Emotion: Three Components (Plus One)

1. Emotion: Three Components (Plus One) Also, different emotions have distinct subjective experiences associated with them.

2. Why do we have emotions? • According to the theory of evolution, we have emotions because of natural selection. • That is, our current physical and psychological characteristics are present because they have, at least in the past, enhanced our prospects for survival and reproduction. • So, what purpose do emotions serve? • The expression of emotion is an effective means of communication (see next slide) • That is, we feel emotion because the expression of emotion has proved to be an effective means of communication

3. The Facial Expression of Emotions • Two important facets of communication between organisms is the ability to express emotion on the face and the ability to read emotion in a facial expression. • The basic emotions are anger, disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, and surprise. • An emotion is basic if it has characteristic physiological, subjective, and expressive components • The six basic emotional expressions are present within six months of birth. • The facial expressions associated with the basic emotions are “universally” recognized. • When people from different cultures are presented photographs of faces with emotional expressions, the expressed emotions are correctly identified. • When a whole face is present, a perceiver relies more on the mouth than the eyes to read the emotion expressed.

4. What are some other functions of emotions, especially negative emotions? • Psychologists have tended to emphasize negative emotions. (Of the six basic, four are negative.) • Negative emotions are not a lot of fun to feel, so what purpose do they serve? • Prepare us for action (e.g., fear prepares for flight). • Motivate us (e.g., fear of failure). • Inform us – negative emotions are relatively specific (e.g., sadness signals loss, fear signals threat, etc.) • Help us learn by signaling a problem that in turn requires a solution which in turn may require change (I.e., learning)

5. What are some other functions of emotions, especially positive emotions? • Positive emotions feel good, but what purpose do they serve? • In Ch. 9, we learned that the experience of pleasure is nature’s way of sweetening the pot when it comes to adaptive behaviors like eating, drinking, or sex • When people are in good moods, they make decisions more quickly and efficiently • Positive emotions broaden thinking and action • Interest leads to exploration, joy leads to play, etc. • The skills learned in exploration and play can, in turn, have adaptive value • During pursuit and achievement of goals, positive feelings signal satisfactory progress, thereby motivating persistence and encouraging additional effort

6. What are some other cognitive functions of emotions? • Risk judgments are strongly influenced by current feelings and, if thoughts and emotions about a risk don’t correspond, then emotions carry the day • For example, why do young people begin smoking? • A somatic marker is a feeling one has before one does something that mirrors the feeling one thinks he/she will have afterward. • For example, if you feel bad before you choose to speed and get a ticket, you may not speed in the first place • Emotional arousal enhances memory • Drugs that block arousal interfere with memory for emotional stimuli • Traumatized subjects given such drugs experienced less PTSD (Pitman et al, 2002)

7. What are some interpersonal functions of emotions? • In recent theories, anxiety is what we feel when we behave in a way that we think could lead to expulsion from a group. • Anxiety is a signal to repair interpersonal transgressions. • Guilt is the tension and remorse we feel when do another person harm • Guilt keeps people from doing harm to others within the social group • Guilt is a product of socialization, rather than genetics • Embarrassment is what we feel when we make a social error • Blushing is a nonverbal apology that reassures others of one’s commitment to social norms • Jealousy is an important component of long-term relationships • Keeps mates together by sparking passion and commitment • Feel jealousy because you are committed • Display jealousy as a sign of commitment • Provoke jealousy as a test of commitment

8. Theories of Emotion I • James-Lange • An emotion-inducing stimulus elicits a physiological response • The physiological response leads to autonomic arousal • The autonomic arousal stimulates emotion • Supporting evidence • In patients with spinal cord lesions that diminish feedback from the autonomic system to the brain, emotionality is impaired • There are distinct patterns of physiological responses for different emotions

9. Specific Patterns of Arousal

10. Theories of Emotion II • Facial feedback hypothesis • Facial expression causes and/or sharpens the subjective experience of emotion • This is like the James-Lange theory, except that facial feedback, instead of autonomic feedback, is emphasized in the subjective experience of emotions. • Supporting evidence • Facial electromyograph (EMG) reveals that different emotional states are associated with distinctive patterns of facial muscle activity.

11. Theories of Emotion III • Cannon-Bard • The emotion-inducing stimulus elicits physiological and emotional experience in parallel • Supporting evidence • Autonomic responses occur too slowly (1-2 sec) for emotional responses to be dependent upon (i.e., occur after) them

12. The Autonomic Nervous System “Fight or Flight” Restore Calm

13. How emotion works in the brain • Sensory input to the thalamus • Emotionally relevant information is routed to the amygdala, hypothalamus, and areas of cortex • When the amygdala is destroyed in monkeys, Kluver-Bucy syndrome occurs, in which the organism no longer understands the emotional significance of objects. • For example, the monkey may recognize a snake, but no longer fear a snake. • Thalamus-amygdala circuit plays a role in fast (Stage 1) emotional responses

14. Papez’s Circuit • Hypothalamus routes information to the amygdala for further processing • When different nuclei in the hypothalamus are electrically stimulated in animals, attack (and rage) and flight (and terror) are generated • Amygdala feeds back information to the hypothalamus, which in turn activates • Autonomic nervous system via nuclei in the brain stem • The endocrine system via the pituitary gland

15. The role of the cortex in emotion • Cerebral cortex feeds back information to the amygdala, thereby providing the basis for a (Stage 2) emotional reaction based on a more thorough cognitive appraisal • Peripheral and autonomic nervous system feedback information to the frontal cortex for the experience of emotion • Frontal cortex is important for • Making choices guided by emotions • Interpreting the meaning of nervous system feedback • Regulating facial expression • Left and right frontal cortex are lateralized for positive and negative emotion, respectively.

16. Hemispheric Asymmetries in Emotion

17. Is Cognition Necessary for Emotion? • Stage 1 • Sensation of threat can reach the amygdala via direct path from thalamus • Stage 2 • Sensation of threat also travels via cortex • Cortical judgment can override direct path

18. Theories of Emotion IV • Schacter-Singer (two-factor) theory of emotion • Autonomic (physiological) arousal occurs • Cognitive appraisal (interpretation) of the situation attributes source of arousal to a cause • This cognitive label determines the subjective experience of emotion • Example. • You’re walking up a stairs with someone you don’t know but need to talk with. By the time you get to the top, you’re breathing a bit harder and you’re catching your breath and you’re feeling like you’re nervous about talking to this person. • You’ve misattributed your physiological state of arousal to the stranger and you’ve labeled your arousal as feelings of anxiety about talking with this stranger.

19. Dutton and Aron (1974) • Supporting evidence for Schacter-Singer theory of emotion • Males crossed either a wooden bridge suspended across a canyon (250’ above the river) or a wooden bridge 10’ above a creek • At the other end, they met either a female or a male confederate that asked them to fill out a park survey • Their general behavior was observed and they took the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) • Males that crossed the suspension bridge and were met by the female confederate more often expressed sexual themes in the TAT and more often “hit on” the female confederate • When met by the female confederate, the “suspension males” interpreted their general arousal as sexual arousal and interest.

20. Regulation of mood and emotion • Sometimes our emotions get in the way • What are some strategies for harnessing our emotional responses? • Don’t put yourself in a situation in which you know you’ll experience an emotion that you don’t like • Once you’re already feeling a negative emotion, you can • Distract yourself • Reappraise (i.e., frame) the event in more neutral terms • Use humor • Avoid suppression or rumination

21. How Do We Judge Happiness? • Why hasn’t happiness increased over time in the USA? • Social-Comparison Theory • The theory that people evaluate themselves by making comparisons with others • So, if everyone has increased their wealth, the relative standing of individuals hasn’t changed • Adaptation-Level Theory • The theory that people evaluate experiences in relation to current levels, to which they have become accustomed • So even though increased wealth may increase happiness for a short time, soon it becomes the status quo