1. Emotion
Ch. 13
AP Psychology

2. Emotion Cross Cultural: Expressing Emotion results from 4 occurrence
Facial expressions are universal
Body language is culturally specific
Expressing Emotion results from 4 occurrence
You must
interpret stimulus
2. Feeling
3. Physiological response (heart rate)
4. Display behavior

3. Experienced Emotion
The ingredients of emotion

4. Theories of Emotion Does your heart pound because you are afraid? Or
Are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

5. Theories of Emotion James-Lange Theory of Emotion.
We feel emotion (fear) because of biological changes (Heart Rate - HR) caused by stress.

6. James-Lange Theory of Emotion
Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses
emotion-arousing stimuli
Fear
(emotion)
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)

7. Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Say James-Lange theory is not true.
How can that be true if similar physiological changes correspond with drastically different emotional states.
The physiological
change (HR) and
cognitive awareness
(fear) must occur
simultaneously.
They believed it was the thalamus that helped this happen.

8. Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously
trigger:
physiological responses
subjective experience of emotion
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Fear
(emotion)

9. Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Stanley Schachter explains emotions more completely than the other two theories.
People who are already physiologically aroused experience more intense emotions than unaroused people when both groups are exposed to the same stimuli.
Biology and Cognition interact with each other to increase the experience.

10. Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Cognitive
label
“I’m afraid”
Fear
(emotion)
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
To experience emotion one must:
be physically aroused
cognitively label the arousal

12. Cognition and Emotion
The brain’s shortcut for emotions
p503

13. Emotion and Physiology
Autonomic nervous system controls
physiological arousal
Sympathetic
division (arousing)
Pupils dilate
Decreases
Perspires
Increases
Accelerates
Inhibits
Secrete stress
hormones
Parasympathetic
division (calming)
Pupils contract
Dries
Slows
Activates
secretion of
stress
EYES
SALIVATION
SKIN
RESPIRATION
HEART
DIGESTION
ADRENAL
GLANDS

14. Experienced Emotion
Infants’ naturally occurring emotions
p518

15. 3 Major Emotions
3 major emotions
~Fear
~Anger
~Happiness

16. Experienced Emotion-Fear
The Amygdala - a neural key to fear learning

17. Experienced Emotion-Anger
Catharsis
emotional release
catharsis hypothesis
“releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

18. Experienced Emotion-Happiness
We usually focus on the negative emotions 
Experienced Emotion-Happiness
Recent research focuses on subjective well-being principles
Feelings of happiness or
sense of satisfaction in life

19. Tapers off by the end of the day
Experienced Emotion-Happiness
Feel-good , do-good phenomenon
people’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood
Research shows –
High in the morning
Tapers off by the end of the day

20. Experienced Emotion-Happiness
Adaptation level Phenomenon
We judge stimuli relative to those we have previously experienced.

21. Experienced Emotion-Happiness
Relative deprivation-
the sense that we are worse off
than others with whom
we compare ourselves to

22. Happiness is... However, Happiness Seems Not Much
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 Seems Not Much
Related to Other Factors, Such as
Age
Gender (women are more often
depressed, but also more often joyful)
Education levels
Parenthood (having children or not)
Physical attractiveness

23. Experienced Emotion Does money buy happiness? pg.524 Average
Year
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 0%
Average
per-person
after-tax income
in 1995 dollars
Percentage
describing
themselves as
very happy
$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

24. Experienced Emotion Values and life satisfaction Importance scores
Money
Love
Life satisfaction
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
Importance
scores

25. Two Routes to Emotion

26. Two Dimensions of Emotion
Positive
valence
Negative
High
arousal
Low
pleasant
relaxation
joy
sadness
fear
anger