Comprehensive Study Notes: Theories and Physiology of Emotion
Learning Targets and Foundations of Emotion
The core objectives for studying emotion (4.8-1 through 4.8-5) include explaining the interaction between arousal, expressive behavior, and cognition; determining if emotions can be experienced without conscious interpretation; identifying basic emotions; linking arousal to the autonomic nervous system; and identifying physiological brain-pattern responses.
Motivated behavior is frequently tethered to powerful emotions. David Myers (DM) recounts a flashbulb memory of a day at a large store with his toddler first-born, Peter. * A passerby warned: “You’d better be careful or you’ll lose that boy!” * Within moments, Peter vanished. Myers experienced escalating stages of emotion: mild anxiety turning to panic as he searched aisle by aisle and circled neighboring counters. * The store manager used the intercom to alert customers to the missing child. * The previous passerby scolded him: ‘I told you that you were going to lose him!’ * Myers experienced visions of kidnapping and the dread of facing his wife after losing their only child due to negligence. * Peter was ultimately found at the customer service counter by an obliging customer, causing a sudden transition from the arousal of terror to ecstasy and grateful joy.
Lisa Feldman Barrett (2012, 2013) emphasizes the subjectivity and reality of emotion: “My experience of anger is not an illusion. When I’m angry, I feel angry. That’s real.”
Emotions serve as the body's adaptive response. Frans de Waal (2019) notes they ensure we do what is best for us. * Anger can elicit concessions. * Gratitude strengthens social relationships. * Pride motivates hard work (Weidman & Kross, 2021). * Poet Amanda Gorman (2022) describes fear as a "call forward" and a "summons to fight for what we hold dear."
Emotions focus attention and energize actions during challenges (Cyders & Smith, 2008), involving racing hearts, quickened paces, and high alert in senses.
The Interaction of Arousal, Behavior, and Cognition (4.8-1)
Emotion (or affect) is a complex process separate from knowledge and reasoning.
Emotions are a mixture of three distinct components: * Bodily arousal (e.g., heart pounding). * Expressive behaviors (e.g., a quickened pace). * Conscious experience (e.g., thoughts like “Is this a kidnapping?”) and feelings (e.g., panic, fear, joy).
Psychologists seek to understand how these three pieces fit together by addressing two primary questions: * The Chicken-and-Egg Debate: Does bodily arousal come before or after emotional feelings? * Interaction of Thinking and Feeling: Does cognition always precede emotion?
Theoretical Perspectives: James-Lange and Cannon-Bard
The James-Lange Theory: Proposed by William James (1890) and Danish physiologist Carl Lange. It suggests that arousal comes before emotion. * Common sense suggests we cry because we are sad, but James argued: “We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble.” * Emotion results from our attention to our bodily activity. For example, one notices a racing heart and then feels the whoosh of fear.
The Cannon-Bard Theory: Physiologist Walter Cannon (1871–1945) and Philip Bard disagreed with James-Lange. * Cannon argued that bodily responses (heart rate, perspiration, temperature) are too similar and change too slowly to be the cause of different emotions. * They concluded that bodily responses and experienced emotions occur separately but simultaneously. * A stimulus travels to the sympathetic nervous system (causing arousal) and the brain's cortex (causing awareness) at the same time.
Evidence from Spinal Cord Injuries (Hohmann, 1966): * A survey of World War II soldiers with severed spinal cords showed varying emotional intensities. * Patients with lower-spine injuries (lost sensation in legs) reported little change in emotion. * Patients with high spinal cord injuries (no sensation below the neck) reported significant shifts. Anger became a “mental kind of anger” without the “heat.” * Emotions expressed above the neck (weeping, lumps in the throat) were often felt more intensely. * This led Antonio Damasio (2003) to view feelings as “mostly shadows” of bodily responses.
Cognitive Appraisal and the Two-Factor Theory (4.8-2)
The Two-Factor Theory: Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer (1962) proposed that emotions have two ingredients: physical arousal and cognitive appraisal (interpretation).
The Spillover Effect: Arousal lingers and can be transferred from one event to another (e.g., feeling more elated about a college acceptance after an invigorating run).
The Epinephrine Experiment (Schachter & Singer): * College men were injected with epinephrine (triggers arousal). * One group was told to expect arousal; another was told it was for an eyesight test. * Participants were placed with an accomplice acting either euphoric or irritated. * The group that attributed arousal to the drug felt little emotion. The group told it was an eyesight test "caught" the emotion of the accomplice (becoming happy or testy).
Conclusion: Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it.
The "Two-Track" Brain: Instant and Thoughtful Emotion
Robert Zajonc (1923–2008) argued that many emotional reactions occur apart from or before conscious interpretation (Zajonc, 1980, 1984).
Subliminal Priming: Stimuli flashed too briefly for interpretation can still lead to preference or affect mood (Kunst-Wilson & Zajonc, 1980; Murphy et al., 1995).
Neural Pathways of Emotion (Joseph LeDoux): * The High Road: Complex feelings (hatred, love) travel from the Thalamus to the Cortex for analysis and labeling, then to the Amygdala. * The Low Road: Simple likes, dislikes, and fears take a neural shortcut from the Thalamus directly to the Amygdala. This allows a “greased-lightning” response before intellect intervenes.
Richard Lazarus (1991, 1998) agreed that while responses can be automatic, the brain must appraise a situation (even effortlessly) as harmless or dangerous to know what to react to.
Summary of Theories Table: * James-Lange: Awareness of specific bodily responses creates emotion. * Cannon-Bard: Bodily response and subjective experience happen simultaneously. * Schachter-Singer: General arousal mixed with a conscious cognitive label. * Zajonc-LeDoux: Instant responses without conscious appraisal. * Lazarus: Cognitive appraisal (sometimes unconscious) defines emotion.
The Physiology of Emotion and the Autonomic Nervous System (4.8-4, 4.8-5)
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) regulates arousal through two divisions: * Sympathetic Division: Arousing; prepares the body for fight-or-flight in a crisis. * Parasympathetic Division: Calming.
Brain-Pattern Responses: Fear, anger, and sexual arousal share similar large-scale physiological changes (perspiration, breathing, heart rate) but possess subtle differences in facial muscle movements, brain pathways, and cortical activity.
Carroll Izard’s Basic Emotions: Joy, interest-excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt.
Nonverbal Communication and Detecting Emotion (4.8-6)
We communicate via body movements, facial expressions, and vocal tones. * Westerners view firm handshakes as signs of an outgoing personality. * Gaze conveys intimacy; darting eyes signal anxiety. * Unacquainted pairs who gazed into each other’s eyes for minutes reported attraction (Kellerman et al., 1989).
Detecting Subtle Cues: * We can judge pride and status in individuals with raised arms and expanded chests across cultures. * First impressions of attractiveness or trustworthiness can occur within seconds (Willis & Todorov, 2006). * Humans are hard-wired to detect threats; an angry face "pops out" of a crowd (even for $2$-year-olds).
Experience Effects: Abused children are more sensitive to anger; they are more likely to perceive a $50/50$ anger-fear face morph as angry.
Genuine vs. Feigned Smiles: * Lifting the inner eyebrows reveals distress. Raised cheeks and eye muscles suggest a natural smile. * Feigned smiles (e.g., for a photographer) are often frozen for seconds and switched off abruptly, whereas natural smiles fade less abruptly.
Deception: Humans are only accurate in discerning truth from lies—barely above chance (Bond & DePaulo, 2006).
Introverts vs. Extraverts: Introverts are typically better at reading others' emotions; extraverts are easier to read.
Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior (4.8-7)
An analysis of "thin slice" studies shows women generally outperform men at emotion detection (Judith Hall, 2016).
Emotional Literacy: Men often describe simpler emotions (‘I’ll feel bad’), while women express complexity (‘It will be bittersweet; I’ll feel both happy and sad’).
Empathy: Women are more likely to describe themselves as empathic and display more emotion while observing others. Brain activation in emotion-related areas is higher in women viewing upsetting images (Canli et al., 2002).
Stereotypes: People often attribute a woman's emotionality to her disposition (“She's emotional”) and a man's to his circumstances (“He's having a bad day”).
The Feedback Effects of Facial Expression and Behavior (4.8-9)
Facial Feedback Effect: The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings. Darwin and James both argued that outward signs intensify emotion. * Participants induced to scowl reported feeling angrier. * The "pen-in-teeth" study: Holding a pen in teeth (activating smiling muscles) makes stressful situations less upsetting compared to holding it between the lips. * Botox injections paralyzing frowning muscles have been reported to help some depressed patients feel better (Parsaik et al., 2016).
Behavior Feedback Effect: Going through the motions awakens the emotions. * Shuffling steps with downcast eyes leads to a shift in mood compared to taking long strides with swinging arms. * Mimicry: Acting as another acts helps feel what they feel. * Kathleen Bogart, who has Moebius syndrome (facial paralysis), noted that being unable to mimic others' expressions made emotional connection difficult: "the emotion just dies there, unshared."
Emotional Contagion: Emotions are contagious across social interactions and social media; upbeat posts can create a ripple effect among friends.