Mr. Koch AP Psychology Forest Lake High School Emotions Mr. Koch AP Psychology Forest Lake High School

What is emotion? A temporary experience w/ positive, negative, or mixed qualities Experienced w/ varying intensity as happening to self Generated in part by cognitive appraisal of situation Accompanied by both learned and innate physical responses Methods of Measurement Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Muscle tension Electroencephalograph (EEG) Electrocardiograph (EKG)

Theories of Emotion

James-Lange Theory (William James & Carl Lange) Stimulus arouses physiological response Emotion comes from our awareness of this response (arousal causes the emotion) William James Example: You see a bear. Your heart races and muscles tense. You feel afraid.

Cannon-Bard Theory (Walter Cannon & Philip Bard) Physiological arousal and experience of emotion happen at same time (one does not cause the other) Brain’s cortex and sympathetic nervous system are simultaneously activated Walter Cannon Example: You see a bear. You simultaneously experience arousal and feeling of fear.

Schachter Two-Factor Theory (Stanley Schachter) Emotion comes from cognitive interpretation (labeling) of our physiological arousal Experiment: Injected people w/ epinephrine to arouse and put in waiting room w/ someone happy or upset Told to expect arousal → little emotion Told would do nothing → experienced emotions similar to other person in room Emotions fueled by arousal, directed by cognition Stanley Schachter

Other relevant theories Cognitive Appraisal Theory Richard Lazarus Focused on cognitive interpretation of events themselves “do I see this event as relevant to my well-being?” If not – not likely to experience much emotion Is so – have positive or negative response based on if it advances or obstructs our goals Robert Zajonc Some emotions can be experienced automatically, without conscious processing Some neural pathways run from sensory organs through thalamus (bypassing cortex), directly to amygdala