Q3 - Dev, Emotion, Social Flashcards
emotion facets (3)
- Physiological responses (e.g., changes in heart rate, respiration)
- Overt behaviors (e.g., smiling, baring teeth)
- Conscious feelings (e.g,. the actual feeling of the emotion)
basic human emotions (6)
- happiness
- surprise
- fear
- sadness
- anger
- disgust
physiological component
mediated by automatic NS
- sympathetic NS produces “fight-or-flight” response
- Innervates involuntary muscles and internal organs
- Innervates glands, controlling hormonal system
- stress hormones release (ex. epinephrine/adrenaline, glucocorticoides)
emotions theories (3)
- James-Lange
- Cannon-Bard
- Two-factor
James Lang
emotional stimulus -> bodily response -> conscious emotional feeling
- emotions start with physiological (autonomic) responses, which are then perceived by the CNS to create conscious emotional feelings
- merely adopting body postures for an emotion can actually lead to conscious experiences of that emotion
ex. holding a pen between the teeth, which mimics a smile, can induce increased happiness in human subjects
Cannon-Bard
emotional stimulus:
1. bodiy response
2. conscious emotional feeling
- physiological and conscious components of emotion are actually independent
- physiological arousal does not automatically lead to emotional feelings
ex. running elevates heart rate but doesn’t cause fear
Two-Factor
arousal and context are interpreted by the CNS to generate conscious feelings
- Sees emotional feelings as based on interpretation of the situation
–Falling sensation -> in a roller coaster, interpreted as safe, feeling of exhilaration
–Falling sensation -> crashing elevator, interpreted as unsafe, feeling of fear
Two-factor interpretation study
- Participants injected with epinephrine, causing increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Each participant placed with a colleague instructed to act in a different way: joyful or angry
results: Participants reported feeling the same emotion as the colleague
- they interpreted the physiological effects of the injection to be consistent with their expected outcome.
animals and emotions
fear behaviors are very similar across many mammalian species.
ex. startle, piloerection (hair standing on end), possible loss of bladder control, release of cortisol, increased heart rate, pupil dilation, and more.
- Neuroethology also suggests similarities in emotions, even for positive emotions such as joy
flashbulb memories
Very emotional events can lead to particularly vivid episodic memories (9/11, JFK assassination, challenger disaster)
- emotion can greatly increase memory encoding
- memories for highly emotional events do decay over time, and are prone to misattribution errors (such as other episodic memories)
- confidence is high
mood congruence
current mood fosters recall of memories of that mood
ex happy mood = recall of happy memories
- current mood acts as a cue and increases recall and retrieval
- Retrieval is increased if the mood during recall matches the mood during encoding.
emotions and brain regions relationship
- A single emotion activates many different brain regions.
- The same brain region can be activated by the more than one emotion
amygdala
emotion processing station
- Collection of subcortical nuclei in the anterior temporal lobe
- Collects emotionally relevant information from cortex and thalamus
- Coordinates behavioral and physiological expression of emotion
- Modulates brain centers related to memory and learning
central nucleus of the amygdala - emotional response expression
organizes the expression of emotional responses thru stimulation:
- species-typical defensive responses (e.g., in rabbits: freezing and lowered heart rate).
- positive or negative emotions, outbursts of rage
- Disruption leads to impairments of emotional learning in humans and other animals
central amygdala - fear-conditioning
bilateral amygdala damage
CS (a colored shape) paired with blast of noise (US)
- In normal and hippocampal patients, CS comes to evoke a strong skin-conductance response (SCR), due to emotional arousal
- In patients with bilateral amygdala damage, the US is effective, but the association with the CS is never learned
basolateral amygdala - increase storage of emotional memories
emotional events activate the amygdala
- Degree of amygdala activation predicts memory boost for emotional material.
- Amygdala activation also correlates with stronger feelings of “knowing” emotional material, both at encoding and recall.
how basolateral amygdala works
- Inputs from hormonal system (adrenaline) via the brain stem
- Outputs to the hippocampus
phobia
overwhelming, irrational fear of an object, place, or situation
ex. heights, spiders
- Possibly developed through social transmission (e.g., fear of flying develops after reports of airplane crash)
Systematic Desensitization - phobia therapy
present successive approximations of CS while patient stays relaxed.
- Eventually CS no longer elicits reaction
Systematic Desensitization procedure
- Phobic person learns to relax on cue (progressive relaxation).
- Present anxiety hierarchy—least fearful to most fearful contact with phobic object or event.
- Apply hierarchy sequentially while the phobic person remains relaxed; apply step gradually.
- Procedure can be slow but is generally successful and long-lasting.
PTSD
Obsessive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks persist long after exposure to the traumatic event.
- Individuals with PTSD fail to extinguish normal fear response- amygdala overactivation
- May involve overactive stress hormones.
trigger
many different stimuli reminiscent of original trauma.
PTSD and physiological reactions
- Cortisol levels remain high and persistent.
- Epinephrine may increase, so fear response lasts longer.
PTSD and drug treatment
Drugs like propranolol interfere with epinephrine, reducing stress reaction b/c it reduces emotional reaction to memory.
- the patient may be less likely to develop PTSD
Social/observational learning
learner actively monitors events involving other individuals and then chooses later actions based on their observations
- watching others, videos, reading
- more likely to conform with ppl we identify w/
True Imitation
Copying specific actions learned from another.
ex. not just hitting Bobo but hitting it the same way the adult did and yelling the same phrases
learning theories (4)
- Emulation
- Contagion
- Observational conditioning
- Stimulus enhancement
Emulation
Accomplishing the same overall goal as the model but in a different way.
ex. child might puncture Bobo, which is aggressive, but not in the exact same way as the adult modeled
Contagion
Inborn tendency to react to cues from other members of the same species.
e.g., A friend yawns, and then you do too
- complex, natural reflex
Observational Conditioning
When cues in the environment become associated with contagion reactions
ex. Monkey freaks out from seeing a snake, even tho has never seen one before, after seeing other monkeys freak out
- reacts to others’ fear and associates it w/ the stimuli
Stimulus Enhancement
When a teacher directs the attention of the learner to particular parts of the environment
ex. Parents point out wet spot on floor
- stimulus enhancement just makes associations more obvious
True Imitation
Copying specific actions learned from another in the EXACT same way
-Cognitively complex
- challenges behaviorism
Cheap knock-offs
Ways of learning that can seem like true imitation, but are actually simple and compatible with behaviorism:
- 4 theories of learning
true imitation test (2)
- two-action test
- “do-as-I-do”
Two-action test
Procedure:
Adult human models opened a box by a) poking pins out of its latch or b) twisting and pulling the pins out of the latch.
Next, young chimps and humans observedto see if they would copy the precisestyle of opening.
results:
Young humans and chimps can exhibit true imitation in this two-action test (though chimps less so than humans
Do-as-I-do task
Animals trained on a “do this” command, where reward is given only if the animal repeats the next behavior of the trainer.
ex. Trainer signs “do this,” then claps her hands; monkey must clap hands to get reward.
First, animal is trained on the concept of “do this” by using a standard set of actions.
Next, trainer demonstrates a novel action, never before rewarded.
Results:
Two chimps could complete 30 novel actions (Custance, Whiten, & Bard, 1995).
Dolphins can also learn this game.
Indicates an ability to cognitively represent the model’s arbitrary actions and repeat them!
Social transmission of information
observer learns something through experiences involving other agents.
ex. If you see someone lose their money at a soda machine, you probably won’t try that machine yourself.
social conformity
tendency to adopt the behaviors of the group
- we learn quickly how to behave
violence and media
Children exposed to videos of aggression often behave more aggressively when provoked.
e.g., 7–9-year-old boys who already scored high in aggression were more likely to assault other boys during a hockey game after watching a violent video
early social learning theory
Focused on the incentives for a behavior: punishments and reward
ex. Jill observes Bill crying, and sees his mom pick him up to sooth him.
Jill now knows that crying is reinforced and is more likely to try it
modern social learning theory
social learning is self-motivated (not needing explicit punishment/reward) and guided by cognitive appraisals
Bandura’s account of social learning (4)
- Presence of a model: increases/focuses attention to the situation
- Encoding of model’s actions: learner must store memories of the actions in an accessible format for later recall.
- Action reproduction: learner must be able to reproduce the actions encoded into memory (e.g., must be able to execute the dance move observed).
- Motivation: learner must have a reason to select the observed behavior
Imprinting
forming a close bond with first individual seen after birth.
Bond forms best immediately after birth
- after this critical period, bonds are harder to form
sensitive/critical periods
some forms of learning that are only available early in life, which may become difficult/impossible to learn after these periods
age-related decline
working memory is the first to decline
- Proactive interference: Older adults have learned much more and may be less able to prevent this from interfering with the formation of new memories
use it or lose it
Overall performance is only preserved in skills that are practiced throughout aging
- brain rewires if it feels a skill that was previously learned is no longer needed
