● Difficulty of emotions - hard to define/explain, difficult to standardize
● Three Dimensions of emotion - positive or negative, high or low arousal, approach or withdrawal
● Affective Component of emotion
○ Immediate positive or negative feeling
○ Develops very quickly (maybe even before the event is understood)
○ To manipulate emotion, we use: evocative stimuli, images, film
● Physiological component of emotion
○ Physical reaction: heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, blood flow to skin (blush), alertness of eyes, facial display, skin conductance response
(sweat)
○ Caused by chemical changes in nervous system
○ Relatively fast, but difficult to interpret
○ Generally: there are not different patterns of response for different emotions
○ Some emotions are different: e.g. anger, fear, sadness -> greater heart rate than disgust
● Behavioral component of emotion
○ Sometimes behavior differs from subjective evaluation
○ Measure emotion: self report, physiological response, behavioral measures
● Discrete emotions theory - humans experience a small number of distinct (basic) emotions that they can combine in complex ways
● Primary emotions - emotions that are evolutionarily adaptive, shared across cultures, and associated with specific physical states
● Secondary emotions - blends of primary emotions
● Display rule - one of the cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions
● Baruch Spinoza theory of emotion - our experience of emotion is more than just physical arousal and valence, but critically involves a cognitive appraisal
of the situation
● James-Lange theory of emotion - event occurs -> body reacts -> we interpret this as an emotion
● Cannon-Bard theory of emotion - event occurs -> thalamus receives sensory input -> autonomic nervous system responds and cortex interprets situation
● Two Factor theory of emotion - emotion is based on physiological arousal and cognitive labeling
● Dutton & Aron
○ some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety
○ Males were more likely to call a female research assistant if they had just crossed a fear-inducing bridge than if they had crossed a safe bridge
● Unconscious Influences on Emotion
○ Mere exposure effect - repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably toward it
○ Subliminal - stimuli that is below the threshold for awareness
● Nonverbal leakage - an unconscious spillover of emotions into nonverbal behavior
● Other signs to distinguish sincere from insincere - morphology, symmetry, duration, temporal patterning
● Morphology - eye crinkle in smile, hard to fake, fake and genuine smiles are controlled by different parts of the brain
● Symmetry - sincere expressions are more symmetrical, the left side of our face is more expressive, noticeable for voluntary/forced
● Duration - sincere expressions generally last between 0.5 and 5 seconds
● Temporal Patterning - sincere expressions have a smooth appearance and disappearance, insincere expressions are more abrupt
● Truth Telling
○ liars speak more slowly, take longer to respond, give less detail, are less fluent, less engaging, more uncertain, more tense, and less pleasant
○ People want to believe others are honest but get signs mixed up
● Positive Psychology
○ Emphasizes human strengths such as resilience, coping, life satisfaction, love, and happiness
○ Broaden and build theory: happiness predisposes us to think more openly, allowing us to see the “big picture” we might have otherwise
overlooked
○ Happiness is the only completely positive primary emotion
● Mythos of happiness - the prime determinant of happiness is what happens to use, money makes us happy, happiness declines in old age, people on the west
coast are the happiest
● What makes us happy: the realities - marriage, friendships, college, religion, exercise, gratitude, experiences, flow
● What does happiness buy us?
○ Predisposes us to think more openly, allowing us to see the “big picture” we might have otherwise overlooked
○ Happiness is the only completely positive primary emotion
● Choosing mates - birds of a feather flock together
○ Social influences on interpersonal attraction: proximity: when near becomes dear, similarity: like attracts light, reciprocity: all give and no take
does not a good relationship make, physical attraction: like it or not, we do judge books by their covers
○ Proximity:
■ How can you start a relationship when you’ve never met the person?
■ But still: you have to see the person sometimes
■ War letters
○ Similarity: differences produce opportunities for disagreement
○ Reciprocity: balance is key - giving us all the time makes us uncomfortable
● Motivation
○ Drive reduction theory: certain drives like hunger, thirst, and sexual frustration motivate us to minimize aversive states
○ We are motivated to maintain a given level of psychological homeostasis
○ Incentive theories: positive motivation
○ We are often motivated by positive goals
■ Intrinsic motivation: motivated by internal goals
■ Extrinsic motivation: motivated by external goals
○ Incentive theories: once we receive reinforcement for performing a behavior, we expect that reinforcement again
● What makes us happy?
○ Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: only a few people are self-actualized, as many of us must focus on needs at lower levels (drive reduction)
rather than at higher levels (internal and external goals for achievement)
● Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
○ Love is multi-faceted
○ Lust (sex drive), romance (obsession), and attachment (long-term) don’t always go together
○ People can love more than one person in different ways
● Three Dimensions of emotion - positive or negative, high or low arousal, approach or withdrawal
● Affective Component of emotion
○ Immediate positive or negative feeling
○ Develops very quickly (maybe even before the event is understood)
○ To manipulate emotion, we use: evocative stimuli, images, film
● Physiological component of emotion
○ Physical reaction: heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, blood flow to skin (blush), alertness of eyes, facial display, skin conductance response
(sweat)
○ Caused by chemical changes in nervous system
○ Relatively fast, but difficult to interpret
○ Generally: there are not different patterns of response for different emotions
○ Some emotions are different: e.g. anger, fear, sadness -> greater heart rate than disgust
● Behavioral component of emotion
○ Sometimes behavior differs from subjective evaluation
○ Measure emotion: self report, physiological response, behavioral measures
● Discrete emotions theory - humans experience a small number of distinct (basic) emotions that they can combine in complex ways
● Primary emotions - emotions that are evolutionarily adaptive, shared across cultures, and associated with specific physical states
● Secondary emotions - blends of primary emotions
● Display rule - one of the cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions
● Baruch Spinoza theory of emotion - our experience of emotion is more than just physical arousal and valence, but critically involves a cognitive appraisal
of the situation
● James-Lange theory of emotion - event occurs -> body reacts -> we interpret this as an emotion
● Cannon-Bard theory of emotion - event occurs -> thalamus receives sensory input -> autonomic nervous system responds and cortex interprets situation
● Two Factor theory of emotion - emotion is based on physiological arousal and cognitive labeling
● Dutton & Aron
○ some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety
○ Males were more likely to call a female research assistant if they had just crossed a fear-inducing bridge than if they had crossed a safe bridge
● Unconscious Influences on Emotion
○ Mere exposure effect - repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably toward it
○ Subliminal - stimuli that is below the threshold for awareness
● Nonverbal leakage - an unconscious spillover of emotions into nonverbal behavior
● Other signs to distinguish sincere from insincere - morphology, symmetry, duration, temporal patterning
● Morphology - eye crinkle in smile, hard to fake, fake and genuine smiles are controlled by different parts of the brain
● Symmetry - sincere expressions are more symmetrical, the left side of our face is more expressive, noticeable for voluntary/forced
● Duration - sincere expressions generally last between 0.5 and 5 seconds
● Temporal Patterning - sincere expressions have a smooth appearance and disappearance, insincere expressions are more abrupt
● Truth Telling
○ liars speak more slowly, take longer to respond, give less detail, are less fluent, less engaging, more uncertain, more tense, and less pleasant
○ People want to believe others are honest but get signs mixed up
● Positive Psychology
○ Emphasizes human strengths such as resilience, coping, life satisfaction, love, and happiness
○ Broaden and build theory: happiness predisposes us to think more openly, allowing us to see the “big picture” we might have otherwise
overlooked
○ Happiness is the only completely positive primary emotion
● Mythos of happiness - the prime determinant of happiness is what happens to use, money makes us happy, happiness declines in old age, people on the west
coast are the happiest
● What makes us happy: the realities - marriage, friendships, college, religion, exercise, gratitude, experiences, flow
● What does happiness buy us?
○ Predisposes us to think more openly, allowing us to see the “big picture” we might have otherwise overlooked
○ Happiness is the only completely positive primary emotion
● Choosing mates - birds of a feather flock together
○ Social influences on interpersonal attraction: proximity: when near becomes dear, similarity: like attracts light, reciprocity: all give and no take
does not a good relationship make, physical attraction: like it or not, we do judge books by their covers
○ Proximity:
■ How can you start a relationship when you’ve never met the person?
■ But still: you have to see the person sometimes
■ War letters
○ Similarity: differences produce opportunities for disagreement
○ Reciprocity: balance is key - giving us all the time makes us uncomfortable
● Motivation
○ Drive reduction theory: certain drives like hunger, thirst, and sexual frustration motivate us to minimize aversive states
○ We are motivated to maintain a given level of psychological homeostasis
○ Incentive theories: positive motivation
○ We are often motivated by positive goals
■ Intrinsic motivation: motivated by internal goals
■ Extrinsic motivation: motivated by external goals
○ Incentive theories: once we receive reinforcement for performing a behavior, we expect that reinforcement again
● What makes us happy?
○ Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: only a few people are self-actualized, as many of us must focus on needs at lower levels (drive reduction)
rather than at higher levels (internal and external goals for achievement)
● Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
○ Love is multi-faceted
○ Lust (sex drive), romance (obsession), and attachment (long-term) don’t always go together
○ People can love more than one person in different ways
