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Class 13: Emotions and Cognition III. Man, in the instability of his emotions resembles deplorably a monkey. Joseph Conrad. Brain in Gut (aka Neurogastroenterology). More neurons than spinal cord Fibers non-mylinated—like in big brain Bathed in same neurochemicals as big brain - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Class 13: Emotions and Cognition III
Man, in the instability of his emotions resembles deplorably a monkey.
Joseph Conrad
1. More neurons than spinal cord
2. Fibers non-mylinated—like in big brain
3. Bathed in same neurochemicals as big brain
4. Suffers damage to big-brain diseases
5. Responsive to psychotropic drugs
Brain in Gut (aka Neurogastroenterology)
1. Big brain and gut brain communicate
2. Stressful event #1: Big brain stores threat in “emotion memory”
3. Stressful event #2: Limbic system responds, sends signal to gut. Gut may get signal before cortex.
4. Result—gut feeling
Are “Gut Feelings” Real?
Kelly's travail:What signal does she FAIL to attend to? Why?What signal does she finally attend to? Why?How does Kelly's experience relate to emotion arousal? (hint—Mandler theory of emotions)
Why do people discard danger signals?Dilemma: external cues do not justify feeling.
Social desirability, politeness normsDependence on experts
What might determine who listens to own emotions?
De Becker meets St. Exupery:a. How do emotions and cognition interact?b. Which informs which? In what order?c. Is unc. smart or dumb?
De Becker: Gift of Fear
Challenging DeBecker
Is his approach a version of "Victim Blaming"?
Aren't there times when it's better to follow social rules than own "gut reaction"?
Do emotions = "intuition"?
What if you have multiple emotions, e.g., Anger + Fear?
Mood Effects and Person Perception:
Forgas & Bower
Scuba Diver Study
Learn on Land
Learn Under Water
Recall on Land
Good
Poor
Recall Under Water
Poor
Good
State Dependent Memory
Memory associated with an emotional state will be easier to
retrieve when you are in that same emotional state.
Example: Learn FACT A when happy, easier to remember FACT A when happy.
Memory associated with an emotional state will be harder to
retrieve when you are in an opposed emotional state.
Example: Learn FACT A when happy, harder to remember FACT A when sad.
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Pos details Neg details
No
. It
em
s R
ec
og
niz
ed
Sad
Happy
Number of Attributes Recalled About Target as a Function of Attribute Valence (Pos vs. Neg) and Participant Mood (Sad vs. Happy)
Subjects Mood
Details Recalled
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Pos details Neg details
No
. It
em
s R
ec
og
niz
ed
Sad
Happy
Number of Attribute Items Correctly Recognized as a Function of Attribute Valence (Pos vs. Neg) and Participant Mood (Sad vs. Happy)
Subjects Mood
Details Recalled
MOOD CONGUENT LEARNING
REALTOR BURGLER
Emotional states are similarly goal-related.Emotion at Time A affects how situation is searched and learned at Time A
Emotion (mood) congruent learning relates to what Lewinian construct?
Life space.
5.65.8
66.26.46.66.8
77.27.47.6
Pos details Neg details
En
co
din
g T
ime
Sad
Happy
Time Spent Reading Descriptive Sentences as a Function of Attribute Valence (Pos vs. Neg) and Participant Mood (Sad vs. Happy)
Subject's Mood
Attribute Valence
12
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pos judgments neg judgments
Nu
mb
er o
f ju
dg
me
nts
Sad
Happy
Number of Pos and Neg Judgments Made as a Function of Participant Mood (Sad vs. Happy)
Subject's Mood
Judgments Made of Target
3.6
4.1
4.6
5.1
5.6
Pos Judgment Neg Judgment
Tim
e t
o J
ud
ge
Ta
rge
t
Sad
Happy
Time Taken to Judge Target as Positive or Negative as a Function of Attribute Valence (Pos vs. Neg) and Participant Mood (Sad vs. Happy)
Judgments Made of Target
Subjects Mood
Mood and Visual Processing
MM
MM
MM
MM
MM MM MM
Who sees “M”?
Who sees “L”?
Happy or Sad
SAD
HAPPY
Do Humans Care About Other Humans?Batson (1990)
Acts of Selfless (?) Heroism
The “fifth man” in Air Florida crash
Polish Concentration Camp Guard
Question: What motivates this behavior?
Why Do People Help Others?
Altruistic explanation -- Caring
Egoistic explanations
Negative state relief: Stop personal discomfort
Avoid social/self punishments: Shame, guilt
Seek social/self rewards: Honor, pride
A “Selfishness Bias” in Psychology?
Freud: Behavior based on pleasure principleSkinner: Behavior based on pleasure principle Modern Self Theorists in Social Psychology:
1. Totalitarian ego: false uniqueness, false representativeness
2. Self affirmation3. Self esteem4. Self monitoring5. Self efficacy6. Downward social comparison
The “Selfish Gene” Theory
Fundamental goal of life-forms – pass on genes
Who will pass on genes? Those who survive
Therefore behaviors that promote survival are “adaptive” and are “selected in”
Behaviors that jeopardize survival are maladaptive and are “selected out”
Who is more likely to survive, the selfless helper or the selfish non-helper?
Challenges to “Selfish Gene”
Inclusive Fitness:
Share genes with others
Risk taking for others promotes their survival
People more apt to sacrifice for those closest to them
in terms of shared genes
Reciprocal Altruism:
I help you today, you help me tomorrow, and typically
with interest.
Prosocial Behavior vs. Altruistic Behavior
1. Prosocial: Helping others, for any reason
2. Altruistic: Helping others because you care
about them.
Note: Altruistic is a type of pro-social behavior.
Emotions Consistent with
Egoistic (Selfish) Behavior
Envy Pride
Jealousy Spite
Greed
Lust
Gluttony
Covetousness
Scheudenfreuden
Empathy
Emotions Consistent with
Altruistic Behavior
Daniel Batson: Empathy and Altruism
Batson conducts classic research on “bystander intervention”, showing how situations can prevent people from helping.
Jerusalem to Jericho study, for example
However, he becomes interested why some people help, others do not, regardless of the situation.
Asks: Are we capable of caring?
Empathy vs. Avoiding Shame: The “Elayne” Study
1. Subs. told: study about learning and shocks2. Sub. is “observer”, confed. (“Elayne”) is “learner”3. Sub. learnes Elayne is very similar (high empathy cond)
or very dissimilar to him/her (low empathy cond)4. Sub. sees Elayne's distress, upset5. Exptr. calls a break, asks Elayne if OK, “yes, but water please.” Elayne is clearly distressed.6. During break, Sub completes mood check-list.
Purpose: ID people high/low on empathy7. Elayne confides to Expt. childhood trauma w’ shocks.8. Expt. asks Subs: “willing to switch places w’ Elayne?”9. Subs. must qualify to help by performing well at test
a. For ½ Subs. “easy test, most can do well”b. For ½ Subs. “hard test, most can’t do well”
“Social Censure” vs. “Empathy and Altruism” Predictions
Justification for not helping
Low Empathy Condition
High Empathy Condition
“Social Censure” Predictions
Weak Justif. Helps Helps
Strong Justif. No Help No Help
Justification for not helping
Low Empathy Condition
High Empathy Condition
“Empathy and Altruism” Predictions
Weak Justif. Helps Helps
Strong Justif. No Help Helps
Rates of Volunteering to Help Distressed “Elaine” as a Function of Felt Empathy and Opportunity to Avoid Social Censure
Batson et al., 1988
0
0.1
0.2
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0.8
0.9
1
Distress Empathy
Easy Test
Hard Test
Note: Easy test = Low Justification to avoid helping
Hard test = High justification to avoid helping
Effort Made to Qualify to Help “Elaine” as a Function of Felt Empathy and Opportunity for Face-Saving Out
Batson, et al., 1988
0
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Distress Empathy
Nm
be
r C
orr
ec
t A
nsw
ers
Easy Test
Hard Test
Note: Easy Test = Low justification to avoid trying on test
Hard Test = High justification of avoid trying on test
Solution to Selfishness vs. Altruism Debate – “The Shared Self”
Problem: Do we ever intentionally act outside of self-interest?
Solution: Reconsider what we mean by “self” and “other”
Batson’s implicit definition – these are distinct entities
S O
Solution to Selfishness vs. Altruism, Contin.
What do people say when someone they love has died? What phases do they use to express this kind of loss?
“Part of me is missing”, “It’s as if I lost a limb”
What does this suggest about the self/other divide?
In other words, can self/other be represented as overlapping, rather than separate? S O
In this case “me” is not limited to my biological self, but to a shared self.
Empathy Altruism my require this “shared self”