Emotions – Brief Notes

ature of Emotions
Defining Emotions

Emotion can be defined as the “feeling” aspect of consciousness,

characterized by three elements: a certain physical arousal, a
certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the outside world, and
an inner awareness of the feeling (Passer & Smith, 2019).
The three elements:
1. Physiological component
2. Behavioural component
3. Subjective Experience

Expression and Perception of Emotions

• Emotional expression depends on ‘Others’
• Our response depends on our perception of the emotional
expression of others
• Sources of perceived emotions- Voice, tone, facial expressions,
bodily cues or body language, body movements, Context

Behavioural Component
• Inference of emotional state through observation of behavior
• Facial expressions, body movements, and actions that indicate to
others how a person feels
• Charles Darwin (1898) postulated that emotions were a product of
evolution.
• The question of universality? What about culture?
• Same facial expressions are common to all cultures because the
facial muscles evolved to communicate specific information
• Studies have demonstrated that primary emotions are innate
• Izard (1971) – Facial expressions of primary emotions – cross-
cultural judgements. European and Asiatic cultures – participants
responded to posed expressions
• People from different cultures made similar judgements
• Basic emotions: Paul Ekman - Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness
(Joy), Sadness, Surprise, Contempt
• Innate, Universal
• Consistent recognition of at least seven facial expressions: anger,
fear, disgust, happiness, surprise, sadness, and contempt (Ekman &
Friesen, 1969, 1971).
• Culture-specific expressions or universality?
• Display rules: Social and cultural learning; rules of expression;
context
• Individualistic and collectivistic cultures
• Complex (Secondary) Emotions: Mix of emotions, culture, and
individual experience, learning, masking
• Facial Expressions - Innate basis of facial expressions of some
emotions

Subjective Feeling or Cognitive Component

• Interpretation or labeling - subjective feeling - anger, fear, disgust,
happiness, sadness, shame, interest.
• A situation may evoke very different emotions depending on
appraisal.
• Cognitive appraisal - Interpretation and giving meaning to the
external stimuli
• Cognition involves memory and context
• Conscious and unconscious processes and appraisals – Ex: Intense
emotion like anger is automatically appraised before being
consciously processed
• Cognitive appraisals rather than external situations trigger
emotional reactions.
• Cognitive appraisals - learned responses

Regulating Emotions
• Emotion regulation – perception and modification
• Adaptation and goals
• Some strategies – cognitive reappraisal, attentional control
Reinterpretation and reframing, choosing what to focus on,
situation modification, response modulation
 Physiology of Emotions
Emotional experience and physiological changes
• Increase in heart rate
• Perspiration
• Changes in blood pressure
• Blood flow
• Breathing rate and depth
• Hormones in blood
Observation can be done through recording instruments by
psychophysiologists

Autonomic Nervous System

• Part of the peripheral nervous system – network of nerves, a
functional part, an involuntary system
• Consists of two parts-
• The Sympathetic system
• Active during the aroused state and prepares the body
for action
• Increasing in heart rate and blood pressure
• Discharge of Adrenaline (epinephrine) and
Noradrenaline (norepinephrine) hormones
• The Parasympathetic system
• Active at the time of relaxation and calmness
• Conservation of body’s energy
• Decreases heart rate, blood pressure

Bodily Reactions in Emotional Arousal

• Somatic Nervous System - Part of the peripheral nervous system
• Responsible for activation of muscles in the body
• Changes in breathing, muscle tensions and posture due to
emotional expression are result of activity in SNS
• Emergency reaction or flight-or-fight response
• Voluntary

Polygraph – does it detect a lie?

• Polygraph test was originally designed as a kind of “lie detector”
test in the early 1900s.
 • Polygraphs – several bodily reactions can be recorded
simultaneously
• Different emotions are associated with different physiological
reactions and brain activity.
• Are there specific physiological reactions associated with lying
versus telling the truth?
• Emotional arousal is measured.
• Control question technique – neutral questions, questions that
generate an emotional response, specific questions for assessing
guilt
• Baseline – physiological base response
• It only detects the physiological correlates of emotion in general,
not lying specifically

Theories of Emotion
1. James- Lange Theory
2. Cannon – Bard Theory
3. Schachter-Singer Theory
4. Lazarus and Cognitive Mediational Theory
5. Plutchik’s Theory
6. Opponent-Process Theory

• Early psychology – common sense theory

• Emotion provoking stimulus leading to
emotion>>>>>physiological reaction >>>>>behavioral response
• Ex: snarling dog >>>>causes feeling of fear>>>> bodily
arousal>>> behavioral act of running
• People are aroused because they are afraid.

James- Lange theory of emotion

• Opposed to common-sense theory
• Proposed that our bodily reactions lead us to experience emotions.
• Suggests that we first experience the physiological change. Bodily
reaction leads to the perception of the subjective component or
feeling.
• James- Lange’s theory suggested that physiological arousal causes
the subjective emotional experience.
• Felt emotion is the perception of bodily changes
 Cannon- Bard Theory of Emotions
• Walter Cannon was a physiologist
• Questioned James- Lange’s theory
• Subjective experience of emotion and physiological arousal are
independent responses to an emotion-arousing situation. Both
occur simultaneously.
• Emotion provoking stimulus>>>>>>sensory information reaches
the brain’s thalamus>>>>> simultaneously messages sent to the
cerebral cortex and internal organs.
• Two independent but simultaneous paths - message to the cortex
leads to experience of emotion, and message to the internal organs
leads to physiological arousal.
• The thalamus plays a central role in the Cannon-Bard Theory.

Schachter’s theory of Emotional Lability

• Emotional experience
• Labeling and explanation of emotions
• How do we explain emotions?
• Two-stage process
• Arousal
• Cognition
• Direct understanding of psychological arousal is difficult
• Physiological cues are ambiguous
• People generally compare their emotional experiences with that of
others
• Seeking external cues
• External/ environmental cues are important in labeling of
emotional experience
• Process of label assignment
A state of arousal (not specific) leads to search for cues
(cognition). Causal explanation occurs based on available cues and
a label is assigned to emotion.

Schachter and Singer (1962): The general experimental setup

• Two conditions - Euphoric and angry conditions
• Misinformed subjects were inclined to look for explanations (later
experiments raised questions)
• No effect of the confederate’s behaviour on the informed subjects
and control group
• Behaviour of the confederate explained the unexpected arousal
(general conclusion)
• Schachter and Singer demonstrated that physiological arousal has
to be interpreted cognitively before it is experienced as a specific
emotion.

Cognitive -Appraisal Theory of Emotion - Lazarus

• Cognitive theory of emotions.
• Importance of interpretation or appraisal of the stimuli is
emphasized.
• Appraisal from various sources.
• Cognition involves processing of information from the
environment, body and memory.
• Appraisal is evaluation of information. Emotions are not a direct
response.
• Appraisal as a mediator which comes in between the stimulus and
the emotional response to that stimulus.
• Sequence: Stimulus >>>>>>Appraisal>>>>> Simultaneous
experience of a physiological response and the emotion.
• Ex: Barking dog ------ appraisal of no threat -----no physiological
arousal associated with fear
Interpretation of threat -------simultaneous experience of the
physiological arousal and emotion of fear
• Reappraisal – Important aspect of theory
• Primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, reappraisal

Plutchik’s Theory of Emotions

• Plutchik proposed a descriptive theory
• Proposed a structural and visual model
• It is a theory of relationships among emotions
• Primary or basic emotions and the way they are mixed
• Three ways: Intensity, similarity, polarity
• Primary emotions - Joy, Trust, Fear, Surprise, Sadness, Disgust,
Anger, and Anticipation.
• Eight primary emotions. Evolution and adaptation
• Primary emotion – strong to weak emotion
• Ex: Intensity - Grief, sadness and pensiveness
 • Opposites – polarity
• Pure emotions are not experienced – primary dyads (adjacent)
• Refer to the segments of the diagram given in your textbook. It
was discussed and shown in class.

Opponent-Process Theory: Action and Reaction

• An emotional reaction is generally followed automatically by an
opposite reaction (automatic)
• The initial reaction gradually weakens, and the opposite reaction
becomes stronger.
• Examples: Drug addiction, Thrill seeking
• Many emotional responses produce reactions