Emotion

© Kip Smith, 2003 Topics Arousal and autonomic control Polygraphs Emotional expression and experience Emotion and feelings

© Kip Smith, 2003 Arousal The physical response that prepares the body and mind to act & The level of activity summoned in the course of action

© Kip Smith, 2003 Just do it ! High arousal Muscles tense up, receive more blood (oxygen and sugars) Metabolic rate up heart, breathing, blood pressure Endorphins released into bloodstream Attention becomes narrowly focused

© Kip Smith, 2003 Autonomic System Arousal is controlled by the two divisions of the autonomic ‘system’ Sympathetic Parasympathetic The ‘system’ consists of an ancient and complex set of predispositions controlled by limbic structures Hypothalamus Amygdala

© Kip Smith, 2003 Two divisions of the Autonomic System The sympathetic division prepares the body to take action Sympathetic --> same feeling --> behavior becomes more uniform E.g., heart rate becomes relatively regular The parasympathetic division allows the body to relax, to conserve energy and effort Parasympathetic --> behavior is less controlled E.g., heart rate varies ±20%

© Kip Smith, 2003 Sympathetic division (take action) Pupils dilate Decreases Perspires Increases Accelerates Inhibits Secrete stress hormones Parasympathetic division (conserve effort) Pupils contract Increases Dries Decreases Slows Activates Decreases secretion of stress hormones EYES SALIVATION SKIN RESPIRATION HEART DIGESTION ADRENAL GLANDS What the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions do

© Kip Smith, 2003 Arousal and Performance Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks The inverted U of the “Yerkes- Dodson Law” HighLowArousal Difficult Easy Performance level

© Kip Smith, 2003 Polygraph - “lie detectors” Measures several of the physiological responses accompanying arousal perspiration heart rate blood pressure breathing changes ‘Interpretation’ = systematic misinterpretation of relative levels of sympathetic activation

© Kip Smith, 2003 Polygraph test protocol Control Question Up to age 18, did you ever physically harm anyone? Relevant Question Did the deceased threaten to harm you in any way? IF sympathetic response to Relevant Q > response to Control Q THEN you are judged to have lied

© Kip Smith, 2003 Polygraph test protocol Control Question Up to age 18, did you ever physically harm anyone? Relevant Question Do you still beat your wife? IF sympathetic response to Relevant Q > response to Control Q THEN you are judged to have lied

© Kip Smith, 2003 Percentage Innocent people Guilty people Judged innocent by polygraph Judged guilty by polygraph Polygraph tests are specious 50 Innocents 50 Thieves 1/3 of innocent declared guilty 1/4 of guilty declared innocent (from Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984)

© Kip Smith, 2003 Would you really trust a Polygraph Test? Is 70% accuracy good? Assume 5% of 1000 students actually guilty of cheating Test all students 285 will be wrongly accused What about 95% accuracy? Assume 1 in 1001 students actually guilty Test all students (including 1000 innocents) 50 wrongly declared guilty 1 of 51 testing positive are guilty (2%)

© Kip Smith, 2003 Emotion and Feelings Note: Much of the material on emotion and feelings in the textbook is not up to date The material here goes beyond the book

© Kip Smith, 2003 An adaptive physiological response to the status of your interaction with your environment Emotion is multi-modal physiological arousal expressive behaviors conscious experience Emotion is NOT mediated by consciousness! Emotion

© Kip Smith, 2003 Emotion An adaptive physiological response to the status of your interaction with your environment You are in the world The world impinges upon you You and the environment are interacting Emotion is your body’s automatic response to that interaction

© Kip Smith, 2003 The 6 basic emotions Anger Disgust Fear Joy Sadness Surprise

© Kip Smith, 2003 Positive valence Negative valence High arousal Low arousal pleasant relaxation joy sadness fear anger Two Dimensions of Emotion

© Kip Smith, 2003 Subjective Well-Being Self-perceived and described happiness or satisfaction with life Does not necessarily correlate with objective measures of well-being Physical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s quality of life Poor people can be perfectly happy and satisfied with life Money don’t buy me love

© Kip Smith, 2003 The economics of well-being Does money buy happiness? Year 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Average per-person after-tax income in 1995 dollars ($1,000s) $20,000 $19,000 $18,000 $17,000 $16,000 $15,000 $14,000 $13,000 $12,000 $11,000 $10,000 $9,000 $8,000 $7,000 $6,000 $5,000 $4,000 Percentage very happy Personal income Percentage describing themselves as very happy

Researchers have found that HAPPY people tend to Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries) Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage Have work and leisure that engage their skills Have a meaningful religious faith Sleep well and exercise However, HAPPINESS is NOT strongly related to Age Gender Education levels Parenthood (having children or not) Physical attractiveness Factors of happiness

© Kip Smith, 2003 Emotion is universal All people everywhere experience and express emotion the same way The only difference? Some folks are more open about it Some are repressed Men tend to be more repressed than women Some are exhibitionistic Both repression and exhibitionism have pathological extremes

© Kip Smith, Men Women Sad Happy Scary Film Type Number of expressions Sex and expressiveness

© Kip Smith, 2003 Emotion and Feeling

© Kip Smith, 2003 Emotion ≠ Feelings A physiological response to your interaction with your environment Is evident to others Your body signals emotion Emotions precede feelings The conscious experience of emotion Feelings follow emotion You can exhibit emotion and not know it

© Kip Smith, 2003 Theories of Emotion Does your heart pound because you are afraid... Or Are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

© Kip Smith, 2003 Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal) Fear (emotion) James - Lange Theory of Emotion The experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to arousing stimuli You are afraid because you feel your heart pounding

© Kip Smith, 2003 Cannon - Bard Theory of Emotion Arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger: physiological responses subjective experience of emotion Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal) Fear (emotion)

© Kip Smith, 2003 The problem with Cannon-Bard Arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger: physiological responses subjective experience of emotion But emotions exist whether or not you feel them Emotions precede feelings

© Kip Smith, 2003 Schachter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion To experience emotion you must: be physically aroused & cognitively label the arousal Fear (emotion) Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Cognitive label “I’m afraid” Pounding heart (arousal) Feelings feelings

© Kip Smith, 2003 The Amygdala and Emotion The brain’s shortcut for emotions (principally fear)

© Kip Smith, 2003 The primary route to Emotion Event Emotion Physiological activation Expressive behavior 1

© Kip Smith, 2003 The secondary route to Emotion Memory Emotion Physiological activation Expressive behavior 2

© Kip Smith, 2003 Subjective experience = Feelings Consciousness Emotions & Consciousness Emotion Event/ Memory Physiological activation Expressive behavior