PSYCH 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Autonomic Nervous System, Amygdala
Document Summary
Arousal and performance- performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks. Polygraph- machine that is commonly used in attempt to detect lies; measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (i. e. perspiration, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing changes0. Assume 5% of 1000 employees actually guilty after testing all employees 285 will be wrongly accused. Assume that 1 in 1000 employees actually guilty after testing all employees 50 are wrongly declared guilty and 1 of 51 testing positive are guilty (2%) The amygdala is a neural key to fear learning. 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. Subjective well-being- self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being (physical and economic indicators to evaluate people"s quality of life.
