Emotion

What Is an Emotion?

• Organized psychological and physiological reactions

• These reactions are:– Bodily Reaction– Affective (subjective experience)– Cognition

Triggers

• external events

• thoughts

• behavior (facial feedback)

Characteristics

• Duration– Short called emotion– Long called mood

• Valence– Positive– Negative

Theories of Emotion

Is emotion in the heart, in the head, or both?

James-LangeTheory

Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.

Also called the James-Lange theory of emotion

Change Associated with Different Emotions

From "Voluntary Facial Action Generates Emotion-Specific Autonomic Nervous System Activity," by R.W. Levenson, P. Ekman, and W.V. Friesen, Psychophysiology, 1990, 24, 363-384, © 1990.

Reprinted with permission from Cambridge University Press.

From "Voluntary Facial Action Generates Emotion-Specific Autonomic Nervous System Activity," by R.W. Levenson, P. Ekman, and W.V. Friesen, Psychophysiology, 1990, 24, 363-384, © 1990.

Reprinted with permission from Cambridge University Press.

Lie Detection

• James’s theory forms basis.

• Polygraphs monitor physiological activity.

• Different approaches:– Control question test.– Directed lie test.– Guilty knowledge test.

Accuracy of Polygraphs

• Estimate vary widely.– A guilty person can “fool” a polygraph.– Some innocent people can be mislabeled as

guilty (false positive).

Cannon-Bard Theory

Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.

Updating Cannon’s Theory

• Thalamus is not the “seat” of emotion.

• Specific brain areas produce the feelings of pleasure or discomfort associated with emotion

Schachter-Singer Theory

• Cognitive Interpretation/Appraisal• Unambiguous

– Excitation transfer

• Ambiguous– Misattribution

» Schachter & Singer (Anger vs. Joy)» Dutton & Eron (Love vs. Fear)

Stimulus Arousal Emotion

Stimulus AppraisalArousalEmotion

Stimulus Arousal Appraisal Emotion

3. Schachter-Singer theory

4. Lazarus’ Cognitive Appraisal theories

1. James-Lange theory

StimulusArousalEmotion

2. Cannon-Bard theory

Main Criticism of Appraisal Theories

• Emotion without “cognition”– fear conditioning without explicit knowledge– emotion without awareness

Communicating Emotion

How Do We CommunicateEmotions to One Another?

• Through words.– Women talk about their emotions and the

complexity of their feelings.

• Through body movement and posture.– Especially through facial movements and

expressions.

Innate Expressions of Emotion

• Darwin’s universal facial expressions.– hard-wired

• Supporting evidence– newborns– cross-cultural– blind persons

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Facial Displays

ANGERANGER FEARFEAR DISGUSTDISGUST

SURPRISESURPRISE JOYJOY SADNESSSADNESS

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Winning Gold or Silver!

BackPride Pride + Shame

Ceremonial Facial Masks And Threat

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Cultural Influences

• Cultural variations in recognizing some emotions.

• Smiles vary as people learn to use them to communicate certain feelings through operant conditioning.

• Expression of emotion affected by cultural rules, called emotion culture– “stiff upper lip”

Social Influences and Emotion

• Social Referencing– Adult (Offensive or Not?)– Infant (OK Mom?)

“Are these OK, Mom?”

Physiology• Body

– Arousal– Facial

• Involuntary/voluntary facial displays

• Some Brain Areas– Amygdala (fear)– Hypothalamus (attacking rage, defensive rage)– Lateralization

• Right brain dominant• Right amygdala (negative emotions)

– Cerebral cortex• Regulates Emotion (frontal inhibits aggression)• Serotonin = Inhibitory Effect On Anger

The AutonomicNervous System

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Smiles: Faked and Authentic

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