Chapter 12 Emotion Test 3

CH 12 Emotion

Overview

  • Characteristics and purpose
  • Biology of emotion
  • Theories of emotion
  • Types of emotions
  • Happiness

The Biology of Emotion

  • Autonomic nervous system
    • Controls Physiological Arousal
    • Sympathetic division (arousing)
      • Pupils dilate
      • Decreases salivation
      • Perspires skin
      • Increases respiration
      • Accelerates heart
      • Inhibits digestion
      • Secrete stress hormones (Adrenal)
      • Reduced immune system functioning
    • Parasympathetic division (calming)
      • Pupils contract
      • Increases salivation
      • Dries skin
      • Decreases respiration
      • Slows heart
      • Activates digestion
      • Decrease secretion of stress hormones (Adrenal)
      • Enhanced immune system functioning

Physiological Measures of Emotion

  • Heart rate
  • Blood pressure
  • Temperature
  • Skin conductance
  • Breathing rate
  • Muscle tension

Brain Mechanisms

  • Limbic system
  • Amygdala

Theories of Emotion

  • James-Lange Theory
  • Cannon-Bard Theory
  • Schachter and Singer's Two Factor Theory

The James-Lange Theory

  • Event → specific physiological & behavioral changes → emotion
  • Example: Walking down a dark alley, hearing footsteps leads to trembling, increased heart rate, and deeper breathing, which the brain interprets as preparation for fear, leading to the experience of fear.
  • Supporting evidence
    • Facial feedback phenomenon
    • Behavioral feedback phenomenon
    • Tactical breathing

Tactics for Detection of Lie

  • Polygraph
  • Autonomic changes
  • Assumptions
  • Problems
    • Does it specifically detect lies?
    • Individual variations
    • Error rate
    • Excluded/restricted in court

Cannon-Bard Theory

  • Event → nonspecific physiological and behavioral changes + emotion
  • Example: Walking down a dark alley, hearing footsteps leads to trembling, increased heart rate, and deeper breathing, and simultaneously, the emotion of fear is experienced.

Schacter & Singer’s Two-Factor Theory

  • Event → nonspecific physiological and behavioral changes → cognitive interpretation → emotion
  • Example: Walking down a dark alley, hearing footsteps leads to trembling, increased heart rate, and deeper breathing. Noticing this arousal and realizing the context (dark alley, possible harm) leads to the cognitive interpretation of the arousal as fear, resulting in the experience of fear.

Schacter & Singer’s Two-Factor Theory

  • Support
    • Transferred excitation (spillover effect)
    • Arousal carries over and intensifies emotion

Theories of Emotion - Summary

  • James-Lange Theory
    • Explanation: Our awareness of our specific bodily response to emotion-arousing stimuli
    • Example: We observe our heart racing after a threat and then feel afraid.
  • Cannon-Bard Theory
    • Explanation: Bodily response + simultaneous subjective experience
    • Example: Our heart races as we experience fear.
  • Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory
    • Explanation: Two factors: General arousal + a conscious cognitive label
    • Example: Arousal could be labeled as fear or excitement, depending on context.
  • Zajonc; LeDoux
    • Explanation: Instant, before cognitive appraisal
    • Example: We automatically react to a sound in the forest before appraising it.
  • Lazarus
    • Explanation: Appraisal ("Is it dangerous or not?")-sometimes without our awareness-defines emotion
    • Example: The sound is "just the wind."

Communicating Emotions

  • Facial Expressions in humans
  • Primary emotions
    • Surprise, interest/excitement, joy, anger, sadness, fear, disgust
  • Self-conscious or secondary emotions
    • Empathy, jealousy, embarrassment, pride, shame, guilt
    • Age
    • Self-awareness and the mirror and rouge test

Happiness

  • Factors related to happiness
    • Subjective well-being
      • Satisfaction, competence, sense of control, meaning, purpose, etc.
    • Researchers Have Found That Happy People Tend to:
      • Have high self-esteem (in individualist countries).
      • Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable.
      • Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage.
      • Have work and leisure that engage their skills.
      • Have an active religious faith (especially in more religious cultures).
      • Sleep well and exercise.
    • However, Happiness Seems Not Much Related to Other Factors, Such as:
      • Age.
      • Gender (women are more often depressed, but also more often joyful).
      • Physical attractiveness.

Additional Aspects of Happiness

  • Does money buy happiness?
    • Diminishing returns (money's impact reduces as income increases)
  • Spending
  • Social comparisons
    • Relative deprivation (feeling deprived when comparing oneself to others)
  • Effects of events
    • Adaptation-level phenomenon: Adjusting to new circumstances, which can affect happiness levels.

Mood Fluctuations

  • Average mood levels throughout the week and day
  • Positive and negative emotion levels relative to time since rising

Stress

  • Vulnerability to
    • Physical disorders
    • Psychological problems

Mediators of Stress

  • Explanatory style
  • Social support
  • Exercise
  • Relaxation
  • Spirituality
  • Healthy behaviors
    • Less smoking, drinking
  • Religious involvement
  • Social support
    • Faith communities, marriage
  • Better health
    • Less immune system suppression and fewer stress hormones; greater longevity
  • Positive emotions
    • Hope/optimism/coherence
    • Less stress, anxiety
  • Appraisal
    • Threat ("Yikes! This is beyond me!")
      • Response: Stressed to distraction
    • Challenge ("I've got to apply all I know.")
      • Response: Aroused, focused