EMOTION AP Psychology Myers

Emotion A response of the whole organism, involving: physiological arousal conscious experience of emotion expressive behaviors Myers recalls an experience during which his son left his side in a mall… Physiological arousal – quickened heartbeat Conscious experience of emotion –emotions (fear, later joy) and thoughts (kidnapping?) Expressive behaviors – quickened pace, worried facial expression

Physiological arousal or conscious experience of emotion? THEORIES OF EMOTION Which comes first? Physiological arousal or conscious experience of emotion?

Common Sense Perspective The conscious experience of emotion causes physiological arousal. I am sad, so I cry. I am happy, so I smile. I am scared, so I tremble. PROBLEMS: Very narrow – sometimes the body reacts quicker than our conscious awareness of emotion

James-Lange Theory A physiological arousal occurs before the conscious emotion The heart races BEFORE the feeling of fear is recognized. PROBLEMS Your body’s physiological symptoms can be associated with all kinds of emotions. A racing heart doesn’t always indicate fear! The body often reacts slower than the feeling of emotions. You feel sad before you cry. Ex: your car skids and your fishtail into another lane… once you realize you are ok, you realize you are trembling and your heart is pounding… THEN you feel the emotional wave of feelings about the gravity of what could have happened.

Cannon-Bard Theory Simultaneous experience of physiological arousal and conscious emotion. Your heart races AS you experience fear. PROBLEMS How can it happen at the same time all the time? What about physiological symptoms that do not have a felt emotion? Or a felt emotion that doesn’t present a physiological response at the same time? The emotion-triggering stimulus is routed simultaneously to the brain’s cortex → awareness of emotion WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY… the emotion-triggering stimulus is routed to the sympathetic nervous system → arousal in the body. you heart beats AS you experience fear; one does not cause the other.

Two-Factor Theory (Schachter-Singer) Physiological arousal occurs and the brain appraises (judges) the arousal and the context (surroundings) to label the conscious emotion felt. Emotions are context-dependent Racing heart can mean fear or happiness depending on the context. Physiology + Cognition = Emotion PROBLEMS What if the context is ambiguous? Physiology and cognition (memory, perception, and interpretations) together create emotions To experience emotion, you must cognitive interpret and label the cause of the arousal.

Theories of Emotion Scenario: An on coming car is in your lane! AHHHH!! You experience a pounding heart. The emotion experienced is fear. For each theory, sketch the sequence of events. (hint: each theory starts with the stimulus) James-Lange Cannon-Bard Two-Factor

Emotions are not felt by the mind, but by the entire body. EMBODIED EMOTION Emotions are not felt by the mind, but by the entire body.

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System Autonomic nervous system – mobilizes body for action Sympathetic nervous system – AROUSES Parasympathetic nervous system – CALMS “para” as in paralyzed or slowed

What is Stress? Stress: is the process by which we respond to events we appraise as threatening or challenging. Stressors: are the events/things that stress us out!

GAS... Hans Selye discovered the responsive cycle for how we react to stress which he named the: General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Phase 1: Alarm: activation of sympathetic nervous system. Phase 2: Resistance: arousal remains high as you attempt to cope with the stressor. “Fight or Flight.” Phase 3: Exhaustion: body becomes run down with constant stress which can leave you more vulnerable to illness or even death.

Stress and Heart Disease Coronary Heart Disease: when vessels of heart are clogged which stops heart muscles from being nourished. Many behavioral factors help contribute to this disease but stress is also a major factor.

Personality Type and Heart Disease Type A Personality: competitive, hard driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people. Type B Personality: easy-going and relaxed people.

Personality Type and Heart Disease Psychophysiological Illnesses: “mind-body” illnesses. Physical illnesses caused by stress. Ex: Hypertension,some headaches, increase BP Are also referred to as psychosomatic disorders

Physiological Similarities and Differences of Emotions Fear, anger, and sexual arousal can manifest physiologically in similar ways → CONTEXT MATTERS Similar physiological heart rate response for fear and joy but use different facial muscles Brain differences Right frontal lobe – Negative emotions, depression Left frontal lobe – positive emotions, active with positive personalities; more dopamine pathways

Lie Detection Polygraph – a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion PROBLEMS Physiological arousal is the same for many emotions Increased stress level due to accusations made Savvy criminals could possibly pass by manipulating their arousal Guilty knowledge test – monitor responses to questions using info that only the criminal would know The untrained eye can detect lying only 50% of the time → essentially by chance. Attempts to use physical indicators to indicate emotions Seen as increasingly questionable as our understanding of emotions has broadened

EXPRESSED EMOTION Expressed behaviors (nonverbal cues) can reveal emotions. Vary with culture? Can expressions influence our experienced emotions?

Nonverbal Communication Most people can detect nonverbal emotional cues like facial expressions and body language, especially those that indicate a threat. Recognize many emotions in the eyes NEED to be aware that some nonverbal cues can be multiple things (ex: crossed arms) Can understand movies and TV on mute or in a different language We read fear and anger mostly in the eyes and happiness in the mouth

Nonverbal Communication Experiences can sensitize us to recognizing certain emotions… Abused children will recognize an angry face quicker AND assume more faces portray anger. Experience can sensitize us to recognizing certain emotions → physically abused children are much quicker to recognize anger in a face; also more likely to perceive a face as angry if it is 40% anger and 60% fear.

Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior Women… Increased emotional literacy (better at reading nonverbal cues) Greater emotional responsiveness in + or - situations More empathy (self-reported) More likely to express emotion physically

Detecting and Computing Emotion Hard to “fake” some emotions due to innate microexpressions Worry/distress – lifting just the inner part of eyebrows Fear – eyebrows pulled together Natural smile – activated muscles under the eyes and raised cheeks

Culture and Emotional Expression Evolutionary - adaptive to enhance survival Behaviors (including emotional expressions) occur to serve a purpose – survival. Members of a species who did not produce or recognize certain expressions/behaviors did not survive to pass on genes. SAME - Facial expressions carry the same meanings across cultures Universal infant behavior, blind person’s expressions Must learn expressions convey certain emotions DIFFERENT - Gesture meaning varies; intensity of display varies Thumbs-up, middle finger Display rules – a culture’s informal rules/norms about when/where/how to express emotions Evolutionary → universal language for ancestors Adaptive to enhance survival (Wrinkled nose in disgust → avoids odors) “Thumbs up” can be offensive The raised middle finger can hold no or different meaning Universally, infants cry when distressed, smile when happy, and shake their heads when defiant. People of Western cultures tend to display more emotion than people from Japan.

The Effects of Facial Expressions Facial feedback hypothesis - making certain facial expressions can make you feel the conveyed emotion to an extent Behavior feedback hypothesis - moving your body as if you were experiencing an emotion can cause you to feel the emotion to an extent Expressions not only communicate emotion, but amplify and regulate it.

Spot the Fake Smile! Spot the fake smile 20 faces with 2-3 second videos Can only watch video once Genuine or fake? Term Girls Boys Spring 2013 20 18 Spring 2014 16 Fall 2015 – 3rd 17 Fall 2015 – 4th 19 Spring 2016 Fall 2016 – 3rd Fall 2016 – 4th Gender differences? Other variables that influenced results?

Lie To Me – importance and universality of facial expressions Emotion Biological Psychological Socio-cultural Physiological arousal Evolutionary adaptiveness Response pathways in the brain Spillover effect Cognitive labeling Gender differences Expressiveness Presence of others Cultural expectations Lie To Me – importance and universality of facial expressions Crash Course - Emotion

“An emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.” EXPERIENCED EMOTION “An emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.” - Mark Twain

What Do Emotions Look Like? “Emotionally Vague” 35 countries 250 participants 6-75 yrs old Anger Joy Fear Sadness Love

How Many Emotions? Paul Ekman – 6 basic emotions based on cross-cultural studies Carroll Izard – 10 basic emotions based on studies of infant expression Two dimensions of emotion Arousal (high/low) Valence (pleasant/ unpleasant) Anger Disgust Fear Happiness/Joy Sadness Surprise Anger Disgust Fear Contempt Shame Happiness/Joy Sadness Surprise Interest/Excitement Guilt

Fear Can be contagious and fatal Mobilizes fight/flight Evolutionary – fear certain things that enhance survival Learned Conditioning (Little Albert) Observed (monkey experiment) Both learned and observed: Sandy Hook shooting 1903 fire in Chicago’s Iroquois theater – a small fire caused more than 500 people to die, not from the fire but from being trampled by others due to fear. Learned - Crawling leads infants to gradually fear heights through falls and near-falls; Any experience can lead to a conditioned fear Observation - Wild monkeys fear snakes while lab monkeys do not → lab monkeys observed wild monkeys’ fearful behavior around snakes and learned to fear snakes from this observation. 9/11 produced a fear of flying from the observation of such a traumatic event. Sandy Hook students scared of school after observing shooting. (NPR “Shootings Leave Sandy Hook Survivors Rethinking the Odds” – fear could be explained by conditioned or observationally learning).

Fear Amygdala Limbic system – emotions Associates fear with certain situations Phobia – an intense fear of objects or situations that disrupts the ability to cope Social, agoraphobia, specific Evolutionary - Snakes, spiders, cliffs, etc – fears that probably helped our ancestors survive; Unprepared for new-age dangers like cars, electricity, bombs, global warming – all of which are now far more dangerous

Anger Usually a response to an act by another person OR “blameless annoyances” (traffic, weather, etc) Can lead to aggression, prejudice, and illness. Western cultures encourage catharsis (emotional release) through aggression Venting (aggressive, verbal) Can actually lead to MORE anger (behavior feedback) Contradicts “rage room,” and The Purge How should we handle anger? Wait, let simmer. Find appropriate cathartic outlets (exercise, talking with friend, etc) Non-accusatory statements (“I get irritated when you...”) Boys report resolving anger with exercise while girls resolve anger by talking with a friend, listening to music, or writing.

Happiness Happier people… Perceive the world as safer, make decisions easier, are more cooperative, and live healthier and more energized and satisfied lives Experience the feel-good-do-good phenomenon – tendency to be more helpful when happy Determined by studying subjective well- being - self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life Used along side of objective well-being (data based research) Money/wealth ≠ happiness objective well-being which focuses on physical and economic indicators Wealth can increase short-term happiness, but has not been seen to increase long-term happiness.

Evaluating Happiness Adaptation-level phenomenon Relative deprivation The tendency to form judgments about situations relative to previous experiences. Ex: You are happy with your spouse and think that you could never live without them. After your divorce, you are upset, but eventually adapt to single-life and establish happiness in your new situation. Relative deprivation The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself. Ex: You are a well-paid professional athlete, but feel that you are not making as much as your competitors. You feel shafted and demand more money (despite being a millionaire). Sports stars or celebrities that complain that they aren’t paid enough.

Emotional Ups and Downs Positive emotions – peak mid-day Negative emotions – after waking, before sleeping Moods triggered by everyday events (good/bad) tend not the last beyond the day. Tend to rebound from bad days with better than average days Significant bad events can cause prolonged sadness, but we adapt and can return to average levels of happiness.

How to be Happier! Realize wealth ≠ happiness Set goals, manage your time wisely Act happy Exercise Sleep Seek work/leisure that engages your skills Form and value close relationships Do good → feel good Be grateful Nurture your spiritual self

Studying the Effects of Stress on Health Behavioral Medicine: combines knowledge of biomedical perspective and behavioral perspective to study and treat health and illness. Term is often used interchangeably with Psychiatry (M. D.). Health Psychology: subfield of psychology contributes to behavioral medicine. Looks at psychological causes of illness and stress (cognitive, environment, social, biological, etc.)

SYSK – Does smiling make you happy? What did Duchenne discover? What is distinctive in detecting a genuine smile? Why did Zajonc study the effects of smiling by using vowel sounds? (Hint: why couldn’t he invoke smiles with funny jokes or simply asking participants to smile?) What kind of effects did Zajonc find in the participants that produced the “eee” sound? What suggestion did researchers propose for why the group that smiled AND looked in the mirror felt the more positive? What is Zajonc’s physiological hypothesis for why physiological expressions can induce emotions? What effect does Botox have on the experience of emotions? Why? Does a fake smile invoke positive emotions?