Week 8 - Consciousness and Emotion

Question 1

compare and contrast emotions and cognition

Answer 1

Emotions -
feelings are not language based. very hard to express scientifically. Emotions last for less time than a ‘mood’

Emotions is how we feel and cognition is how we process that and other stimuli at the time.

Question 2

discuss the relationships between emotion and cognition proposed by Zajonc (1980) and by Lazarus (1982)

Answer 2

Lazurus (1982)
Cognition mediation theories - holds that cognition and affect are critically interrelated. Cognitive appraisal is needed to determine emotional experience.
Primary appraisal - motivational relevance and congruence (consistent with goals or not)
Secondary appraisal - blame, problem/emotion focused coping

Zajonc (1993)
Cognition and emotion are separate but they interact. Affective primacy - emotions effecting behaviour before were aware of it.

Most appraisal theories suggest emotion is elicited by its own specific and distinctive appraisal pattern with top down processes playing a crucial role.

Question 3

critically evaluate the notion of cognitive appraisal as applied to the models of emotion

Answer 3

Cognitive Appraisals - interpretations and meanings that we attach to sensory stimuli
Limitations of theory - the assumption that appraisal is always crucial is too strong, research focused on individuals not social circumstances, only focuses on current emotions, not past ones influencing, and no distinct line between emotion and cognition.

Question 4

define what consciousness is

Answer 4

Consciousness - characterised by the experiences of perceptions, thoughts feelings, awareness of the external world and often in humans, self-awareness.

Conscious level - Unconscious (coma) > > > Conscious (alert wakefulness)

Question 5

describe how consciousness relates to cognition.

Answer 5

If one is not consciously aware of their surroundings, how can one process them/interact with them?

Question 6

Outline the dual emotions pathway in the brain

Answer 6

1 - Sensory input into the THALAMUS
2 - Activation of emotions before cognitive processes take place (unconscious) still in the THALAMUS
3 - Sensory impulses to NEOCORTEX for cognitive processing
4 - AMYGDALA - Controls physiological and behavioural components of emotional responses
5 - CEREBRAL CORTEX - Activation of emotions by cognitive processes (conscious)