Chapter 13
EmotionPhineas gage
theories of emotion
Theories of Emotion
• Does your heart pound because you are afraid... or are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?
Emotion
• William James and Carl Lange came up with the James-Lange Theory of Emotion.
• We feel emotion because of biological changes caused by stress.
• The body changes and our mind recognizes the feeling.
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
Fear(emotion)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
James-Lange (cont.)• Subjects report
feeling more sad when viewing scenes of war, sickness, and starvation if their “sad face” muscles are activated.
• They also find comic strips funnier if their “happy face” muscles are activated.
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
• The physiological change and cognitive awareness must occur simultaneously.
• They believed it was the thalamus that helped this happen.
Cannon-BardTheory of Emotion
• Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:– physiological
responses – subjective
experience of emotion
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Fear(emotion)
Two-Factor Theory of Emotionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2qdvELqskc
• Stanley Schachter explains emotions more completely that the other two theories.
• They happen at the same time but…
• People who are already physiologically aroused experience more intense emotions than unaroused people when both groups are exposed to the same stimuli.
• Biology and Cognition interact with each other to increase the experience.
Schachter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion
• To experience emotion one must:– be physically
aroused – cognitively
label the arousal
Cognitivelabel
“I’m afraid”
Fear(emotion)
Sight of oncoming
car(perception of
stimulus)
Poundingheart
(arousal)
Schachter’s Two-Factor
Injection Told Emotion
Group 1 Epinephrine Will increase arousal
Mild
Group 2 Epinephrine Will have no effect / other side effects
Strong
Epinephrine Study:
Emotional Arousalhttp://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/fight-or-flight-response.html#lesson
Autonomic nervous system controlsphysiological arousal
Sympatheticdivision (arousing)
Pupils dilate
Decreases
Perspires
Increases
Accelerates
Inhibits
Secrete stresshormones
Parasympatheticdivision (calming)
Pupils contract
Increases
Dries
Decreases
Slows
Activates
Decreasessecretion of
stress hormones
EYES
SALIVATION
SKIN
RESPIRATION
HEART
DIGESTION
ADRENALGLANDS
Arousal and Performance
• Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks
Performancelevel
Low
Arousal
High
Difficult tasks Easy tasks
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Yerkes Dodson Law: What type of motivational level do you need??
TASK MOTIVATIONAL LEVEL
easy high moderate moderate difficult low
Arousal Theory
• We are motivated to seek an optimum level of arousal.
• Yerkes-Dodson Law
Expressing Emotion
Smiles can show different emotions:
A) Mask angerB) Overly politeC) Soften
criticismD) Reluctant
compliance
Experienced Emotion - Fear• Learning Fear– Observation / Experience– Genetic / Evolutionary Predispositions?
• Biology of Fear– Amygdala – emotions of fear– Hippocampus – memory of fear
Expressed Emotion
People more speedily detect an angry face than a happy one (Ohman, 2001a)
Expressing EmotionHow good are you at detecting emotions?
• Culturally universal expressions
Experiencing Emotionhttp://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/categorizing-emotions.html
• The Amygdala-a neural key to fear learning
Experiencing Emotion
• Catharsis–emotional release–catharsis hypothesis • “releasing” aggressive energy
(through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges
• Feel-good, do-good phenomenon–people’s tendency to be helpful
when already in a good mood
Experiencing Emotion
• Does money buy happiness?
Year
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Averageper-person
after-tax incomein 1995 dollars
Percentagedescribingthemselves asvery happy
$20,000$19,000$18,000$17,000$16,000$15,000$14,000$13,000$12,000$11,000$10,000
$9,000$8,000$7,000$6,000$5,000$4,000
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Percentage very happy
Personal income
Experiencing Emotion
• Adaptation-Level Phenomenon– tendency to form judgements relative to
a “neutral” level
• Relative Deprivation– perception that one is worse off relative
to those with whom one compares oneself
– Is Happines Relative (8 min)
Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion
Strong
Neutral
StrongFirst experience
(a)
Strong
Neutral
StrongAfter repeated experiences
(b)
Happiness is...
Researchers Have Found ThatHappy People Tend to
Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries)
Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable
Have close friendships or a satisfyingmarriage
Have work and leisure that engagetheir skills
Have a meaningful religious faith
Sleep well and exercise
However, Happiness Seems Not MuchRelated to Other Factors, Such as
Age
Gender (women are more often depressed, but also more often joyful)
Education levels
Parenthood (having children or not)
Physical attractiveness
Theories of Emotions Review
Reflection Reflection• What affects your emotions?
• What theory do you think is most accurate regarding emotion? Why?
• How are motivation and emotion connected?
?