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MOTIVATION & EMOTION AP REVIEW

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PART 1: EMOTIONS EMOTIONS

EMOTION BASICS } Emotion – full body response
THEORIES } involves a subjective conscious experience (cognitive),
UNIVERSALITY OF EMOTION accompanied by bodily arousal (physiological), and by
characteristic overt expressions (behavioral).
LATERALIZATION & 2 PATHWAYS
CATHARSIS } Humans are the most emotional of ALL animals
BASIC FACIAL EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTIONS
GENDER & CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
} Subjective Feelings
RELATIVE DEPRIVATION
} Emotions are automatic reactions that are hard to
regulate.

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EMOTIONS: BODILY AROUSAL

EMOTIONS
1.Emotions are usually accompanied by
} Controversies of Emotion physiological effects.

} Which comes first, physiological arousal or subjective 2.Autonomic nervous system responds to
experience of an emotion? emotions

3.Galvanic Skin Response – An increase in the

} Can we act emotionally before appraising a situation, or
electrical conductivity of the skin that occurs
does thinking always precede an emotion?
when sweat glands increase their activity.

4.Polygraph – Lie detector test that records

autonomic fluctuations while a subject is
questioned.

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EMOTION BASICS WHY WE HAVE EMOTIONS

• Emotion and motivation are complimentary process.
• The concept of emotion emphasizes arousal, both physical and
mental, while motivation emphasizes how this arousal
becomes action.
} Emotions are the result of genetics and learning, especially
early in life.
} Serve as arousal states that help organisms cope with
important recurring situations.

• Emotions help us respond to important situations and to } Learned emotional are both important components of
convey our intentions to others. many responses, & genetics psychological disorders,
including depression, anxiety disorders and phobias.

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UNIVERSALITY OF EMOTIONS LATERALIZATION OF EMOTION

• Despite different languages, cultures and social norms, studies
suggest that people “speak and understand substantially the same • Different parts of our brain deal with
‘facial language’ the world around.” different emotions.

– Essentially, people share a set of universal emotion expressions • Cerebral cortex

that give support to the idea of a biological heritage of the
human species. – Right hemisphere generally
specializes in negative emotions

– Left hemisphere generally

processes more positive and joyful
emotions.

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TWO EMOTIONAL PATHWAYS TWO PATHWAYS OF EMOTION

• One of the pathways is fast, and operates mainly at an unconscious
} The other pathway is much slower and linked to explicit memory.
level.
• It screens incoming stimuli and helps us respond quickly to stimuli
even before they reach consciousness. } While it generates emotions more slowly, it delivers more
complex information to our consciousness.

Evolutionary Theory of Emotion

– is response to stimuli that has evolved through natural selection. } This system relies heavily on the cerebral cortex, which is why
we can feel fear, despite knowing there is no real basis for that
• These cues seem to have a built-in, innate sensitivity to certain
feeling.
cues-explains why we have more fears of spiders, heights and
lightening than cars or electricity.

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THE LIMBIC SYSTEM

} While the two pathways differ, they do have some things in
common. Both rely heavily on the limbic system.

} The amygdala plays an especially important role in both emotion

pathways.
} In the past it was thought that the amygdala was simply involved in
negative emotions.
} Recently it has been discovered that it plays a role in positive
emotions as well.

Zajonc-LeDoux theory
• Amygdala responds to emotions quickly to protect against danger.
• Some emotional responses occur instantly; sometimes we feel
before we think

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Theories of Emotion: Historical Approaches JAMES-LANGE THEORY

} William James & Carl Lange (1890s)
} There are multiple theories on how our emotions affect
out behavior and mental processes. } Assumed that a stimulus of some sort produces a physiological
reaction and physical arousal leads to the labeling of an emotion

} James-Lange
} Emotion follows behavior
} Cannon Bard
} Schacter & Singer
} Lazarus
} Zajonc & LeDoux

A stimulus leads to bodily arousal first, which is then interpreted as an emotion.

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CANON- BARD THEORY TWO-FACTOR THEORY: SCHACHTER & SINGER

• Proposed by physiologists Walter Cannon and Philip Bard
• Assumed that emotion and the physiological arousal occur more or less at
the same time
• The sensory information that comes into the brain is sent simultaneously
(by the thalamus) to both the cortex and the organs of the sympathetic
nervous system
Stanley Schachter & Jerome Singer (1962)
• Assumes that both the physical arousal and the labeling of that
arousal are based on cues from the environment (must occur
before the emotion is experienced).
• This theory suggests that the emotions we feel depend on two things:
1) our internal physical state
2) the external situation we find ourselves in.

A stimulus leads to activity in the brain, which then sends signals to arouse the
body and interpret the emotion at the same time.

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TWO-FACTOR THEORY: SCHACTER & SINGER MISATTRIBUTION OF

• Schachter–Singer’s cognitive arousal theory is similar to the James– EMOTION PHENOMENON
Lange theory but adds the element of cognitive labeling of the arousal.
Aron & Dutton: Shaky Bridge study
• In this theory, a stimulus leads to both bodily arousal and the labeling – Improper explanation for emotional state, feelings of fear were
of that arousal (based on the surrounding context), which leads to the misinterpreted for feelings of sexual arousal
experience and labeling of the emotional reaction.

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RICHARD LAZARUS (1991 & 1998) ROBERT ZAJONC (1980 & 1984)
• Agreed brain process info outside of consciousness
– Emotion & cognition are separate
• Argues: must be a minimal amount of unconscious thinking
– Interpretations of situations are slower than emotional reactions
• Assumes that a stimulus must be interpreted (appraised) by a
– Supported by neural pathways skipping thinking parts of brain
person in order to result in a physical response and an emotional
reaction and going directly to amygdala
• Might explain why feelings influence thought
– Development of feelings before cognition in history of humans

Physiological
Appraisal Activation

Emotional Expressive
In Lazarus’s cognitive-mediational theory of emotion, a stimulus causes an immediate Responses Behavior
appraisal (e.g., “The dog is snarling and not behind a fence, so this is dangerous”).
The cognitive appraisal results in an emotional response, which is then followed by the Subjective
appropriate bodily response. Event Experience

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PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF EMOTION

• Cognitive Appraisal Theory: The thought that

we look back on a situation and consciously
decide how we should feel about the situation.
• Ex. Grades, Papers, Projects, Tests

• Opponent-Process Theory: Theory that we

trigger one emotion by suppressing its opposite
emotion.
• Ex. Drugs-the highs experienced by some
drugs are replaced with lows
(withdrawals). Eventually people take
drugs not for the highs, but to avoid the
lows.

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AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS)

FEAR
We know that emotions involve bodily response.
• Response to dangerous situations coordinated by ANS.
Some of these response are easy to notice (butterflies in stomach when fear
arises) but others are more difficult discern (neurons activated in the brain).
• Fear can torment us, rob us of sleep & preoccupy our thinking.

• But fear can be adaptive – it makes us run away from danger,

brings us closer as groups, protects us from injury and harm.

• We learn fear in two ways through conditioning (Watson – Little

Albert) and/or through observation (Bandura – Bobo Doll).

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ANGER CATHARSIS HYPOTHESIS

• Venting anger through action or fantasy achieves emotional
release or “catharsis.”
1.People generally get angry with friends and loved ones about
misdeeds, especially if they are willful, unjustified, and avoidable.
• Some believe that we are drawn to displays of violence (football,
2.People also get angry about foul odors, high temperatures, traffic etc.) because it is cathartic and allows us an outlet for aggression.
jams, aches and pains.
• Expressing anger breeds more anger, and through reinforcement,
is habit forming.

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EMOTIONAL UPS AND DOWNS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Our positive moods rise to a maximum within 6-7 hours • Also known as body language
after waking up.

• Frequent messengers of emotions

• Negative moods stay more or less the same over the day.
• E.g. facial expressions, tone of voice, hand gestures

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PAUL EKMAN: 7 BASIC EMOTIONS

• Suggests humans everywhere can recognize 7 basic emotions:
sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness and surprise.

Display Rules
• According to Ekman, the seven emotions are universal, but the
display rules vary greatly, depending on the culture.

• He defines display rules as the permissible ways of displaying

emotions in a given society.

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FACIAL FEEDBACK HYPOTHESIS

• Each basic emotion is associated with a unique facial expression

• Facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the

emotion being expressed, which in turn causes and intensifies
the emotion

• The more one smiles, the happier one feels

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READING EMOTION ROBERT PLUTCHIK:

• In addition to being universal, the ability to read facial
EMOTION WHEEL
expressions is nearly ageless.
• Suggests that rather than seven, we
have:
• Psychologists think that children as young as 5 years old have – 8 primary emotions
the same ability to recognize emotion on a person’s face as – 8 secondary emotions
an adult does.
– What are some possible explanations for this?
• More complex emotions occur when
pairs of adjacent emotions combine.
– E.g. love is a combination of joy
and acceptance.

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EMOTION IN MEN & WOMEN EMOTION IN MEN & WOMEN

• In our culture, on average, women are viewed as far more
2) Culture, may be the bigger of the two causes.
emotional than men. This may be the result of two factors.

• Boys and girls learn different lessons about

1) Biology, and the genetic make-up of men and women do lead to
emotion and emotional control.
women “having more emotion.”
– Higher levels of certain hormones
• Boys are largely taught to hide emotions that
may be seen as weaknesses and are praised for
emotions that show strength and dominance.

• Girls are taught the exact opposite.

– Display Rules – norms that regulate the
appropriate expression of emotion(s).

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GENDER EFFECTS ON EMOTION CULTURE EFFECTS ON EMOTION

• Women • 2 factors affecting expression & interpretation of emotions
– Better detecting emotions • Power – person with LESS power more motivated to read
• especially nonverbal cues of them nonverbal cues & will read them better
– Smile more • Growing up in more expressive families or cultures
– Gesture with more expression
– More expressive faces • Cultures disagree about meaning behind gestures
– http://www.best-infographics.com/global-guide-hand-gestures-infographic/
– More readily talk about emotion

• Men
– Express anger more readily

• Men & Women

– Difficult to read nonverbal cues of opposite sex

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ANALYZING EMOTION
HAPPINESS
Analysis of emotions is carried out on different levels. Spillover Effect
• The tendency of one person's emotion to affect how other people
around them feel.

Feel-Good, Do-Good phenomenon

• When we feel happy we are more willing to help others.
• This is a good example of the “spill over effect”

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RELATIVE DEPRIVATION RECAP: CRASH COURSE

• Happiness is not relative to our past but also
to our comparisons with others. • Video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAMbkJk6gnE

• Relative Deprivation is the perception that

one is worse off relative to those with
whom one compares oneself with.
• Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KbSRXP0wik
• They realize that they have less of what they
believe themselves to be entitled than
those around them.

• Video:
• Can lead to social movements, deviance,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hdSLiHaJz8
rioting, civil wars, etc.

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