1. Emotion: Three Components (Plus One)
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Emotion: Three Components (Plus One)
Prepared by Terrence M. Barnhardt, Ph.D.; Michael J. Renner, Ph.D.
Some of these slides ©2001 Prentice Hall Psychology Publishing.
Figure 9.1 from:
Kassin, S. (2001). Psychology, third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Also, different emotions have distinct subjective
experiences associated with them.
©2001 Prentice Hall

2. Emotion
Why do we have emotions?
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According to the theory of evolution, we have emotions because of natural selection.
That is, our current physical and psychological characteristics are present because they have, at least in the past, enhanced our prospects for survival and reproduction.
So, what purpose do emotions serve?
The expression of emotion is an effective means of communication (see next slide)
That is, we feel emotion because the expression of emotion has proved to be an effective means of communication
©2001 Prentice Hall

3. The Facial Expression of Emotions
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Two important facets of communication between organisms is the ability to express emotion on the face and the ability to read emotion in a facial expression.
The basic emotions are anger, disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, and surprise.
An emotion is basic if it has characteristic physiological, subjective, and expressive components
The six basic emotional expressions are present within six months of birth.
The facial expressions associated with the basic emotions are “universally” recognized.
When people from different cultures are presented photographs of faces with emotional expressions, the expressed emotions are correctly identified.
When a whole face is present, a perceiver relies more on the mouth than the eyes to read the emotion expressed.
(plus shame and interest)
Display rules are unwritten rules for how and when emotions are expressed. These differ across culture and gender.
©2001 Prentice Hall

4. What are some other functions of emotions, especially negative emotions?
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Psychologists have tended to emphasize negative emotions. (Of the six basic, four are negative.)
Negative emotions are not a lot of fun to feel, so what purpose do they serve?
Prepare us for action (e.g., fear prepares for flight).
Motivate us (e.g., fear of failure).
Inform us – negative emotions are relatively specific (e.g., sadness signals loss, fear signals threat, etc.)
Help us learn by signaling a problem that in turn requires a solution which in turn may require change (I.e., learning)
©2001 Prentice Hall

5. Emotion
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What are some other functions of emotions, especially positive emotions?
Positive emotions feel good, but what purpose do they serve?
In Ch. 9, we learned that the experience of pleasure is nature’s way of sweetening the pot when it comes to adaptive behaviors like eating, drinking, or sex
When people are in good moods, they make decisions more quickly and efficiently
Positive emotions broaden thinking and action
Interest leads to exploration, joy leads to play, etc.
The skills learned in exploration and play can, in turn, have adaptive value
During pursuit and achievement of goals, positive feelings signal satisfactory progress, thereby motivating persistence and encouraging additional effort
Happiness (“subjective well-being”)
Happiness is greater in wealthier countries.
But happiness is only a little greater in wealthier people
Happiness has not increased over time in the USA despite an overall increase in wealth
©2001 Prentice Hall

6. What are some other cognitive functions of emotions?
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Risk judgments are strongly influenced by current feelings and, if thoughts and emotions about a risk don’t correspond, then emotions carry the day
For example, why do young people begin smoking?
A somatic marker is a feeling one has before one does something that mirrors the feeling one thinks he/she will have afterward.
For example, if you feel bad before you choose to speed and get a ticket, you may not speed in the first place
Emotional arousal enhances memory
Drugs that block arousal interfere with memory for emotional stimuli
Traumatized subjects given such drugs experienced less PTSD (Pitman et al, 2002)
The neurotransmitter norepinephrine
©2001 Prentice Hall

7. What are some interpersonal functions of emotions?
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In recent theories, anxiety is what we feel when we behave in a way that we think could lead to expulsion from a group.
Anxiety is a signal to repair interpersonal transgressions.
Guilt is the tension and remorse we feel when do another person harm
Guilt keeps people from doing harm to others within the social group
Guilt is a product of socialization, rather than genetics
Embarrassment is what we feel when we make a social error
Blushing is a nonverbal apology that reassures others of one’s commitment to social norms
Jealousy is an important component of long-term relationships
Keeps mates together by sparking passion and commitment
Feel jealousy because you are committed
Display jealousy as a sign of commitment
Provoke jealousy as a test of commitment
In contrast, in Freudian psychology, anxiety is the feeling one gets when one’s self-concept (i.e., one’s ego) is threatened.
©2001 Prentice Hall

8. Theories of Emotion I James-Lange Supporting evidence
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Theories of Emotion I
James-Lange
An emotion-inducing stimulus elicits a physiological response
The physiological response leads to autonomic arousal
The autonomic arousal stimulates emotion
Supporting evidence
In patients with spinal cord lesions that diminish feedback from the autonomic system to the brain, emotionality is impaired
There are distinct patterns of physiological responses for different emotions
©2001 Prentice Hall

9. Specific Patterns of Arousal
Emotion
Specific Patterns of Arousal
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And there is some cultural universality about these findings.
©2001 Prentice Hall

10. Theories of Emotion II Facial feedback hypothesis
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Facial feedback hypothesis
Facial expression causes and/or sharpens the subjective experience of emotion
This is like the James-Lange theory, except that facial feedback, instead of autonomic feedback, is emphasized in the subjective experience of emotions.
Supporting evidence
Facial electromyograph (EMG) reveals that different emotional states are associated with distinctive patterns of facial muscle activity.
©2001 Prentice Hall

11. Theories of Emotion III
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Theories of Emotion III
Cannon-Bard
The emotion-inducing stimulus elicits physiological and emotional experience in parallel
Supporting evidence
Autonomic responses occur too slowly (1-2 sec) for emotional responses to be dependent upon (i.e., occur after) them
©2001 Prentice Hall

12. The Autonomic Nervous System
Emotion
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The Autonomic Nervous System
Blood pressure increases
Perspiration increases
Blood clots more quickly
Inhibits digestion because blood is diverted from internal organs to skeletal musculature
Figure 9.5 from:
Kassin, S. (2001). Psychology, third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Source:
“Fight or Flight”
Restore Calm
©2001 Prentice Hall

13. How emotion works in the brain
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How emotion works in the brain
Sensory input to the thalamus
Emotionally relevant information is routed to the amygdala, hypothalamus, and areas of cortex
When the amygdala is destroyed in monkeys, Kluver-Bucy syndrome occurs, in which the organism no longer understands the emotional significance of objects.
For example, the monkey may recognize a snake, but no longer fear a snake.
Thalamus-amygdala circuit plays a role in fast (Stage 1) emotional responses
Kluver-Bucy syndrome: unable to use emotions to guide behavior; monkeys no longer fear objects that they recognize and had previously feared; monkeys will eat own feces because it no longer disgusts them
In Kassin, woman has been described with amygdala damage who could not recognize fear
©2001 Prentice Hall

14. Emotion
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Papez’s Circuit
Hypothalamus routes information to the amygdala for further processing
When different nuclei in the hypothalamus are electrically stimulated in animals, attack (and rage) and flight (and terror) are generated
Amygdala feeds back information to the hypothalamus, which in turn activates
Autonomic nervous system via nuclei in the brain stem
The endocrine system via the pituitary gland
©2001 Prentice Hall

15. The role of the cortex in emotion
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Cerebral cortex feeds back information to the amygdala, thereby providing the basis for a (Stage 2) emotional reaction based on a more thorough cognitive appraisal
Peripheral and autonomic nervous system feedback information to the frontal cortex for the experience of emotion
Frontal cortex is important for
Making choices guided by emotions
Interpreting the meaning of nervous system feedback
Regulating facial expression
Left and right frontal cortex are lateralized for positive and negative emotion, respectively.
©2001 Prentice Hall

16. Hemispheric Asymmetries in Emotion
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Hemispheric Asymmetries in Emotion
Figure 9.4 from:
Kassin, S. (2001). Psychology, third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Source:
Tomarken, A. J., Davidson, R. J., Wheeler, R. E., & Doss, R. C. (1992). Individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry and fundamental dimensions of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62,
©2001 Prentice Hall

17. Is Cognition Necessary for Emotion?
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Stage 1
Sensation of threat can reach the amygdala via direct path from thalamus
Stage 2
Sensation of threat also travels via cortex
Cortical judgment can override direct path
Figure 9.10 from:
Kassin, S. (2001). Psychology, third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Source:
LeDoux, J.E. (1996). The emotional brain: The myserious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
©2001 Prentice Hall

18. Theories of Emotion IV Schacter-Singer (two-factor) theory of emotion
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Schacter-Singer (two-factor) theory of emotion
Autonomic (physiological) arousal occurs
Cognitive appraisal (interpretation) of the situation attributes source of arousal to a cause
This cognitive label determines the subjective experience of emotion
Example.
You’re walking up a stairs with someone you don’t know but need to talk with. By the time you get to the top, you’re breathing a bit harder and you’re catching your breath and you’re feeling like you’re nervous about talking to this person.
You’ve misattributed your physiological state of arousal to the stranger and you’ve labeled your arousal as feelings of anxiety about talking with this stranger.
©2001 Prentice Hall

19. Emotion
Dutton and Aron (1974)
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Supporting evidence for Schacter-Singer theory of emotion
Males crossed either a wooden bridge suspended across a canyon (250’ above the river) or a wooden bridge 10’ above a creek
At the other end, they met either a female or a male confederate that asked them to fill out a park survey
Their general behavior was observed and they took the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Males that crossed the suspension bridge and were met by the female confederate more often expressed sexual themes in the TAT and more often “hit on” the female confederate
When met by the female confederate, the “suspension males” interpreted their general arousal as sexual arousal and interest.
©2001 Prentice Hall

20. Regulation of mood and emotion
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Sometimes our emotions get in the way
What are some strategies for harnessing our emotional responses?
Don’t put yourself in a situation in which you know you’ll experience an emotion that you don’t like
Once you’re already feeling a negative emotion, you can
Distract yourself
Reappraise (i.e., frame) the event in more neutral terms
Use humor
Avoid suppression or rumination
©2001 Prentice Hall

21. How Do We Judge Happiness?
Emotion
How Do We Judge Happiness?
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Why hasn’t happiness increased over time in the USA?
Social-Comparison Theory
The theory that people evaluate themselves by making comparisons with others
So, if everyone has increased their wealth, the relative standing of individuals hasn’t changed
Adaptation-Level Theory
The theory that people evaluate experiences in relation to current levels, to which they have become accustomed
So even though increased wealth may increase happiness for a short time, soon it becomes the status quo
©2001 Prentice Hall