PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8.1: Leptin, Anorectic, Ghrelin
Chapter 8: Emotion & Motivation
Valence- Emotional experiences differ on two dimensions (how positive and how negative the experience is).
Arousal- How active or passive the experience is.
Emotion- positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity.
James-Lange theory- stimuli trigger activity in the autonomic nervous system, which in turn produces an
emotional experience in the brain.
Cannon-Bard theory- stimulus simultaneously triggers activity in the autonomic nervous system and
emotional experience in the brain.
Schachter & Singer's two-factor theory- emotions are inferences about the causes of physiological arousal.
-People make inferences about their causes of arousal and these inferences influence their emotional experience.
-ex. people aroused through riding an exercise bike, find attractive people more attractive, the annoying more
annoying and the funny more funny.
Appraisal- evaluation of the emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus; before an animal can fear, its brain must
first decide there is something to be afraid of. [ex. after hallucinogens were given to rhesus monkeys, but after,
during brain surgery the monkey's amygdala was damaged therefore the monkey could not feel fear and
remained very calm--it would eat and do anything--]
-Therefore the amygdala was critical in making appraisals [basically a "threat detector"].
-Also, if visual information doesn't reach the amydala, then the events emotional significance can't be assessed.
-The cortex processes the information slow and thoroughly to fully identify and understand the threat; when the
amygdala has already received the information and already choosing to be scared of the stimulus or not. The
info from the cortex reassures the amygdala to fear or stay calm.
Emotional Regulation- The cognitive and behavioral strategies people use to influence their own emotional
experience.
Reappraisal- Involves changing one's emotional experience by changing the meaning of the emotion-eliciting
stimulus.
-When picture was reappraised, key cortex areas became active but amygdalae were deactivated, therefore
participants consciously and willfully turned down activity of their amygdalae by reappraising.
Emotional Expression- An observable sign of an emotional state.
-Psychologists Paul Ekman & Wallace Friesen cataloged the muscle movements of the human face and
isolated 46, naming each one "action units".
Zygomatic major- muscle that pulls lip corners up
Obicularis oculi- produce a unique facial expression (action units 6 & 12) aka smiling.
Universality Hypothesis- Suggests emotional expressions have the same meaning for everyone.
-Words are "symbols" where facial expressions are "signs" therefore expressions are universal. The context in
which the expression occurs tells us what the expression means.
Facial feedback hypothesis- Suggests that emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they
signify.(ex. people feel happier when asked to make long sound "e" or "u".)
-facial feedback is not limited to facial expression but body expression as well (if you make a fist you are more
aggressive).
Display rules- norms for the control of emotional expression.
Control Techniques:
Intensification- exaggerating the expression of the present emotion (ex. when opening a gift, and acting more
surprised by a gift than the person actually is).
Deintensification- muting expression of the present emotion (ex. when the loser of the contest tries to look less
distressed than he already is).
Masking- expressing one emotion while feeling another (ex. poker play tries to look distressed rather than
delighted when having a good hand).
Neutralizing- feeling an emotion but displaying no expression (ex. judge tries not to betray his leanings while
lawyers make argument).
Four features that are more readily observable seem to distinguish between sincere ad insincere facial expressions
Morphology- Certain facial muscles tend to resist conscious control, trained observers call the quite
revealing muscles "reliable muscles" for their reliability in exposing the hidden emotions [zygomatic
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Document Summary
Valence- emotional experiences differ on two dimensions (how positive and how negative the experience is). Arousal- how active or passive the experience is. Emotion- positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity. James-lange theory- stimuli trigger activity in the autonomic nervous system, which in turn produces an emotional experience in the brain. Cannon-bard theory- stimulus simultaneously triggers activity in the autonomic nervous system and emotional experience in the brain. Schachter & singer"s two-factor theory- emotions are inferences about the causes of physiological arousal. People make inferences about their causes of arousal and these inferences influence their emotional experience. Ex. people aroused through riding an exercise bike, find attractive people more attractive, the annoying more annoying and the funny more funny. Appraisal- evaluation of the emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus; before an animal can fear, its brain must first decide there is something to be afraid of.
