Schachter and Singer(Two Factors in emotion)

What is the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion?

A theory that suggests that emotional experience comes from a combination of a physical state of arousal and a cognition that makes best sense of the situation the person is in

Simplified Two-Factor Theory of Emotion?

An explanation of emotion that says it depends on both physiological and cognitive factors

What is the 1st aim of this study?

To test the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

What is the 2nd aim of this study?

To research if given a state of psychological arousal for which the individual has no adequate explanation, cognitive factors can lead the individual to describe their feelings with any number of emotional labels

What is the 1st hypothesis(no explanation) of this study?

If a person experiences a state of arousal for which they have no immediate explanation, they will interpret that emotion with the cognitions available to them at the time and label the state

What is the 2nd hypothesis(appropriate explanation) of this study?

If a person experiences a state of arousal for which they have an appropriate explanation, then they will be unlikely to describe that emotion using alternative cognitions as no evaluative needs will arise

What is the 3rd hypothesis of this study?

If a person is put in a situation which in the past could have made them feel an emotion, they will react emotionally or experience emotions only if they are in a state of psychological arousal

Describe the sample?

185 male intro to psych students at the University of Minnesota

What was the method of this study?

Laboratory experiment

What was the design of this study?

Independent groups

What was the 1st independent variable?

Appropriateness of explanation

What were the 3 conditions of the 1st independent variable?

Informed, misinformed, ignorant

In the informed condition of the 1st IV, participants were told the?

Accurate side effects of the injection they received

What were the accurate side effects participants were told in the informed condition of the 1st IV?

Your hands will start to shake, your heart will start to pound, your face may get warm and flushed

Participants in the misinformed condition of the 1st IV, were?

Misinformed on the side effects of injection they received

What were the inaccurate side effects participants in the misinformed condition of the 1st IV told?

Your feet will feel numb, you will have an itching sensation over parts of your body, you may get a slight headache

The misinformed condition of the 1st IV was used as the?

Control condition

Participants in the ignorant condition of the 1st IV were not told any?

Side effects of the injection they received

What was the 2nd independent variable?

Emotional situation

What were the 2 conditions of the 2nd independent variable?

Euphoria and anger

What was the control group of the study?

Participants who received a placebo injection

Participants were told by the experimenter they would be injected with Suproxin, but instead were injected with?

Epinephrine

What was the deceptive aim participants were told once they arrived at the laboratory?

To test the effects of vitamin supplements on vision

After the experimenter injected the participant and explained the side effects of the injection(informed, misinformed, ignorant, placebo) he would leave the room and come back with a?

Stooge

The stooge was introduced as?

Another participant

The waiting room in the euphoria condition was in?

Disarray

After the experimenter left the room in the euphoria condition, the stooge began his?

Routine

The stooge’s routine in the euphoria condition consisted of playing with?

Paper, rubber bands, pencils, folders, hula hoops

In the euphoria condition while the stooge played with the items he?

Suggested to the participant to join him

In the anger condition the stooge and participants were instructed to complete what, during the 20 minute waiting period?

Questionnaire

In the anger condition the stooge created a sense of anger through?

The comments he made

In the anger condition what were some comments the stooge made during the questionnaire completion process?

it’s unfair for them to give you shots, this really irritates me, the hell with it, I’m not wasting anymore time

In the anger condition as the participants worked their way through the questionnaire the questions became?

More personal

In the anger condition as the questions got more personal the stooge became more?

Irritated

How many times were the pulses of the participants recorded?

2

What were the two key measures of the dependent variable?

Observational data and self report

During the emotional arousal part(euphoria/anger) of the procedure, observers recorded data/observed participants through a

one way mirror

How many observers recorded participants behaviour in the observational data portion of the dependent variable?

2

The observers in the observational data portion of the dependent variable had to measure to what extent the participant?

Acted in euphoric or angry way

In the euphoric condition, the categories into which the behavior of the participant was coded were?

Joins the activity, initiates a new activity, watches stooge or ignores stooge

In the anger condition, the observers coded behavior into six categories depending on the participants’?

Response

These categories were that the participant?

Agreed with a comment, disagreed with a comment, neutral to a comment, initiates agreement or disagreement, watches or ignores stooge

Why were two observers used to record/code the participants behavior?

Reliability

Did the stooge know what condition of the 1st IV the participant was in?

No

When the participants session with the stooge was complete(euphoria or anger) the experimenter returned and they completed a final questionnaire that considered their physical responses to the Suproxin. This questionnaire was used as the?

Self report measure of the dependent variable

Result regarding participants who received the injection compared to those who received the placebo injection?

Participants who received the injections of adrenaline showed significantly more sympathetic arousal compared with the placebo participants

Result regarding the psychological response of participants injected with adrenaline?

Participants in the adrenaline condition showed more evidence of psychological response compared to the control groups

Result regarding the self report measures of those participants in the adrenaline condition?

They reported higher scores for palpitations and tremors suggesting

Result regarding pulse rate comparison between adrenalin conditions and placebo condition?

Significantly higher pulse rates

Result regarding the self report measures of participants in the euphoria condition?

They were feeling happier than the rest

Result regarding the ignorant anger condition?

They were the angriest

A conclusion from this study is that the findings support?

The two factor theory of emotion

Were all the 3 hypothesis supported?

Yes

Weakness regarding the sample of this study?

Low generalizability

Weakness regarding the assumption of the effect of adrenaline on people?

Adrenalin doesn’t effect everyone the same

A weakness of not recording participant’s mood before procedure?

There’s no baseline to compare

A weakness of the study being a laboratory experiment?

Low ecological validity

Weakness of the questionnaire as a measure of the dependent variable?

Not descriptive

A strength of the procedure of this study?

Standardization

A strength of gathering both quantitative and qualitative data?

Results can be made