PSYCH101 Lecture 4: Emotion

Definition of Emotion: An evaluative response including physiological arousal, subjective experience, and behavioural or emotional expression.
Subjective Experience: Emotional intensity follows a bell curve. At the lower end is Alexithymia, a condition where a person does not experience emotional states.
Happiness: Related to positive psychology and measurable wellbeing. It is NOT related to gender, age, or wealth.
Cultural/Political Links: Happiness is highest in individualistic cultures and is highly correlated with the number of uninterrupted years of democracy.

Evolutionary Link: Facial expressions inform others of emotional states and can alter the emotional experience itself.
Universal Expressions: Six expressions are recognized cross-culturally: surprise, fear, anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness.
Display Rules: Cultural norms that dictate which emotional displays are considered appropriate.
Gender Differences: Women generally experience and express emotions more intensely and are better at reading emotional cues, potentially reflecting socialization patterns.

Basic Emotions: Typically between $5$ and $9$ states. The most common $5$ are anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and disgust.
Positive Affect: Pleasant emotions that drive approach-type behaviour.
Negative Affect: Unpleasant emotions that drive avoidant-type behaviour.
Inter-correlation: People experiencing one negative emotion (e.g., anxiety) are likely to experience others (e.g., guilt).

Hypothalamus: Converts emotional signals into autonomic and endocrine responses.
Limbic System (Amygdala): Plays a central role in linking sensory stimuli with specific feelings.
Cortex: Assesses stimulus safety, interprets peripheral responses (e.g., dry mouth), and regulates facial displays.

Schachter-Singer Theory ( $1962$ ): Emotion involves two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation (attribution).
Psychodynamic Perspective: Emphasizes unconscious emotional processes and self-delusion to avoid unpleasant experiences.
Evolutionary Perspective (Darwin): Emotions serve adaptive purposes and act as signals to other members of the species.
Cognitive Perspective: Cognitive appraisals are critical to emotional experience; mood can affect thought and memory.

Need for Achievement: The drive to do well, succeed, and avoid failure.
High Achiever Characteristics: These individuals choose moderately difficult tasks, enjoy challenges, work persistently, and actively avoid failure.

Reminders: Most student questions regarding the paper outline or "Welcome" video are answered on Moodle.
Labs and IPRP: Labs and the IPRP (worth $10\%$ ) start this week. Permanent lab changes require emailing Minali.
Audience Prompts: The lecturer repeatedly prompts the audience for "Key points?" and "Key points from last time?" throughout the session.