Introduction to Social Psychology Emotion-Lecture Notes-Psychology, Study notes of Social Psychology

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Emotion

 Subjective

 Social

 Physiological

 Behavioral

Aspects of Emotion

Mood vs. Emotion

 Intensity

 Length

 Ability to identify trigger

 Figure-ground

Emotion and the Brain

 Amygdala is involved in the processes of fight or flight behavior, feeding behavior, and sexual behavior

 Epileptic aura

 Kluver-Bucy syndrome (damage to the medial temporal lobe)

 Lesions to right hemisphere impair emotion recognition

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

 80 muscles in the face, 3 dozen are influential in facial expression (Reeve, 1997).

 If there is no distinctive facial expression, then there is no emotion (Ekman).

 Facial feedback is interpreted by the brain as being a certain emotion.

 Once an emotion is activated, the whole body becomes aroused.•

 Arousal and external stimuli maintain the emotion after facial feedback initiates it.

Evidence for Facial Feedback Hypothesis

James-Lange Theory

 An emotion-provoking stimulus directly

produces physiological changes and

behavior, and then these events produce

the feeling of an emotion.

Criticisms of James-Lange Theory (Cannon)

 Bodily changes could be eliminated without disturbing emotions

 Feedback from physiological changes are similar for different emotions – thus could not determine emotional state

 Viscera (feedback to brain for emotional experience) are not very sensitive

 Changes to viscera too slow to provide experience of emotion

 Artificially inducing arousal did not lead to ―emotion‖

Arousal and Emotional Explanation for the Arousal were the two key variables manipulated:

 Participants injected with ―suproxin‖

 Placebo or Epinephrine  Participants either informed or misinformed about the effects of the drug

 Confederate acted angry or euphoric

Schachter and Singer (1962) (Two Factor Theory)

 Prediction:

 Epinephrine uninformed more angry/happy than informed—Why? Because they attributed their arousal (which was drug induced) to the situation.

 Implication:

 Emotions are somewhat arbitrary, depending on what the most plausible explanation for the arousal happens to be.

Schachter and Singer Cognitive/Appraisal Theory (Two Factor Theory)

Cognitive/Appraisal Theory Applied in Another Context

Dutton & Aron (1974) findings:

• Men on suspension bridge wrote stories that had more sexual imagery.
• Men on suspension bridge 4 times more likely to call research assistant.
• These effects only occurred if men wrote stories as they crossed the bridge.
• If the research assistant was male, forget it. No arousal effect.

Is Experiencing Actual Arousal Needed?

 Valins (1966)

 Argued that actual arousal may not be needed  Led male participants to believe their heart rate increased in response to pictures of women

Emotion Recognition and Childhood Abuse

 By 7 months of age, we are able to

discriminate emotional expressions, even

dynamic ones

 As infants we are more sensitive to facial

expressions made by our primary care

giver

Emotion Recognition and Childhood Abuse

 By 7 months of age, we are able to

discriminate emotional expressions, even

dynamic ones

 As infants we are more sensitive to facial

expressions made by our primary care

giver