Schachter and singer Flashcards
Background
early studies done assumed the presence of a physiological state.
Psychology being investigated (4)
- Physiological + cognitive
- cognitions arising from a situation can be interpreted via past experiences allowing us to label the emotion
- when someone experiences an emotion, physiological arousal happens
- this may result in misinterpretations of the emotion as it is based on the physiological arousal
What are evaluative needs
pressures acting on an individual in such a state to understand and label his bodily feelings
What was a basic assumption at the start of the study
That emotional states are a function of the interaction of such cognitive facors with a state of psycholgoical arousal
Three propositions
Psychology being investigated
- If a person is physiologically aroused and there is no immediate explanation, the arousal will be labelled as a particular emotion based on the info available
- If a person is physiologically aroused and there is an appropriate explanation, there is no need to seek further info to label that emotion (no evaluative needs will arise)
- If there is no physiological arousal then any cognition we have we dismiss and there is no emotional experience
IV (3)
- injected by EPI or placebo
- knowledge of consequences of the injection
- emotional state
DV in anger condition
becoming irritable and angry
DV in euphoric condition
subject goes along with the stooge, imitates some behaviour
cognition
mental processes of acquiring and processing knowledge and understanding senses and thought
Emotion
body’s adaptive response to a particular situation
Adrenalin
hormone released in response to stress/ excitement
True effects of epinephrine (4)
- palpitation
- hand tremors
- accelerated breathing
- lasts around 15- 20 minutes
Two most common theories of emotion
cannon bard and two factor
Two factor theory what is
when someone is fared with danger, the physiological effects come first followed by an emotion and then a cognitive interpretation
Cognitive interpretation meaning
labelling feelings in terms of knowledge of the immediate situation
Good example explaining two factor theory
- a man walking alone down a dark alley, a figure with a gun suddenly appears.
- The perception-cognition “figure with a gun” in some fashion initiates a state of physiological arousal;
- this state of arousal is interpreted in terms of knowledge about dark alleys and guns
- and the state of arousal is labeled “fear.”
Method
lab experiment with controlled observation and self-report questionnaires
data collection
observation (through one way mirror) and self-report
design
Independant measures design
Aim 1 (informed)
to test whether, if someone who is in a physiological state and is informed on how and why their body will react, they will not need to look for a cognitive interpretation
Aim 2 (misinformed)
To test whether a misinformed and ignorant person in a physiological state will look for a cognitive interpretation
Aim 3 (describe emotions)
test whether ppts are experiencing and can describe emotions based on their physiological state.
what was injected in the placebo (control) condiiton
saline solution
To test procedure, what three things had to be manipulated
- state of physiological arousal
- extent to which the subject has an appropriate explanation of his bodily state
- situations that explanations can be derived
Sample locale
University of Minnesota
What course did the sample do
intro psych
sampling technique
volunteer
volunteer to be part of a student pool of subjects
no. of ppts
185
how was physiological state manipulated
injecting ppt with epinephrine
Stooge behaviour in euphoric condition (5)
doodle on paper, crumples it then
threw it in wastebasket like he was playing basketball
makes a paper plane with the paper
played with hulla hoops
built tower with manilla folders
Stooge behaviour in anger condition (4)
began to answer questionnaire
made aggressive comments
was always answering same questions as ppt
tore up questionnaire
and hurls the pieces saying, ‘I’m not doing this anymore’
Categories of behaviour for anger condition (6)
agree
disagree
neutral
initiates agreement/ disagreement
watches
ignores
Categories of behaviour for euphoric condition (4)
joins in on activity
initiates new activity
ignores
watches
How many participants were ‘suspicious of the procedure’
11
What was the injection disguised as
Suproxin- a vitamin
Effect of injections on bodily state result
ppt in the epi felt it while placebo didnt
which group was most euphoric
EPI INF
What percent of ppt in EPI IGN made a connection between injection and bodily state
28%
What percent of ppt in EPI MIS made a connection between injection and bodily state
16%
least euphoric group
Placebo
Conclusion
all aims were supported providing evidence for the two factor theory of emotions
Give two examples of closed questions used to measure mood including the answer choices
Q how angry/ irritated would you say you feel at present
A Five choices given from ‘I don’t feel at all irritated’ to ‘I feel extremely irritated.’
Q How good or happy would you say you feel at present
A Five choices from ‘ I don’t feel at all happy/ good’ to ‘I feel extremely happy/good’
to measure effects of false instructions
What extra questions were asked to EPI MIS?
3
- Did you feel any numbness in your feet
- Did you feel any itching sensation
- Did you experience any feeling of headache
Answers were using a four point scale- not at all to an intense amount
State two questions that was used to measure physical condition
Q Have you experienced any palpitation (consciousness of your own heart beat)
A Four choices from ‘not at all’ to ‘an intense amount’
Q Did you feel any tremor?
A Four choices from ‘not at all’ to ‘an intense amount’
How was bodily state measured at the end
By measuring pulse rate, taken by a physician.
When was was pulse rate measured
2
Immediately before the injection and after the session with the stooge
Arousal
Excitation of the sympathetic nervous system
Instructions given to participants (4)
- we would like to make various tests of your vision
- we are interested in how certain vitamin supplements affect the visual skills
- in particular we want to find out how a vitamin compound, Suproxin, affects your vision
- what we would like to do, then, with your permission, is to give you a small injection of suproxin.
Instructions regarding suproxin
The injection itself is mild and harmless
how many participants disagreed to the injection
1 out of 185
Instructions given to EPI INF (3)
I should tell you that some of our subjects have experienced side effects from the Surpoxin
These only last for 15 to 20 minutes
What will probably happen is that your hand will start to shake, your heart will start to pound, and your face may get warm and flushed.
injected and told true effects
Instructions given to EPI IGN
After the injection was given, the experimenter said nothing more relevant and simply left.
injected and said nothing
Instructions given to EPI MIS
I should also tell you that some of our subjects have experienced side effects from the Suproxin
These will only last for 15 to 20 minutes
What will probably happen is that your feet will feel numb, you will have an itching sensation all over parts of your body and you might get a slight headache.
injected and told false effects of the drug
Name two behaviours named as joins in activity
Euphoria
- made or flew paper airplanes
- threw paper basketballs
if subject entered the stooge’s activities
Name two behaviours named as ‘initiates new activity’
Euphoria
laughing
throwing paper basketballs
How was ‘initiates new activity’ operationalised (2)
- if participant gave creative euphoria
- if they initiated euphoric behaviour outside of stooge’s routine
Describe disagrees, in anger condition
- subject makes comment indication that he disagrees with stooge’s comments
- e.g., take it easy, they probably have a good reason for wanting this information
Describe behaviour in agrees, anger condition
- makes comment indication that he agrees to stooge’s comment
- e.g., subject who responded to comment on father’s income by saying, ‘I don’t like that kind of personal quesiton either.’
Experimenter instructions during the euphoria condition and anger condition
Both of you had the shot and you both be taking the same tests on vision.
What I ask you to do know is just wait for 20 minutes. The reason for this is simply that we have to allow 20 minutes for the suproxin to get into the bloodstream
Before looking at the questionnaire, in the anger condition, what does the stooge say to the ppt
I really wanted to come for an experiment today, but I think it’s unfair for them to give you shots. At least they should’ve told us about the shots when they called us; you hate to refuse, once you’re here already
Instructions given before the self report was given
2
We have found that there are many things beside suproxin that affect how well you see.
To understand the data we collect on you, then, we must be able to figure out which effects are due to other causes and which are caused due to suproxin
Results for the differences in the epinephrine condition and saline condition
no stats
Ppts in EPI condition experienced more physiological response than those in the placebo conditions
e.g. higher pulse rates, more palpitations and more tremors
Result of bodily state of epi and placebo
no stats, evidence
Mean scores of subjects in any EPI conditions were greater than the corresponding scores of the placebo conditions
How many participants were excluded because they had no difference in bodily state after injection
4 euphoria
1 anger
Individual differences in bodily state
Some EPI subjects did not report any palpitations or showed no increase in pulse
How were the scores on the euphoria self report made
Subtract the value of point checked on irritation scale from value checked on happiness scale
Positive value means happier and better the subject feels
Results for the euphoria self reports
EPI INF were less euphoric than EPI MIS (p<0.01)
EPI INF were less euphoric than EPI IGN
There was no difference between placebo and other groups
Results for the euphoric observations
EPI MIS had most with 22.56
EPI INF had least with 12.72
Why were anger self-report results not likely to be valid
Because participants were scared to endanger the extra points by admitting their irritation to the experimenter’s face or spoiling the questionnaire
What are self-informed subjects and how were they identified
they are participants in EPI IGN and EPI MIS that clearly attributed their physical state to the inejction.
This was shown in their answers to the open ended questions saying ‘ the shot gave me the shivers’
Results of self informed subjects
They are less angry than other subjects and also less euphoric
Results for anger self reports
EPI INF had the highest anger score of 1.91
EPI IGN had the lowest with 1.39
Results for anger observations
EPI IGN had the highest anger score of 2.28
EPI INF had the lowest of -0.18
Ethics of deception
ppts thought they were receiving suproxin.
They also thought that the confederate was another real participant who had been injected
Ethics of protection
participants were injected, which could have caused physical pain.
Also they were in situations that could bring out euphoria and anger meaning their psychological state was not the same once they left
Ethics of confidentiality
Any data should not be identifiable as a single participant’s response
All we know is that the participants are male students at the university of Minnesota
Ethics of debreifing
- after a study has been completed, participants should be told about the true aim of the study
- this guideline was broken as after the self-report, researchers explained the deception of the injection
Summary of procedures
5
- instructions given by experimenter
- injection of adrenaline or placebo
- informed/ partly informed/ not informed of effects
- euphoric/ anger conditions
- self report of mood and physical conditions
Evaluation point about ethics
The study breaks ethical guideline of no deception
ppts believed that they were being given a vitamin injection of suproxin but it was epinephrine
they also believed that the stooge was another real participant
explain strength of controls
- study was standardised so could easily be replicated to test for reliability
- actions of stooge in anger and euphoric conditions were standardised so another research team could replicate
Nature point
in all EPI conditions, pulse rate increases. This is a biological reaction as a hormone is being released into the blood stream
Nurture point
In euphoria condition, EPI MIS has the highest activity index score because participants may have been choosing environmental cues to explain their feelings
