Myers PSYCHOLOGY

Seventh Edition in Modules

Emotions
Seema Arif
PCBA
30-04-08

Emotion
Emotion
a response of the whole
organism
physiological arousal
expressive behaviors
conscious experience

Typical Emotions

Anger
Anxiety
Content
Disgust
Fear
Gratitude
Guilt

Typical Emotions

Happiness
Jealousy
Joy
Pleasure
Relief
Sadness
Surprise

Theories of Emotion
Does your heart pound
because you are afraid...
or are you afraid because
you feel your heart
pounding?

James-Lange
Theory of Emotion
Experience of emotion is awareness
of physiological responses to
emotion-arousing stimuli
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)

Pounding
heart
(arousal)

Fear
(emotion)

Cannon-Bard
Theory of Emotion
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)

Pounding
heart
(arousal)

Fear
(emotion)

Emotion-arousing
stimuli
simultaneously
trigger:
physiological
responses
subjective experience
of emotion

Schachters Two-Factor
Theory of Emotion
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)

Cognitive
label
Im afraid

To experience
emotion one
Fear
(emotion)
must:
be physically
aroused
cognitively
label the
arousal

Experienced Emotion

The
Amygdala
-a neural
key to
fear
learning

Cognition and Emotion

The brains shortcut for emotions

Two Routes to
Emotion

James-Lange theory
Anger
situation

Distinctive
physiological
state

Euphoria
situation

Distinctive
Physiological
sate

Anger

Euphoria

The situation determines the physiological state,

and the physiological state completely determines
the emotion.

Schachter and Singer theory

Anger
situation

Euphoria
situation

Cognitive
appraisal of
anger

Anger

Un-distinctive
physiological
arousal

Intensity of
(whatever)
emotion

Cognitive
Appraisal of
euphoria
Un-Distinctive
Physiological
sate

Euphoria
Intensity of
(whatever)
emotion

Experienced Emotion
The
ingredien
ts of
emotion

Two Dimensions of
Emotion
Positive
valence

Low
arousal

pleasant
relaxation

joy
High
arousal
fear
anger

sadness

Negative
valence

The Nervous System

Consists of the brain & the neurons
extending throughout the body
Peripheral Nervous System

Central Nervous System

Made of long axons & dendrites,

it contains all parts of nervous system
other than the brain & spinal cord

Somatic Division
Specializes in the control of
voluntary movements and
communication of information
to and from the sense organs.

Autonomic Division
(involuntary)
Concerns with the parts
of the body that function
involuntarily without our
awareness.

Sympathetic Division
Act to prepare the body in
stressful emergency situations,
engaging resources to respond
to a threat.

Consists of the Brain and Spinal cord

Brain
An organ almost 3
pounds that constantly
controls behavior

Parasympathetic Division
Act to calm the body after
an emergency situation has
engaged the sympathetic division;
provides a means for the body
to maintain storage of energy sources.

Spinal Cord
A bundle of nerves that
leaves the brain & runs
down the length of the back:
transmit messages between
the brain & the body.

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)
EYES

SALIVATION
SKIN
RESPIRATION
HEART
DIGESTION
ADRENAL
GLANDS

Pupils contract
Increases
Dries
Decreases
Slows
Activates
Decreases
secretion of
stress
hormones

Expressed Emotion
People more speedily detect an angry
face than a happy one (Ohman,
2001a)

Expressed Emotion
Culturally universal expressions

Experienced Emotion
Infants naturally occurring emotions

Experienced Emotion
Catharsis
emotional release
catharsis hypothesis
releasing aggressive energy (through
action or fantasy) relieves aggressive
urges

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

peoples tendency to be helpful
when already in a good mood

Experienced Emotion
Subjective Well-Being
self-perceived happiness or
satisfaction with life
used along with measures of
objective well-being
physical and economic indicators
to evaluate peoples quality of
life

Happiness is...
Researchers Have Found That
Happy People Tend to

However, Happiness Seems Not Much

Related to Other Factors, Such as

Have high self-esteem

(in individualistic countries)

Age

Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable

Gender (women are more often

depressed, but also more often joyful)

Have close friendships or a satisfying

marriage

Education levels

Have work and leisure that engage

their skills

Parenthood (having children or not)

Have a meaningful religious faith

Physical attractiveness

Sleep well and exercise

 Emotions are our personalities

Removal of amygdala personality
changes
Capacity for creative play
Imagination
Emotional nuances such as

Arts
Humor
Imagination
Love
Music
Altruism

 Are Feelings and Emotions the Same?

Noooo!
Emotions are generated from biological automated
pathways and have been found to be experienced
universally
Feelings are culturally and environmentally
developed responses to circumstances
Emotions can be measured

Electrodermal responses
Heart rate
Blood pressure
EEG activity
Feelings and emotions travel through separate
pathways in the brain

Feelings add color to our life, they can also disrupt our
life!

Emotions are our bodys adaptive response, when we face

challenges, emotions focuses our attention and energize
our actions - - our heart races.

Expression of Emotion
Universality of facial expressions
Charles Darwin
First to study the relationship between emotions and
facial expressions
Believed that the facial expression of emotion was an
aid to survival because it enabled people to
communicate their internal states and react to
emergencies before they developed language
Maintained that most emotions, and the facial
expressions that convey them, are genetically inherited
and characteristic of the entire human species
Concluded that facial expressions were similar across
cultures

Plutchik
Three-dimensional Circumplex
Model

Protypical Behavior

Triangular Theory of Love

Robert Sternbergs theory that three
components intimacy, passion, and
decision/commitment singly and in
various combinations produce seven
different kinds of love:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Liking (I)
Infatuated love (P)
Empty love (C)
Romantic love (I, P)
Fatuous love (C, P)
Companionate love (C, I)
Consummate love (I, C, P)