REMINDER: PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR PHONES

PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTION: DEFINING EMOTION

Wesley G. Moons, Ph.D. University of California, Davis Department of Psychology

LETS TALK ABOUT EMOTION

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Different emotions
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What counts as an emotion?

Perceptions !! She looks totally disgusted. !! Evaluations !! Ice cream makes me happy. !! Behaviors !! Hes a hostile coworker.
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Explain an emotional experience

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Happiness Sadness

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Not easy for you

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Still no definitive scientific definition

MULTIDISCIPLINARY
STUDY OF EMOTION
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Philosophy
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Aristotle, Socrates, Plato Hume

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Emotions are base impulses to be overcome by logic "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions." !! Emotions drive motivation and behavior !! Logic is slave to emotion

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History
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Protestant reformation melancholy Improved dentistry Disney

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Many Others
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Economics, sociology, linguistics, music theory, etc.

SOME DEFINITIONS
!! General !!

term: Affect

Valenced feeling
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Valence = relative positivity or negativity

!! Affect !!

divided into 2 subcategories:

Mood (good or bad)

Longer-lasting !! No specific trigger
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Emotion (sad, happy, angry, etc.)

Shorter duration !! Specific, identifiable trigger
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STATE OR TRAIT
!! State !! !!

affect

Momentary Not descriptive of who the person is

!! Trait !! !!

Dispositional/personality
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Lasting across time and situations

Descriptive of who the person is

!! Predispositions/Temperament !!

Tendency to react in a certain way

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Momentary and dispositional

PANAS
!! Positive !!

And Negative Affect Schedule

Watson, Clark, & Tellegen (1988)

!! !Instructions !!

This scale consists of a number of words and phrases that describe different feelings and emotions. Read each item and then mark the appropriate answer in the space next to that word. Indicate to what extent you feel this way right now. Dispositional phrasing: to what extent you have felt this way during the past few weeks.

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PANAS (1988) 20 ITEMS

!! Enthusiastic !! Interested !! Determined !! Excited !! Inspired !! Alert !! Active !! Strong !! Proud !! Attentive !! Scared !! Afraid !! Upset !! Distressed !! Jittery !! Nervous !! Ashamed !! Guilty !! Irritable !! Hostile

STUDY OF AFFECT
!! Positive !! !!

and negative affect

Fruitful research Establish groundwork

!! Study !! !!

of individual emotions

Called specific, distinct, discrete More comprehensive, detailed understanding

!! Even !!

PANAS went in that direction

PANAS- X (Watson & Clark, 1994)

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60 item scaled measuring discrete emotions

MODEL OF BASIC EMOTIONS

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James-Lange Theory
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William James and Carl Lange Emotions arise from physiological arousal
Certain autonomic patterns give rise to specific emotions

EVIDENCE FOR MODEL OF BASIC EMOTION

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Paul Ekman and others

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Set of basic emotions

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Hard-wired and evolved

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But which emotions are basic?

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Ekman & Cordaro

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Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, surprise Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, interest Enjoyment, sadness, fear, anger, disgust Play, panic/grief, fear, rage, seeking, lust, care

Izard
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Levenson
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Panksepp & Watt

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Universal recognition
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Accurate recognition across cultures

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Self-conscious emotions
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Guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride

SOURCE OF EMOTIONS
!! Schachter-Singer !! !!

Model (1962)

People interpret their autonomic arousal Look toward situation or context

CASE FOR MODEL OF DIMENSIONAL EMOTION

!! We !!

shouldnt interpret by context

How could a basic emotion model account for Schachter-Singer results?

!! Individual !!

underlying biology

Nothing definitive yet

!! What !! !!

about complex/mixed feelings?

Bittersweet Schadenfreude

CORE AFFECT
!! Core
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Affect Model

Russell (2003)

!! Emotions !! !!

stem from 2 underlying dimensions

Pleasure-Displeasure (Valence) Activation-Deactivation (Arousal)

!! Levels

then:
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of these dimensions are

Interpreted to determine emotion Dependent on cultural/social norms

Affective Circumplex
Tense Jittery

Activation
Excited Ebullient

Upset Distressed

Elated Happy

Displeasure
Sad Gloomy

Pleasure
Serene Contented

Tired Lethargic

Placid Calm

Deactivation

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
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Cultural and social norms

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Emotion experience or labeling? Problem of introspection

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Limited by emotions for which we have names Often self-report of what people think they are feeling

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Emotional expression
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Indirect way to assess emotion

Noninvasive !! Discreet
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Tends to correlate only moderately with self-report

WHAT CAN WE AGREE ON?

!! Appraisals !! !!

Assessments of the situation/stimulus SOME cognitive activity occurs before emotion

WHAT CAN WE AGREE ON?

!! Emotions !!

can regulate multiple human systems

Biological
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Cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, neural

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Cognitive
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Memory, information processing, decisions

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Experiential
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Subjective awareness of feeling emotion

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Behavior
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Expressions, approach, avoidance

THE END!