1. Explain/describe the interaction between cognitive and biological factors in emotion.
CLOA #11

2. Why do we remember some things vividly and not others?
Memory can be linked to the emotions surrounding the event
Emotions
rich and diverse
subjective and unpredictable
help us make decisions
Cause stress and physiological change

3. 6 main emotions
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Surprise

4. 3 components to emotions
Physiological change
Autonomic nervous system (fight or flight)
Endocrine system (hormones)
Subjective feelings
Subjective account
Associated behaviour
Smiling, crying, running away

5. Biological Factors Research with animals
Amygdala critical in brains emotional circuit
Adrenaline (stress hormone) released when strong emotions are induced

6. LeDoux’s model (1999) Short route (thalamus to amygdala)
Quick “fight or flight”
Long route (passes via the neocortex and hippothalamus)
Involves “thinking” or “cognitive appraisal”
Is this really dangerous? Friend or foe?
Allows flexibility of response
Amygdala transforms information into emotional signals and initiates and controls emotional responses

7. Emotions and Decision Making
Emotions are used to help make decisions
Based on previous experiences (real or shared)
Based on current knowledge
Empathy for others modifies behaviour
Fear of failure/ embarrassment
What CAS activities are you reluctant to engage in and why?
Does the amygdala’s method of processing emotions contribute to human conflicts?

8. Damasio (2000) Emotion Feeling Fear
Physiological signals as a reaction to stimuli
Feeling
Conscious interpretation of the emotion that comes after the brain interprets the stimuli
Fear
A useful emotion- stress activates adrenaline and cortisol
Memory of fearful experience is stored in cortex
Humans can usually control irrational fear—but not always
Anxiety, phobias, panic disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

9. Lazarus (1975) Appraisal Theory
Appraisals
Evaluations related to how the situation will impact on one’s personal well being
Potential benefit = positive emotions
Potential harm = negative emotions
People are not passively responding to the world they are actively interpreting and evaluating what is happening

10. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) Strategies for dealing with stress
Problem -focused
Aim to change the situation causing stress
Emotion- focused
Aim to handle the emotion (escape, seeking social support, reappraise situation in a positive way)

11. Speisman et al (1964)
Aim:
to investigate the extent to which manipulation of cognitive appraisal could influence emotional experience
Procedure
Participants saw anxiety evoking films
Film was shown with three different sound tracks
Trauma condition, intellectualization condition, denial condition
Measured heart rate, galvanic skin response

12. Speisman et al (1964) continued
Results
Participants in trauma condition showed higher physiological measures of stress- they reacted more emotionally
Evaluation
Lab experiment- controlled- lacks ecological validity
Real life research supports the findings
Illustrates LeDoux’s theory of two pathways
Demonstrates how biology and cognition are factors in emotion

13. Brown and Kulik (1977) Flashbulb memory
Special kind of emotional memory
Vivid and detailed memories of highly emotional events
Where they were, what they were doing, what they felt
Event is unexpected or very important
Neuroscience- emotional events are remembered better than non-emotional one

14. Neisser (1982) Flashbulb memory
A narrative convention- governed by the storytelling schema
Neisser and Harsch (1992)
Found that the recall of the 1986 Shuttle accident was distorted in 40% of participants
Inaccuracy of emotional memories is common

15. Memory Bias Breckler (1994) Holmberg and Holmes (1994)
Past emotional memories are partly reconstructed based on peoples current appraisal of events
Blood donors current attitude impacted their memories about how they felt in the past
Holmberg and Holmes (1994)
Men in unhappy marriages remembered early specific interactions more negatively than they did at the time
Correlational study

16. TOK- link In groups of 2-3 look at the picture on page 92.
Discuss the questions and be prepared to present your groups ideas to the class