The science of emotional experience

Question 1

Define the term “affect”

Answer 1

Any mental state involving an evaluative relationship with the environment (basically ‘feelings’)

Question 2

What are two subcategories of affect?

Answer 2

Emotion and Mood

Question 3

What are some key differences between emotion and mood?

Answer 3

Emotion caused by specific event or object, are ABOUT something vs Mood may be unaware of cause
Emotion shorter but more intensity vs Mood enduring but milder
Emotion rises and dissipates quickly vs Mood slowly

Question 4

What are three commonly agreed features of emotion?
1. S____
2. A____
3. E____ r____

Answer 4

1. Situation
2. Appraisal (how you think about it, your interpretation of the situation)
3. Emotional responses

Question 5

Goals can be broadly defined as what?

Answer 5

Enduring or transient
Widely shared or idiosyncratic

Question 6

Once an emotion is elicited there is a co-ordinated response comprising what 3 systems?
1. E____ - s____ experience, i____ m____ r____ that comes with experiencing emotion
2. B____ - emotions affect our o____ d____, may be because emotions often serve a c____ function
3. P____ - includes c____ n____ s____ and p____/a____ nervous system

Answer 6

1. Experiential - subjective experience, internal mental representation that comes with experiencing emotion
2. Behavioural - emotions affect our outward displays, may be because emotions often serve a communicative function
3. Physiological - includes central nervous system and peripheral/autonomic nervous system

Question 7

What is a disadvantage of self-report scales?

Answer 7

Requires self-awareness and understanding of emotion

Question 8

What are two scientific ways of measuring facial expressions?

Answer 8

1. Facial coding - Facial Action Coding System (FACS) assesses 44 different muscle movements
2. Electromyography (EMG) - measuring electrical potential from facial muscles via placement of electrodes on face

Question 9

What does pride and embarrassment look like in posture?

Answer 9

pride = expansive body posture
embarrassment = diminutive body posture

Question 10

What are two ways vocal characteristics convey emotional states?

Answer 10

1. Voice amplitude (loudness)
2. Pitch (frequency)

Question 11

What did Hernstein et al (2009) show about emotions and touch?

Answer 11

People can accurately decode emotions through touch alone
Participants were able to decode anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness, gratitude, sympathy and love
Patterns of touch were associated with different emotions

Question 12

Which emotion has been hypothesised to be associated with the following brain regions?
1. Anterior cingulate cortex = s____
2. Insula = d____
3. Amygdala = f____
4. Orbital frontal cortex = a____

Answer 12

1. sadness
2. disgust
3. fear
4. anger

Question 13

What are two main measures of blood and sweat?

Answer 13

1. Cardiovascular (ie blood circulatory system) - measures such as heart rate, blood pressure, heart rate variability, cardiac output
2. Electrodermal (ie sweat glands) - skin conductance, applied current, more sweat increases conductance
   - measure as SCL (level) or short-duration skin conductance responses (SCRs)