Week 10 Flashcards
Describe emotions
Emotions are organised psychological and physiological reactions to changes in our relationship to the world. They are partly subjective and partly objective.
What are the characteristics of the subjective experience of emotion
- it is usually temporary, having a beginning, middle and end. Moods tend to last longer.
- Can vary in intensity and be positive or negative
- Alters thought processes
- Triggers an action tendency; motivation to behave in certain ways
- passions that you feel whether you want to or not.
The objective aspects of emotion include
Learned and innate expressive displays and physiological responses.
Explain James’ Peripheral Theory (or James-Lange theory)
People experience emotions based on observations of their own physical behviour and peripheral responses.
Describe observing peripheral responses
The brain interprets a situation and automatically directs a particular set of peripheral physiological changes. We are not conscious of the process until we become aware of the bodily changes. At that point we experience an emotion.
Discuss evaluating James’s theory
Research shows that certain emotional states are associated with certain patterns of autonomic activity. Different patterns of autonomic activity are tied to specific emotional facial expressions.
Explain the facial-feedback hypothesis
involuntary facial movements provide enough peripheral information to create emotional experiences.
this is why people with spinal cord injuries and thus peripheral responses can still experience intense emotion.
Explain Cannon-Bard theory
According to Cannon’s central theory (Cannon-Bard) emotion starts at the thalamus, which sends signals simultaneously to the autonomic nervous system and the cerebral cortex, where it becomes conscious.
Explain updating Cannon’s theory
Recent evidence suggests that the thalamus does not produce the direct central experience of emotion but that activity in specific brain areas produces feelings associated with various emotions.
Different parts of the CNS may be activated for different emotional and different aspects of the total emotional experience.
Explain cognitive theories of emotion (Schachter-Singer theory)
Emotions are produced by feedback from peripheral responses and by a cognitive interpretation of the nature and cause of the bodily responses.
Explain attribution (arousal)
the process of identifying the cause of an event. Physiological arousal might be attributed to one of several emotions depending on the information available about the situation.
Explain the excitation transfer thoery
Physiological arousal form one experience can carry over to affect emotion in an independent emotional situation.
Prior arousal can be attribute, their by intensifying feelings.
Lazarus’ cognitive appraisal theory suggests
That our emotional is a result of evaluation of how an event affects our wellbeing.
the reaction will be positive or negative depending on whether we see the event as advancing our personal goals or obstructing them.
Explain the conceptual act model of emotion
Core effect - pleasant or unpleasant feelings is distinguished from emotion.
Emotion results when we attach out feelings a category label- such as guilt, shame, anger or resentment.
Cultural language and training has taught us to use.
Explain innate / universal expressions of emotion
Darwin proposed that some facial expressions are universal and that these are genetically determined.
Ekman and Friesen identified six emotions that have been associated with universal facial expressions. These are surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness and sadness.
