Medical psychology lecture 12 study document

What are emotions?

An excited state triggered by subjectively important stimuli, preparing the body for adaptive activity via visceral, motor, motivational, and mental changes.

What are the three levels of emotional response?

Physiological (bodily changes), Subjective (inner feelings), Behavioral (expressions, posture).

What are the four aspects of emotion?

Emotional experience, expression, physiological state, motivational program.

What is the adaptive role of emotions?

They evolved for survival: negative emotions drive focused responses, positive emotions broaden perspective and learning.

What are examples of adaptive emotions?

Fear (escape/defense), Anger (heightened attention), Sadness (varies culturally), Love (attachment, caregiving).

What are affective terms?

Affective tone (pleasant/unpleasant), Affect (intense, less control), Mood (long-lasting low intensity), Sentiment (stable, cognitive-emotional).

What are Plutchik’s primary emotions?

Joy, sadness, anger, fear, trust, disgust, surprise, anticipation.

What are Ekman’s universal emotions?

Anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise – universal, with distinct facial expressions.

What are James’ primary emotions?

Fear, sadness, love, anger.

What are Wundt’s emotional dimensions?

Pleasure/displeasure, tension/release, excitement/relaxation.

What is the developmental timeline of emotions?

Primary emotions (surprise, joy, anger, fear, sadness) in infancy; secondary emotions (shame, guilt, pride, envy) around 2.5–3 years.

What is the development of fear across lifespan?

Infants (strangers, separation), children (real-life fears), adolescents (rejection, failure).

What are types of fear reactions?

Fear (escape), Panic (disorganized), Horror (paralysis/dissociation).

How does culture affect emotions?

Expression is universal but intensity/frequency shaped by cultural norms and social rules.

What is the neuroanatomy of emotional expression?

Facial muscles controlled by motor cortex/brainstem (voluntary) and ventral forebrain/hypothalamus (emotional).

What is James-Lange theory of emotion?

Stimulus → bodily response → emotion (emotion is awareness of bodily changes).

What is Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?

Emotions and bodily responses occur simultaneously; thalamus activates both cortex and body.

What is Schachter-Singer’s two-factor theory?

Emotion = arousal + cognitive label (same arousal → different emotions depending on context).

What is Lazarus’ theory of emotion?

Emotion arises from cognitive appraisal (primary: what is happening, secondary: what can I do).

What are psychobiological correlates of emotion?

Limbic system structures; amygdala (fear learning/expression); hippocampus (emotional memory).

What is Kluver-Bucy syndrome?

Bilateral temporal lobe lesions → no fear, hyperorality, visual agnosia.

Which brain areas are linked with specific emotions?

Sadness (cingulate gyrus, insula), Joy (dorsomedial thalamus), Fear (amygdala, hypothalamus), Anger (orbitofrontal cortex), Panic (anterior cingulate, thalamus), Disgust (insula, putamen).

What is the hemispheric valence theory?

Right hemisphere processes negative emotions, left hemisphere positive.

What is the case of Phineas Gage?

Injury to orbitofrontal cortex → emotional regulation deficits.

What are quantitative emotional disorders?

Depression, euphoria/mania, anxiety, panic, apathy, anhedonia, lability, irritability, dysphoria, incontinence, ambivalence, prolonged reactivity, pathological affect.

What are qualitative emotional disorders?

Parathymia (inappropriate), Paramimia (expression ≠ feeling), Affective dullness (blunted emotions).

What is pathological affect?

Disproportionate reaction with 3 stages: narrowing of consciousness, explosive outburst, amnesia.

What is the Papez-MacLean circuit theory?

Emotions involve hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, cingulate gyrus as a circuit in the limbic system.

What are primary vs secondary emotions?

Primary: innate, early (joy, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust); Secondary: require self-awareness (guilt, shame, pride).

What are brain regions and their emotional roles?

Amygdala (fear), Hippocampus (memory), Hypothalamus (autonomic responses), Thalamus (relay), Prefrontal cortex (regulation), Orbitofrontal cortex (social emotions), Insula (disgust), Cingulate gyrus (motivation link), Septal area (reinforcement).

What is the emotional development by age?

Newborn (basic expressions), 2–6 months (joy, anger, sadness, surprise), 6–24 months (stranger/separation anxiety), 2.5–3 years (guilt, pride), School-age (real-life fears), Adolescents (rejection, peer pressure).

What are must-know exam concepts?

Emotion (definition), Affect (intense), Mood (long-term low intensity), Sentiment (stable structure), Anhedonia (loss of pleasure), Pathological affect (forensic relevance).

Which theorists are most important for emotions?

James & Lange (bodily changes), Cannon & Bard (simultaneous), Schachter & Singer (two-factor), Lazarus (appraisal), Darwin (expression), Ekman (basic emotions), Papez & MacLean (limbic circuits).

What are clinical implications of emotional disorders?

Too little emotion (apathy, anhedonia), too much (mania, euphoria), uncontrolled (panic, lability, irritability), inappropriate/mismatched (parathymia, paramimia, affective dullness).