Transcript Theories of Emotion

Emotion
Module 12
What are emotions?
full body responses, involving:
1.
physiological arousal (increased heart rate)
2.
expressive behaviors (smiling, pouting)
3.
conscious experiences (thoughts about experience)
Debates in Emotion Research
 Which
comes first, physiological
arousal or the subjective experience of
an emotion?
 Can
we react emotionally before
appraising a situation, or does thinking
always precede emotion?
Theories of Emotion:
Historical Approaches
Common Sense Theory
1.
2.
3.
emotion-arousing stimulus leads to
a conscious feeling (fear, anger) and
a physiological (physical) response
Example: Seeing an angry dog
(stimulus) triggers feelings of
fear (conscious feeling) and
physical responses such as
trembling.
James-Lange Theory

an emotion-arousing
stimulus in the environment
triggers a physiological
reaction

awareness of the
physiological reaction leads
to our experience of an
emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory

an emotion-arousing
stimulus
simultaneously
triggers both a
physiological
response and the
experience of an
emotion
Theories of Emotion:
Cognition and Emotion
Two-Factor Theory
 Emotions
involve two factors:
 a physiological arousal
 a cognitive label of the arousal
Which Baby is Which?
Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness
Joy
Disgust
Anger
Surprise
Interest
Sadness
Fear
Which Baby is Which?
Anger, Disgust, Fear, Interest, Joy, Surprise, Sadness
End Class Notes (Fall 2011)
Think about this…
Higher levels of testosterone are linked to
aggression.
 So…


does aggression cause testosterone levels to
increase?
OR
 do high levels of testosterone cause
aggression?
OR
 does some third factor cause both of them?
Theories of Emotion: Review
A) Common Sense
B) Richard Lazarus
C) Robert Zajonc
D) Two-Factor
E) James-Lange
F) Cannon-Bard
1) emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotionarousing stimulus
2) an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological
responses, and (2) experience of emotion
3) to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused, and (2)
cognitively label the arousal
4) some emotions don’t require conscious thought, but there must be a
minimum of unconscious thought to know what we’re reacting to
5) not all emotions involve deliberate thought; some emotions skip the thinking
part of the brain and go directly to the amygdala
6) emotion-arousing stimulus leads to a conscious feeling (fear, anger) and a
physiological response.
Birthday Scramble Activity
The Expression of Emotion:
Nonverbal Communication
Robert Zajonc

cognition (thinking) is not necessary for all
emotions

some emotions skip the thinking part of the
brain (cerebral cortex) and go directly to the
amygdala

How is this similar to reflexes?
Two Paths to Emotional Responses
Richard Lazarus
 agreed
some emotions do not require
conscious thought
 BUT,
there must be a minimum of
unconscious thought to know what
we’re reacting to
Cartoon Ranking Activity

Rank the following cartoons on a scale of
1 (not very funny) - 10 (very funny)
Cartoon A
Cartoon B
Cartoon C
Cartoon D
Cartoon E
Cartoon F
Cartoon G
Cartoon H
Cartoon I
Cartoon J
Cartoon Ranking Activity

Average your scores for the 10 cartoons

Which side do you think will have the
higher average? Why?

Do we smile because we are happy or are
we happy because we smile?
Think about this…

Do some emotions have similar physiological
responses?

Which ones?
 What types of physical responses do they elicit?

Is it possible to have these physiological
responses without an emotion-arousing stimulus?
Nonverbal Communication

communicating feelings without words:
 facial expressions
 tone of voice
 hand gestures

also called “body language”
FYI: Studies show that during interpersonal communication:


7% of the message is verbally communicated
93% is non-verbally transmitted


38% is through vocal tones
55% is through facial expressions
Analyzing Nonverbal Communication
Analyzing Nonverbal Communication
Analyzing Nonverbal Communication
Analyzing Nonverbal Communication:
Historical Example (1960 Presidential Election)
The Expression of Emotion:
Gender Effects on Emotion
Gender Effects
 women
are better at reading the
nonverbal communication of emotion
 women
tend to express emotions more
than men do
Display Rules
 cultural
rules governing how and when a
person may express emotion
 vary
greatly from culture to culture
(examples of other cultures’ display rules)
Facial Expressions
 Paul
Ekman studied facial expressions to
determine if they are inborn or culturally
based
 research
shows that certain basic
expressions are common to all cultures
“Primal Fear: Our Deepest Fears Revealed”

Video: What are the body’s physiological
responses to fear?

Your conclusion: How does cognition (our
thoughts) contribute to the experience of
fear?

Your conclusion: How would each of the 6
contemporary psychological perspectives
explain the experience of fear?