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Emotion
spontaneous, automatic responses to our ongoing perceptions and thoughts
Word emotion
derived from the Latin word meaning “to move”
We express emotions through
facial expression, body language, gestures, tone of voice
Debate if emotions are
discrete stand alone or points on a continuum
Discrete approach
argue there are core universal emotions - each has distinct emotional expressions
Continuum approach
argue emotions as existing along continuous dimensions
Circumplex theory of emotion
argues that all emotions can be placed along two orthogonal dimensions: arousal and valence
Motivation
a process that arouses, maintains, and guides behaviour toward a goal
Emotional behaviour
Charles Darwin - concluded that all primates form facial expressions using the same muscles - gained from evolution
Core emotional expressions
anger, sadness, happiness, fear, disgust, etc - identified correctly by most people
Yerkes-Dodson law
the ideal amount of arousal interacts with the complexity of a task
Simple tasks
greater arousal leads to greater performance
Complex tasks
arousal levels that are too high can begin to interfere with performance
“Choking” or performing badly
because of too much arousal
Antonio Damasio
hypothesized that emotions provide a bridge to past experiences - used to set priorities such as approach and avoidance
Researchers believe emotion expressions evolved through a two stage-process
Stage 1 - Expressions served an adaptive physiological function
Stage 2 - Expressions that originally served physiological functions - serve communicative functions
The James-Lange Theory of Emotion
the individual perceives a stimulus - that person experiences a physiological response
We might be able to influence our subjective feelings
by changing our physical sensations
Walter Cannon
disagreed with the James-Lange theory and proposed his own theory
Cannon-Bard theory
proposes that physical sensations and subjective feeling occur simultaneously and independently
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory
of emotion that adds an intermediate step between physical sensations and subjective feelings
Emotional arousal signals
conscious, cognitive appraisal of our circumstances - then we identify our emotion
Somatovisceral afference model of emotion (SAME)
begins with a recognition that physical responses to a stimulus can range from quite specific to quite general
Appraisal Theory
Interpretation is a continuous process rather than a single decision about a stimulus
Emotional responses
combine bottom-up processing - lower parts of the nervous system send "alerts" to the cerebral cortex
Top-down processing
cortical executive functions such as attention and appraisal modify the activity of the lower structures
The Autonomic Nervous System
controls activities of our glands and organs - participates in the general arousal associated with emotional states
Fight-or-flight response
caused by activity of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system
The Hypothalamus
direct management role over the autonomic nervous system
Stimulating the hypothalamus in animals
can elicit behaviours such as sexual behaviours, eating, drinking etc
One patient experienced both the physical and subjective feelings normally associated with a panic attack
physical responses were expected but emotional responses were unexpected
The posterior hypothalamus
believed to serve a central role in activating the subcortical emotional system of the brain
Amygdala
identifies emotional stimuli and initiates responses to the perception of these stimuli
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dIPFC)
a region of the brain implicated in the reappraisal of sad events in order to minimize their emotional impact
Importance of the amygdala to emotion
Resulted from an experiment conducted in 1939 - researchers removed both temporal lobes from rhesus monkeys
They became tamer and had less intense emotions
They allowed people to pick them up and stroke them
They were oblivious to stimuli that would normally scare them
Patient S.M
Experienced damage to both amygdalae because of a rare disease
Can recognize the emotions of happiness, sadness, and disgust portrayed in photographs - she has selective difficulty identifying fear correctly
She has difficulty using information from the eye region of the face in judging emotion - when she was instructed to pay attention to eyes, her performance improved
Autism spectrum disorder
ave a reluctance to make eye contact and have difficulty identifying other people's emotions
The Insula
found in the fold between the junction of the temporal lobes with the frontal and parietal lobes
Back of the insula
internal sensations - ex. pain and itch, and physical sensations caused by emotional feeligs - ex. blood pressure, breathlessness
Front of the insula
more global feelings - a strong reaction to disgust
The Cingulate Cortex
forms circuits with the frontal cortex, the amygdala, and other subcortical structures involved with emotional processing
The basal ganglia
large, subcortical structures that participate in the generation of voluntary movement in response to emotional stimuli - show considerable activity in response to facial expressions of disgust
The anterior cingulate cortex along and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
contribute to the more conscious appraisal of threat
Worrying and catastrophizing by anxious people
involves exaggerated appraisals of threat - has unsually high levels of activation
Nucleus Accumbens
part of the basal ganglia - associated with pleasure and reward
Huntington's disease
a disease that damage the basal ganglia - having difficulty recognizing recognizing facial expressions of disgust
Damage to the frontal lobes produces changes in emotional behaviour
a reduction in fear and anxiety - contributes to impulsive, risky behaviours
Humans express emotion with their entire bodies
When threatened or scared - they cross their arms and hunch forward
Facial expressions
influenced by the way the brain controls the tiny muscles of our faces
Muscles receive input from the motor areas of the cerebral cortex
control voluntary movement - from subcortical areas + basal ganglia
The cortical input
allows us to voluntarily "smile" for the camera
The subcortical input
responsible for more spontaneous expressions of emotion (laughing at a joke)
It is possible to lose one type of input without affecting the other
Ex. A person with issues with their motor cortex - able to smile spontaneously but can’t voluntarily smile
Ex. People with Parkinson's disease - unable to smile spontaneously but can voluntarily smile
Parkinson's disease
damages the subcortical emotional pathways
Darwin
believed that human emotional expression had been shaped through evolution
Rhesus monkeys - raised in isolation
had typical fear responses to monkeys engaging in threatening behaviours - same as those in normal social conditions
Universality of words for different emotional states
evidence of emotion's common biological source
The Japanese term ijirashi
a feeling that occurs when we see another person overcoming an obstacle
Children who are highly responsive to stimuli
often develop into anxious adults
Children who are oblivious to stimulation
may develop into fearless risk takers
Insensitivity to social signals produced by others
may lead to antisocial behaviour
Two major strategies for emotion regulation
suppression and cognitive reappraisal (modifying the meaningfulness of an event)
Reappraisal
involves thinking differently about the stimulus
People who use the reappraisal strategy more than the suppression strategy
experience less depression and higher life satisfaction
Emotional intelligence
Our abilities to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions
Multi-Health Systems (MHS) Assessments
numerous scientifically validated measures of emotional assessment
A person's ability to read others' emotional expressions
can be reduced by certain psychological disorders
Individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
struggle with distinguish among facial expressions
People with Autism and antisocial personality disorder
specific difficulties recognizing expressions of fear
Increase in international students in Canada
many still follow the norms from their home country - this can affect their transition to university
Juries are made up of human beings
who detect deception in face-to-face - not perfectly accurate
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
These techniques can be used to distinguish truth-telling from lying - some researchers say that you can beat it using “mental countermeasures”
Guilty Knowledge Test
used to assess deception - participants' brains showed significantly different activation lying (red areas) vs being truthful (blue areas)
Lying
Can be found out through - inappropriate smiling, nervous laughter, avoiding eye contact, hesitating etc
People telling the truth add 20 to 30 percent more detail to a story
Reliable way to identify lying - ask people to tell their story backward in time - people conducting a false story struggle since it overwhelms their memory
Animals - limited time and resources
state of arousal is expensive in terms of the energy it requires
Walter Cannon
Motivation is a process that maintains homeostasis
Drive theories of motivation
“push theories” - drive is seen as pushing an organism toward a goal
Incentive theories
Incentives or rewards may be intrinsic or extrinsic
Intrinsic rewards
Internal - Ex. Enjoyment of the task or feelings of accomplishment when a goal is met
Extrinsic rewards
External - Ex. Such as money for completing work or praise from a parent
Motives
Some are approached from a mostly biological perspective (hunger) and others are approached from a more sociocultural perspective (affiliation)
Solitary confinement
viewed as one of the worst punishments humans inflict on one another
The effects of social isolation
can be as detrimental high blood pressure, lack of exercise, obesity, or smoking - can also cause extreme hostility
Achievement motivation
the desire to excel or outperform others - individual motivation to push themselves
A trait
stable characteristic that shows relatively little variation over time - traits interact with situations
High-achieving people
prepared to avoid or postpone fun to meet their achievement goals
Low-achieving people
prioritize fun alternatives and inhibited the achievement alternatives
Carol Dweck
argues that achievement motivation is influenced by people's beliefs about their own abilities
Growth mindset
belief that capacities can be developed - able to grow
Fixed mindset
belief that capacities do not change - unable to grow
Higher achievers
thrive on competition
Lower achievers
thrive on fun and relaxing aspects of a task
External cues for hunger
time of day, the sights and smells of favourite foods etc - may encourage us to eat when our bodies do not need nutrients or to eat more food than we require
Internal cues for hunger
when our bodies are genuinely short on nutrients
Glucose and insulin levels are positively correlated
high levels after just eating, low levels to signal need for more food
Diabetes
insufficient insulin activity - glucose is unable to move out of the blood into the cells that need nutrients
The body monitors fat stores
assessing levels of the hormone leptin
Leptin
Greek word leptos, or "thin," is produced and secreted by fat cells
Fat stores and leptin levels are positively correlated
leptin levels provide a measure for the amount of fat that has been stored
When fat stores and leptin levels are low
brain areas that include the lateral hypothalamus (LH) initiate feeding
