Week 4-Emotion

Question 1

Define Emotion

Answer 1

“Cognitive evaluations, subjective changes, autonomic and neural arousal…
…that have effects on behaviour”

Question 2

Major theories in emotion research

Answer 2

Darwin’s Theory of the Evolution of Emotion (1872)-
Darwin’s theory of emotion focused on the communicative value of outward displays of emotion

Later models focused on the relationship between physiological arousal and emotion

James-Lange Peripheral Feedback Theory(1880)-The James-Lange model states that perception of bodily changes produce the emotional experience

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion(About 1920s)-The Cannon-Bard model states that perception of a stimulus elicits physiological reaction and emotional reaction simultaneously

‘Two factor’ model of emotion-Schachter and Singer (1960s)-Cognitive Revolution in Psychology
The Schacter-Singer ‘Two factor’ model states that emotion is determined by cognitive labelling PLUS physiological arousal

Question 3

How are emotions linked to motivation?

Answer 3

Emotions are often associated with motivation to act

e. g. anger -> ‘fight’
e. g. fear/anxiety ->‘flight’ / ‘freeze’

Emotions are GOAL DIRECTING and can be a goal in themselves

e. g. avoid anxiety-provoking situation
e. g. look for happiness

Emotions affect cognition
Link: emotions and decision making

Distinguishing between motivation and emotion is difficult

Question 4

Darwin’s Theory of the Evolution of Emotion (1872)

Answer 4

-Focuses on the Outward expression of emotion
Proposes that these are:
-A product of evolution -> similarities across species
-INNATE -> e.g. still shown by individuals born blind
‘Serviceable’ -> Have a practical function E.g., Fear expression widens the visual field
-Communicative function -> Enables one animal to interpret the emotion of another
– expressions might evolve to enhance their communicative function and their original physiological function might be lost

Question 5

Darwin’s Theory of the Evolution of Emotion (1872)

Answer 5

-Focuses on the Outward expression of emotion
Proposes that these are:
-A product of evolution -> similarities across species
-INNATE -> e.g. emotion showed by individuals born blind
-‘SERVICEABLE’ -> Have a practical function E.g., Fear expression widens the visual field
-COMMUNICATIVE function -> Enables one animal to interpret the emotion of another
– expressions might evolve to enhance their communicative function and their original physiological function might be lost

Question 6

What is Darwin’s principle of Antithesis?

Answer 6

Principle of Antithesis: Opposite messages are often signalled by opposite movements and postures

Question 7

James-Lange Peripheral Feedback Theory(1880s)

How did emotions come about?

Answer 7

Stimulus–>Perception–>Bodily Arousal—>Emotion
E.g.Stimulus (a tiger)–>Perception(Interpretation of stimulus-danger)–>(Pounding heart)–>(Fear)
-Idea: It is PERCEPTION OF BODILY CHANGES that PRODUCE the emotional experience(Bodily Mechanism/response-physiological response causes emotion)
-Changes in bodily state occur BEFORE the emotional experience
-Experience of emotion is our awareness of our bodily (physiological) responses to emotion-arousing stimuli: “I am trembling. Therefore I am afraid”

Question 8

Evidence for James-Lange Peripheral Feedback Theory(1880s)

Answer 8

Evidence was mostly from introspection and correlational research

Question 9

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion(About 1920s)

Answer 9

Idea: Perception of a stimulus elicits a physiological reaction and emotional reaction simultaneously
The physical reaction isn’t dependent on the emotional reaction, and vice versa
I see a snake –> I am afraid, and I begin to tremble.

Stimulus–>Perception–>Emotion response AND Bodily Arousal (not one after the other; HAPPENS AT THE SAME TIME, one doesn’t depend on the other)

Both theories state the importance of physiological arousal.

Question 10

Is physiological arousal necessary for emotion?

Answer 10

Spinal Cord Injury

1. Affects the generation of sympathetic nervous system responses
2. Affects sensory feedback of body state

Emotional experience?
Some evidence that this dampens emotional experience - decline in the intensities of feelings of anger and fear in patients, dependent on how
high up the injury (e.g., Hohmann, 1966)

Condition: Pure Autonomic Failure
- organ activity continues but the nervous system no longer regulates them
Report less intense emotions (Critchley, Mathias & Dolan, 2001

Question 11

‘Two factor’ model of emotion-Schachter and Singer (1960s)

Answer 11

Accepts that bodily arousal is primary(important) in emotions. BUT - thisarousalis the same for a wide variety of emotions, so physical arousal alone cannot explain the range of emotions we experience
A cognitive ‘label’ is also required
When a bodily state occurs, we look for cues in the environment to explain why we feel the way we do

• Degree of bodily arousal influences the INTENSITY of emotion
• Perception and thought about a stimulus influence the type of emotion

Question 12

Schachter & Singer’s model (1962)

COGNITIVE LABELLING ONTOP OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL

Answer 12

Told participants the aim of the experiment was to test a new drug on eyesight.
Actually injected with adrenaline –>adrenaline typically increases blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate etc.

Role of context- Environmental cues (euphoric or anger context of confederate)Side effects of the drug as happy or anger dependent on the environment. DON’T KNOW HOW to INTERPRET THIS, looked at environmental cues-.

-vs:
Difficult to replicate the study
Marshall and Zimbardo (1979) found that the behaviour of the confederate had little impact.
In addition, the adrenaline produced arousal which was negatively perceived.
Maslach (1979) also attempted to replicate Schachter and Singer’s study, using hypnotic suggestion as the source of arousal. Unexplained arousal was again perceived negatively in all conditions

Overall, evidence is lacking (Cotton, 1981, ‘A review of research on Schachter’s theory of emotion and the misattribution of Arousal’ European Journal of Social Psychology11(4):365 – 397)

Question 13

Evaluation of Emotion Theories

Answer 13

These theories focused on the relationship between bodily states, cognition and emotion
They are largely theoretical
-What about the brain regions involved in emotion?
Lesion studies and newer techniques (e.g. fMRI of brain damage) have told us much about the neural basis of emotion

Question 14

Prefrontal cortex role in regulating emotions

Answer 14

Evidence for prefrontal involvement in emotion regulation
Ochsner et al. (2002) presented highly negative images either:-
Passive viewing condition
‘Reappraisal’ condition (view them ‘unemotionally’)
Lateral prefrontal cortex was activated when reappraising
Reappraisal reduced self-reported arousal ratings and amygdala activity

Question 15

What does the prefrontal cortex do and what happens if it is damaged?

Answer 15

Dense interconnections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex; PFC can inhibit amygdala
Damage to prefrontal regions = disinhibited/inappropriate expression of emotion (e.g. Phineas Gage – Guided learning)
Prefrontal cortex can dampen amygdala activity (phobia treatment see anxiety lecture)
PFC = important for regulating emotion

Question 16

Brain regions and emotion regulation

Answer 16

Insula implicated in disgust and perception of body states

Amygdala is important for the arousal component of emotion (particularly for negative emotions)

Thalamus is important for expression of emotion (particularly aggression)

Prefrontal cortex connects to these regions and can regulate our emotions

Overlap between the processing of our own emotions and those of others, but there isn’t a simple one-to-one mapping between emotional categories and brain regions

Question 17

Ekman’s 6 basic emotions-Facial expressions

Answer 17

• Fear
• Disgust
• Anger
• Suprise
• Sadness
• Happiness

Question 18

Facial Expressions: Current Perspectives

Answer 18

Postural components as well as facial expression
E.g. Pride:Head tilted back slightly;Hands on the hips

Ekman expanded his list of basic emotions to include Amusement, Contempt, Contentment, Embarrassment, Excitement, Guilt, Pride in achievement, Relief, Satisfaction, Sensory pleasure, and Shame.
Some involve postural as well as facial components

Question 19

Simulation Theory-How do we recognise emotions?

Answer 19

We’ve already seen that brain system for experiencing and recognising emotions overlap.
Do we understand emotions in others by ‘simulating’ them in ourselves?
Changes have been recorded in our facial muscles when viewing a face (Dimberg et al., 2000)-SIMULATE OTHERS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS IN OUR OWN FACE. In order to recognise another person emotions.
Biting a pen length-ways can disrupt recognition (Oberman et al., 2007

BOTOX injections (which reduces muscular feedback from the face) reduces emotion perception ability.

Question 20

Facial Feedback Theory(Adelman & Zajonc, 1989)

Answer 20

Does sensory feedback from the expression contribute to the emotional feeling?
Link: James-Lange Theory ( bodily states determines emotion)

Strack, Martin & Stepper (1988)-People who held a pen between their teeth (inducing a smile), rated cartoons as funnier than did those who held a pen between their lips (inducing a pout)- Bodily state contributes to the feeling of emotion.
FORCED TO SMILE-FUNNIER

BUT (-ves)
Only slight change and not always replicated
Smiles not necessary for happiness

Question 21

Are Emotions Universal?

Answer 21

The communication of emotion has a strong universal component
E.g. you can watch a film in a foreign language and understand the emotions, if not the language

.. emotional messages can cross-cultural barriers
Ekman proposed that his 6 basic emotions are ‘universal’:
Ekman’s (1972) five culture study. Participants (from different cultural backgrounds)viewed photographs of American facial expressions and selected an emotion label from six possible choices.- High accuracy across all of the cultures.

Question 22

Ekman and Friesen’s Studies in New Guinea(No contact with other cultures isolated from outside world)

Answer 22

South Fore People of New Guinea – Very limited contact with other cultures still made same selections as an American would choose having heard the same story.
Study 1 (1968): Participants told story, pick photo that matches. LIMITED CHOICE OF PHOTOS
Participants generally chose the ‘correct’ expression

Question 23

Ekman’s neurocultural theory of emotion (1972)-Are Emotions Universal?

Answer 23

Recognition/expression of emotion is largely universal
This skill is not learned but has an evolutionary basis
A ‘universal facial affect program’ provides a one-to-one map between the emotion a person feels and the facial expression the person displays.
However, people use ‘display rules’ to control and override the operation of the universal facial affect program.
These display rules can vary across cultures, and these cultural norms can modulate ‘universal facial affect program’
Culture also determines what kinds of events cause us to experience emotions, and how to act on emotions

Question 24

Is the perception of facial expression universal?

Experiment Use of emoticons in US vs use of emoticons in Japan

Answer 24

Differences in use of emoticons.
Cultural differences in face recognition based on attentional focus to different face features

Some cultures (e.g., Japan) –> focus on eyes (more genuine)

Others (e.g., U.S.) –> focus on mouth (more overt)

Question 25

Are emotions innate or learnt?

Answer 25

Darwin proposed that the expression of emotion is innate.BUT… the expressions of deaf/blind children are less refined because they lack practice and do not benefit from feedback. (More difficult to recognise exempt joy and happiness)

Evidence: Infants born deaf-and-blind exhibit normal facial expressions of emotions.
Facial expressions of emotions are more difficult to recognize when portrayed by blind individuals than by sighted individuals. The expression of joy or happiness is the exception and was recognized very accurately.

Question 26

Is emotional expression universal?-Summary

Answer 26

We can understand emotions in others by ‘simulating’ them in ourselves, and sensory feedback from expressing emotions can modulate our perception.(Botox and facial muscle study- sensory feedback affects our experience of emotions)

The emotional expression seems to be largely universal across cultures, although cultural ‘display rules’ affect them.

Evidence from children born deaf/blind support the idea the emotional expressions are innate.