Emotion What Is an Emotion Organized psychological and

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-Lange. Theory Also called the James-Lange theory of emotion Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.

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)

1. James-Lange theory Stimulus Arousal Emotion 2. Cannon-Bard theory Stimulus Arousal Emotion 3. Schachter-Singer theory Stimulus Arousal Appraisal 4. Lazarus’ Cognitive Appraisal theories Stimulus Appraisal Arousal Emotion

Main Criticism of Appraisal Theories • Emotion without “cognition” – fear conditioning without explicit knowledge – emotion without awareness

Communicating Emotion

How Do We Communicate Emotions 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 Next

Facial Displays ANGER FEAR DISGUST SURPRISE JOY SADNESS Back

Winning Gold or Silver! Pride + Shame Back

Ceremonial Facial Masks And Threat

Back

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 Autonomic Nervous System Back

Smiles: Faked and Authentic Back