PowerPoint® Presentation by Jim Foley Emotions, Stress and Health PowerPoint® Presentation by Jim Foley © 2013 Worth Publishers

Module 35: Introduction to Emotion

Emotion: Arousal, Behavior, and Cognition Conscious experience: Someone cuts you off on the road. You may feel the emotion of anger. Emotions are a mix of: How do these components of emotion interact and relate to each other? Do our thoughts trigger our emotions, or are they a product of our emotions? How are the bodily signs triggered? How do we decide which emotion we’re feeling? Expressive behavior: yelling, accelerating Bodily arousal: sweat, pounding heart This definition of emotion may not seem to say much. However, it differentiates an emotion from a mood, which is NOT a response to a situation, and an attitude, which is a predisposition to act in a certain way in a situation. It also differentiates an emotion from one’s affect, which are the outwardly expressive signs, especially facial expression and other nonverbal behaviors, that seem to be related to emotions. Remember that “arousal” means a wide range of energetic bodily responses, and not just sexual arousal. As we’ll review later, this arousal refers to activation of the sympathetic nervous system, including pounding heart, increased breathing, energy, sweating, etc. Conscious experience: (thoughts, especially the labeling of the emotion) What a bad driver! I am angry, even scared; better calm down. An emotion is a full body/mind/behavior response to a situation.

Theories of Emotion: The Arousal and Cognition “Chicken and Egg” Debates James-Lange Theory: body before thoughts Cannon-Bard Theory: body with thoughts Singer-Schachter/Two- factor theory: body plus thoughts/label Zajonc, LeDoux, Lazarus: body/brain without conscious thoughts Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or did they evolve together? Which happens first, the body changes that go with an emotion, or the thoughts (conscious awareness and labeling of an emotion), or do they happen together? Click to reveal bullets.

James-Lange Theory: Body Before Thoughts William James (1842-1910): “We feel afraid because we tremble, sorry because we cry.” The James-Lange theory states that emotion is our conscious awareness of our physiological responses to stimuli. Our body arousal happens first, and then the cognitive awareness and label for the feeling: “I’m angry.” According to this theory, if something makes us smile, we may then feel happy. The James–Lange theory is one of the earliest theories of emotion, developed independently by the William James (1842-1910) from the United States and Carl Lange (1834-1900) from Denmark. A survey of 25 soldiers who suffered such injuries in World War II (Hohmann, 1966). Those with lower-spine injuries, who had lost sensation only in their legs, reported little change in their emotions’ intensity. Those with high spinal cord injury, who could feel nothing below the neck, did report changes. Some reactions were much less intense than before the injuries. Anger, one man confessed, “just doesn’t have the heat to it that it used to. It’s a mental kind of anger.” Other emotions, those expressed mostly in body areas above the neck, were felt more intensely. These men reported increases in weeping, lumps in the throat, and getting choked up when saying good-bye…

Adjusting the Cannon-Bard Theory Cannon-Bard Theory: Simultaneous Body Response and Cognitive Experience The Cannon-Bard theory asserts that we have a conscious/cognitive experience of an emotion at the same time as our body is responding, not afterward. Adjusting the Cannon-Bard Theory Emotions are not just a separate mental experience. When our body responses are blocked, emotions do not feel as intense. Our cognitions influence our emotions in many ways, including our interpretations of stimuli: “Is that a threat? Then I’m afraid.” Walter Cannon (1871-1945) and Philip Bard (1898-1977) developed their model of emotion in the first half of the 20th century. A survey of 25 soldiers who suffered such injuries in World War II (Hohmann, 1966). Those with lower-spine injuries, who had lost sensation only in their legs, reported little change in their emotions’ intensity. Those with high spinal cord injury, who could feel nothing below the neck, did report changes. Some reactions were much less intense than before the injuries. Anger, one man confessed, “just doesn’t have the heat to it that it used to. It’s a mental kind of anger.” Other emotions, those expressed mostly in body areas above the neck, were felt more intensely. These men reported increases in weeping, lumps in the throat, and getting choked up when saying good-bye… Human body responses run parallel to the cognitive responses rather than causing them.

Schachter-Singer “Two-factor” Theory: Emotion = Body Plus a Cognitive Label The Schachter-Singer “two-factor” theory suggests that emotions do not exist until we add a label to whatever body sensations we are feeling. In a study by Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer in 1962, subjects experienced a spillover effect when arousal was caused by injections of what turned out to be adrenaline. The subjects interpreted their agitation to whatever emotion the others in the room appeared to be feeling; the emotional label “spilled over” from others. Stanley Schachter (1922-1997) and Jerome Singer (d. 2010) developed the “two-factor” theory of emotion in 1962. The actual volunteers felt little emotion—because they attributed their arousal to the drug. But if you had been told the injection would produce no effects, they “caught” the apparent emotion of the other person in the waiting room. I face a stranger, and my heart is pounding. Is it fear? Excitement? Anger? Lust? Or did I have too much caffeine? The label completes the emotion.

Which theory would suggest that you experience the emotion of anger at the same time that your heart begins to beat rapidly? A. James-Lange theory B. Cannon-Bard theory C. two-factor theory D. adaptation-level phenomenon Answer: B MODULE 35 Introduction to Emotion

If people who have just been aroused by watching rock videos are insulted, their feelings of anger will be greater than those of people who have been similarly provoked but were not previously aroused. This is best explained by the: A. relative deprivation principle. B. adaptation-level principle. C. catharsis hypothesis. D. two-factor theory. Answer: D MODULE 35 Introduction to Emotion

A. catharsis hypothesis. B. James-Lange theory. When Mr. Morgan began to misinterpret his harmless symptoms of autonomic nervous system arousal as indicative of an impending heart attack, he suffered an unusually intense level of fear. His emotional suffering is best understood in terms of the: A. catharsis hypothesis. B. James-Lange theory. C. adaptation-level theory. D. two-factor theory. Answer: D MODULE 35 Introduction to Emotion

Robert Zajonc, Joseph LeDoux, and Richard Lazarus: Emotions without Awareness/Cognition Theory: some emotional reactions, especially fears, likes, and dislikes, develop in a “low road” through the brain, skipping conscious thought. In one study, people showed an amygdala response to certain images (above, left) without being aware of the image or their reaction. Richard Lazarus (1922-2002) notes that some “top-down” cognitive functions such as threat-appraisal can be involved, but these emotional responses can still operate without conscious thought. Some emotions (especially more complex feelings like hatred and love) travel a “high-road.” A stimulus following this path would travel (by way of the thalamus) to the brain’s cortex. But sometimes our emotions (especially simple likes, dislikes, and fears) take what Joseph LeDoux (2002) has called the “low road,” a neural shortcut that bypasses the cortex. This shortcut, bypassing the cortex, enables our greased-lightning emotional response before our intellect intervenes. Joseph LeDoux (b. 1949) and Robert Zajonc (1923-2008) proposed their ideas in the second half of the 20th century. In experiments, thirsty people were given a fruit-flavored drink after viewing a subliminally flashed (thus unperceived) face. Those exposed to a happy face drank about 50 percent more than those exposed to a neutral face (Berridge & Winkielman, 2003). Those flashed an angry face drank substantially less.

When Appraisal Affects Emotion Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer highlighted the role of appraisal in labeling consciously experienced emotions: “this agitation is fear.” Richard Lazarus noted that even in emotional responses that operate without conscious thought, “top-down” cognitive functions such as appraisal of stimuli (is that a threat or something I would enjoy?) can be involved . Thus, learning to think more positively can help people feel better. Although the emotional low road functions automatically, the thinking high road allows us to retake some control over our emotional life.

Summary: Theories of Emotion No animation.

 Emotion can include the appraisal of the stimulus such as, is it a threat or not? Theories of Emotion No animation. Avoiding the highway today without identifying or explaining any fear is an example of the “low road” of emotion.

Embodied Emotion: The role of the autonomic nervous system The physiological arousal felt during various emotions is orchestrated by the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers activity and changes in various organs. Later, the parasympathetic division calms down the body. Click to reveal bullets and example.

Julie will be competing in a basketball free throw contest Julie will be competing in a basketball free throw contest. Her performance is likely to be ________ if her physiological arousal during the performance is ________. A. best; very low B. best; very high C. best; moderate D. worst; moderate Answer: C MODULE 35 Introduction to Emotion

Embodied Emotion: How Do Emotions Differ in Body Signs? A general brain pattern: hemispheric differences It is difficult to see differences in emotions from tracking heart rate, breathing, and perspiration. There is also a large overlap in the patterns of brain activity across emotions. There are some small differences; for example, fear triggers more amygdala activity than anger. Positive “approach” emotions (joy, love, goal-seeking) correlate with left frontal lobe activity. Negative “withdrawal” emotions (disgust, fear, anger, depression) correlate with right hemisphere activity. Compared with observers watching angry faces, those watching (and subtly mimicking) fearful faces show more activity in their amygdala, an emotion control center (Whalen et al., 2001). The left hemisphere is good for analyzing details (up close, approaching) and the right hemisphere is good for understanding the big picture. The more a person’s baseline frontal lobe activity tilts left—or is made to tilt left by perceptual activity—the more upbeat the person typically is (Drake & Myers, 2006).

We have all heard about a lie detector or polygraph We have all heard about a lie detector or polygraph. You have taken a lie detector test because your boss thinks someone is stealing from the office. You are innocent, but unfortunately, you are informed that you have “failed” the polygraph test. Which of the following is NOT true about these tests? A. A polygraph cannot really detect the difference between arousal caused by anxiety and that caused by lying. B. Polygraph tests can easily be fooled. C. People who pass lie detector tests are innocent, but those who fail are not necessarily guilty. D. While widely used by police and government agencies, polygraphs often fail to identify the guilty. Answer: C MODULE 35 Introduction to Emotion A 2002 U.S. National Academy of A more effective approach to lie detection uses a guilty knowledge test, which assesses a suspect’s physiological responses to crime-scene details known only to the police and the guilty person Sciences report noted that “no spy has ever been caught [by] using the polygraph.” It is not for lack of trying. Other researchers are developing software that analyzes facial microexpressions (Adelson, 2004; Newman et al., 2003) or compares the language of truth-tellers and of liars (who use fewer first-person pronouns and more negative-emotion words).