) - with examples

Answer 33

1.objects which emotion directed to has social directions (anger to someone who insulted us) 2. emotion appraisal depend on social factor (insult taken more seriously if others show shock) 3. emotion affects others (your anger leads to counter angers) 4. emotions elicit social emotional sharing (share with others) 5. regulate emotion due to impacts on others (anger suppressed to maintain a positive relationship)

Question 34

define emotion contagion

Answer 34

tendency to automatically mimic and synchronise expression, vocalisation, postures and movements with those of another person and, consequently to converge emotionally

Question 35

name 2 functions for emotion contagions

Answer 35

enable emotional understanding and identification with others provide proto-organising state that enables or prevents cooperative responses

Question 36

provide evidence for emotion contagion in the home - Joiner (1994)

Answer 36

living with a depressed individual more likely to become depressed themselves

Question 37

provide evidence for emotion contagion in the workplace - Totterdell et al (2004)

Answer 37

looked at spread of affect in employee networks in 2 organisations. found employees affect could be predicted from weighted average of everyone else in network

Question 38

provide evidence for emotion contagion in the community - Fowler and Christakis (2008)

Answer 38

conducted a 20 year community study of 4739 people, found individuals happiness relates to those they connected to (even in indirect connections)

Question 39

how can emotion contagion also be shown through social networks (not limited to face to face)

Answer 39

Kramer, Guillory & Hancock (2014)- manipulated emotive content on facebook. when positive expression reduced, individual post less positive posts. when negative expression reduced, individual posts less negative posts. Coviello et al (2014)- seeing rainfall on facebook influenced emotional content of a user status message (direct influence) and emotional content of status message of friends in cities where no rain! (indirect influence)

Question 40

state the 2 mechanisms of emotion contagion

Answer 40

reactive and inferential

Question 41

outline the reactive mechanism of emotion contagion

Answer 41

automatic processes that occur without awareness (eg; motor mimicry), also known as primitive emotional contagion

Question 42

outline inferential mechanism of emotion contagion

Answer 42

conscious processes that occur through social appraisal of other peoples emotions or by social comparison (eg; my friends seem happy, perhaps I am too)

Question 43

what is motor mimicry (primitive emotion contagion)

Answer 43

perception of behaviour enough to make others behave same, automatic mimic gestures (eg; yawning) - emotions communicated through unintentional imitaiton of expressive gestures, followed by facial feedback and resulting in emotion contagion

Question 44

define primitive emotion contagion

Answer 44

mimicry and interoceptive feedback from facial expressions

Question 45

what is primitive emotion contagion feedback hypothesis

Answer 45

2 mechansism: 1. cognitive: people make inferences about what they are feeling based on their facial expression 2. physiological: physical position of muscle in face can influence emotion

Question 46

what study led to the primitive emotion contagion feedback hypothesis (Stack, Martin, Stepper - 1988)

Answer 46

ppt grip pen inbetween teeth/lips whilst watching video = rating video funnier when inbetween teeth (smiling)

Question 47

provide critical evaluations of primitive emotion contagion

Answer 47

- in Stacks study, only one positive emotions measured (difference shown due to relative comfort/pleasantness of specific facial position?) - recent studies didnt replicate result - effect sizes for facial feedback too small to explain large contagions - influenced by individual susceptibility to contagion

Question 48

explain the influence of social appraisal in emotion contagion

Answer 48

physical expression mimicry isn't needed, and emotion contagion also occurs via inferential processes (social appraisals) when we understand implications of other peoples emotive expressions which affects our appraisal of same object/event eg: less amused by potentially offensive joke if others look upset

Question 49

give resarch into the influence of social appraisals on emotion contagion

Answer 49

ppts who see others expressing regret over decisions of fairness in resource-allocations anticipate regret too

Question 50

why are social appraisals social processes

Answer 50

appraisals assess relevance of what is happening for social as well as personal identities - events concerning our social group affect us emotionally

Question 51

explain how emotion can influence our behaviour (emotions as social information model - EASI)

Answer 51

emotional expression provides info to observer which infleunces behaviours via observer inferences and non-inferential affective reactions these processes either converge/compete, depend on observers info processing and relational factors (eg; cultural norms, expressive method)

Question 52

what are observer inferences in EASI model

Answer 52

observers infer info about others feelings, attitudes, intentions based on their emotive expressions, use this as evidence of how they should act

Question 53

what are non-inferential affective reactions in EASI model

Answer 53

emotions may spread directly from expressor to observer via emotion contagion processes= 1. emotion contagion 2. embodied response 3. emotional forms of empathy

Question 54

in EASI model, how do we decide which route to take

Answer 54

- depth of info processing = more resource demanding process is likely if individual has enough cognitive resource - perceived appropriateness of others emotion = if appropriate has more direct consistent inferential implications

Question 55

what is reverse appraisal

Answer 55

drawing on knowledge of appraisal-emotion associations to make inference on others appraisal, in turn influencing own appraisal, emotion, behaviour

Question 56

explain prisoner dilemma games in reverse appraisal

Answer 56

if others express anger, ppts infer they're dissatisfied, direct blame externally as believe other play unliklely to cooperate, so ppt less likely to cooperate themselves (imply interpersonal effect of facial expression can also be context dependent)

Question 57

explain gaze-cued appraisal

Answer 57

someone elses gaze directs attention towards an environmental object - emotion associated with patterns of gaze toward/away from object has direct effect on others by influencing attention

Question 58

explain research evidence of gaze-cued appraisal

Answer 58

disgust faces associated with visual stimuli led to less positive evaluations, only if eyes directed toward than away. anger faces gazing at a fear face makes more likely ppt labels target faces as fear (easier to interpret emotive meanings if given in plausible interpersonal context)

Question 59

explain embodied processes

Answer 59

perception of someone elses expressive behaviour directly activate brain region used for expressions instead of during perception, without needing expression itself to make signal

Question 60

define social sharing of emotion

Answer 60

when individuals communicate openly with one or more persons about circumstances of emotion eliciting event and about their own feelings and emotional reaction

Question 61

when does social sharing occur, how often

Answer 61

shortly following an emotive eliciting event, repetitive, is shared with multiple people

Question 62

what affects frequency of emotion social sharings

Answer 62

valence (positive/negative) or type of basic emotion does not impact, but more intense emotion are shared more

Question 63

what does social sharing of emotions lead to with other

Answer 63

interpersonal dynamic (similar to self disclosure) and serves to 1. strengthen social bond between individuals (those sharing are liked more) 2. distribute some info on important event in a community (sharing anger to let others know about significant events)

Question 64

explain social motive of emotion regulating when down-regulating positive emotion

Answer 64

social norms of expressions in social contexts may not be appropriate (parent feels need to show anger when disciplining child)

Question 65

outline social motive of intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation

Answer 65

interacting with others in order to improve own emotions, as might happen when sharing emotions or seeking company when feeling anxiety

Question 66

explain extrinsic formulations of interpersonal emotion regulation

Answer 66

doing things to change others emotion, involving intrapersonal/intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation as happens when we try to contain our own anxieties to reduce friend anxiety

Question 67

explain self-report scales for measuring emotion

Answer 67

most common is Basic Emotions Scale number of item per dimension of effect (increase reliability) response format- choose timescale, and nature of experience can also use face (less culture-specific, but more ambigious or restricted like emoji)

Question 68

give issues of self-report scales for measuring emotion

Answer 68

requires self-awareness, and undersanding of emotion only captures point in time social desirability (less reporting negative emotions) alexithymia

Question 69

whats alexithymia

Answer 69

deficiency in processing and understanding of emotions

Question 70

explain diary studies method for measuring emotions

Answer 70

emotion recorded at regular intervals/response to signal sent on a quasi-random schedule, or whenever designated events occur use phone to send reminders

Question 71

evaluate diary study method of studying emotions

Answer 71

increased ecological validity (experience recorded in context of daily life) less issues of memory recall, examines change over time but ppt burden= biased toward high motivation and conscientious ppts so a low response rate

Question 72

explain affect grid for measuring emotion

Answer 72

based on 2 dimensions - pleasure and arousal continuums single items scale to measure action

Question 73

evaluate affect grid method for measuring emotion

Answer 73

better than multiple items questionnaire (time consuming, inappropriate with repeat trial) but requires training respondents

Question 74

name 3 non-linguistic alternative measures for measuring emotion

Answer 74

neuroimaging, physiological measures (HR, BP, sweating and skin conductance), recording facial expression

Question 75

evaluate using neuroimaging as non-linguistic measures of emotion

Answer 75

restrictive environment in scanner to elicit emotion, need validation from self reports emotion is complex and likely to use network of brain regions

Question 76

evaluate non-linguistic alternative physiological measures of studying emotions

Answer 76

pleasure and arousal seem to be related to physiological responses, but mapping to particular emotion is imprecise, cannot distinguish all of emotion

Question 77

evaluate non-linguistic alternative measures of recording facial expression when studying emotion

Answer 77

coding of behaviour to analyse emotion is complex, facial expressions sensitive to persons valence of emotional state facial expression is not always direct reflection of internal state

Question 78

name linguistic alternative measures for studying emotion

Answer 78

cognitive measures qualitative accounts peer reports sentiment analysis from text

Question 79

outline cognitive measures of studying emotion

Answer 79

stroop style task to assess nonconsicous accessibility of emotions

Question 80

outline qualitative accounts of studying emotion

Answer 80

interview, focus group, diary entries rich data but idiographic/person centered so it are hard to generalise

Question 81

evaluate peer report as measure of emotions

Answer 81

no access to persons internal experience, subjective, requires good knowledge of the person

Question 82

whats a weakness of sentiment analysis from text when studying emotion

Answer 82

contextual ambiguity

Question 83

how best should emotions be studied

Answer 83

by multi method approach, choice depending on RQ no gold standard measures and all are relevant, its not possible to capture construct of emotion with single measure alone

Question 84

outline emotion elicitation in research example

Answer 84

film clips eliciting specific emotion, International Affect Picture System IIAPS (pictures normatively rated on dimensions of pleasure dominance arousal)i

Question 85

give a research study on effectiveness of affect induction

Answer 85

ppts randomly assigned to pleasant/un affect groups, underwent 4 different affect induction procedures (recall of salient event and music, viewing images and music, guided imagery, posing face/voice/body) found all4 effective in inducing affective state (image+music was most effective)

Question 86

define, and give the 3 reasons for Schadenfreude

Answer 86

pleasure taken in anothers misfortune - envy, feeling other deserves to suffer, feeling inferior

Question 87

how is Schadenfreude used in emotion research

Answer 87

emotion carry positive or negative social consequences and is selected using political, or moral norms. it has clear social dimension, so experimentally induce an emotion and measure