Discuss the extent to which cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion.

3 Components of Emotion 1. physiological changes: arousal of the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system (not conscious) 2. a person’s subjective feelings of an emotion 3. associated behavior such as crying or screaming

6 Basic Emotions O Anger O Disgust O Fear O Joy O Sadness O Surprise

Which comes first? Emotion (physiological signals) or Feelings (cognition)?

No winner! O These are two independent, but parallel processes.

Biological Factors in Emotion O There are two biological pathways (LeDoux, 1999): O Short Route: goes from thalamus to amygdala (this is a fast but simplistic reaction that can save our lives) O Long Route: goes from thalamus to neocortex to hippocampus to amygdala (this is the more evaluative response that can adjust our emotions to something more reasonable)

Fear in Rats Study (Ledoux, 1977+) O AIM: to investigate what role the amygdala plays in fear.

METHODS O Rats were conditioned to experience fear every time they heard a bell by being shocked every time a bell rang.

FINDINGS O Lesioning of the rats’ amygdalas wiped out the fear response. O This supports a biological connection to emotion.

Phobias O Unreasonable fear responses are thought to be caused by a dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex that doesn’t allow them to automatically unlearn a fear once new info is provided.

Cognitive Factors in Emotion (Lazarus’ Theory) O According to Lazarus, a person’s subjective and active appraisal of a situation leads to an emotional feeling. Appraisals are evaluations related to how the situation will impact one’s personal well-being.

Appraisal = Emotion O Positive Appraisal = there will be a potential benefit to one’s personal well- being. This will result in a positive emotion. O Negative Appraisal = there is potential harm to one’s personal well-being. This will result in a negative emotion.

Factors that can affect Emotional Stress O Our individual appraisal of threat O Our believed resources for dealing with the stress O Which are in turn influenced by personal: O Motivation O Beliefs about oneself and the world O Environment (nature of the danger/social networks)

Strategies for Stressful Situations (Lazarus and Folkman, 1988) O Two strategies people use to deal with stressful situations: O Problem-focused coping: the aim is to change the situation that caused the emotional stress. O Emotion-focused coping: the aim is to handle the emotions rather than change the situation. (examples: escape, self-control over expression of emotions, social support, attempting to create a positive appraisal of the situation)

Initiation Ceremony Study (Speisman et al,1964) O AIM: To investigate if people’s emotional reaction to an unpleasant film can be manipulated. To support the idea that appraisal can have an effect on the way people cope with emotional stress/arousal.

METHODS O Researchers showed 3 different groups of participants a film of an initiation ceremony that involved genital surgery. Each group’s film included a different soundtrack. O Condition One (trauma condition): soundtrack emphasized the pain and mutilation. O Condition Two (denial condition): showed the participants as willing and happy. O Condition Three (intellectualization): gave an anthropological interpretation of the ceremony.

METHODS O During the film several objective physiological measures were taken like: -heart rate -galvanic skin response

FINDINGS O Participants reacted more emotionally (demonstrated by higher physiological measures) to the trauma condition. O Therefore, it seems to support Lazarus’ theory that subjective appraisal affects emotional stress. O It also supports LeDoux’s model of two biological pathways.