Emotion

Question 1

what are emotions characterised by?

Answer 1

• physiological changes
• behavioural responses
• changes in cognition
• subjective feelings

Question 2

what do fear responses include?

Answer 2

• changes in heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance
• facial expression, immobility, avoidance behaviour
• enhanced attention and memory
• the feeling of fear

Question 3

what are emotions driven by?

Answer 3

biologically significant stimuli

they are an interaction between biological responses and cognitive processes

Question 4

adaptive benefits of fear responses

Answer 4

• avoiding danger
• finding food and water
• signalling intent

Question 5

maladaptive benefits of fear responses

Answer 5

• causing phobias
• PTSD
• drug addiction

Question 6

what does the james-lange theory claim?

Answer 6

distinct patterns of biological responses characterise different emotions- ‘people are afraid because they run away’

Question 7

james-lange theory

Answer 7

1. the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which produces a peripheral biological response
2. in response to the specific pattern of these changes, a subjective emotion is felt

Question 8

what does the james-lange theory suggest about emotions?

Answer 8

they can only be experienced by interpreting the peripheral response. this is evidence of a cause-effect relationship

Question 9

what does the cannon-bard theory claim?

Answer 9

peripheral changes are not sensitive or different enough to mediate various emotions

Question 10

cannon-bard theory

Answer 10

1. the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which generates a peripheral response
2. upon perception of the stimulus there is a direct production of the emotional, subjective state

Question 11

what does the cannon-bard theory claim about cause-effect?

Answer 11

there is no cause-effect between peripheral response and subjective experience as they are triggered simultaneously

Question 12

what does the cannon-bard theory believe about feelings?

Answer 12

feelings can influence the peripheral response, e.g., feeling afraid means running away faster

Question 13

what does the schachter-singer theory claim?

Answer 13

the pattern of peripheral responses does not determine emotions

Question 14

schachter-singer theory

Answer 14

1. the environmental stimulus is perceived in the brain, which generates a peripheral response
2. the peripheral response tells us that a certain emotion must be felt, which is decided through environmental interpretation of the external context

Question 15

transitional implication of theories

Answer 15

these theories have great relevance for the application of lie detectors, as polygraphs record peripheral responses such as sweating

these peripheral responses involuntarily increase with fearful or guilty responses

Question 16

how does phineas gage provide evidence that emotion is a product of the brain?

Answer 16

engaged in much more risky behaviour after suffering a severe frontal lobe injury- due to an inability to use emotional cues to regulate behaviour

Question 17

how does kluver-bucy syndrome provide evidence that emotion is a product of the brain?

Answer 17

a rare human syndrome that has been replicated in studies

removing the temporal lobe had emotional effects in monkeys- made them emotionally dull

the emotional elements of this were replicated by destroying the amygdala

Question 18

what is the limbic system?

Answer 18

a group of brain areas (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cingulate cortex) associated with emotion

Question 19

where is the amygdala located?

Answer 19

it is a small area in the centre of the brain, where sensory information is processed

Question 20

what is the amygdala involved in?

Answer 20

coordinating the outputs associated with fear and anxiety, and mediates emotional responses

Question 21

when the amygdala is stimulated, what do patients report feeling?

Answer 21

anxious or afraid

Question 22

what does damage to the amygdala result in?

Answer 22

timidity and change in fearful behaviour, with people being unable to experience fear conditioning

Question 23

what was found in patient SM?

Answer 23

showed negligible amounts of fear and was unable to express fear in daily life

Question 24

following amygdala damage, what is impaired?

Answer 24

the facilitation of memory by emotive content

this provides evidence for emotional memory, as the amygdala is recruited during emotional situationa

Question 25

core expressions

Answer 25

- anger - sadness - happiness - fear - disgust - surprise

Question 26

how can emotional facial expressions signal internal state?

Answer 26

by being observed in social situations the combination of facial, vocal, and postural elements interact to signal internal state

Question 27

damage to the amygdala impairs recognition of fearful faces, but not ___________

Answer 27

recognition of identity or vocal elements

Question 28

what were amygdala patients found to have?

Answer 28

abnormal eye movements, as patient SM rarely looked at eyes in pictures

Question 29

what can amygdala patients be trained to do?

Answer 29

recognise emotional expressions this suggests amygdala damage causes a poor accuracy of recognising facial expression, which alters behaviour- rather than an innate change

Question 30

when is the amygdala activated?

Answer 30

by fearful faces, and its function occurs at a subconscious level

Question 31

what is the temporal lobe involved in?

Answer 31

processing emotional facial expressions

Question 32

the _____ is important to produce emotional facial expressions, and why?

Answer 32

amygdala- the dulled effect of kluver-bucy syndrome can be replicated with lesions to the amygdala

Question 33

laterality in the production of emotional facial expressions

Answer 33

the left side of the face is more expressive, meaning the right side of the brain may play a greater role to play - or there is faster brain activity in the right side, which causes quicker expression of facial expressions

Question 34

why is there a neural basis of facial expressions?

Answer 34

if core emotional facial expressions are accepted, this suggests they are innate- involuntary, unconscious, and automatic

Question 35

evidence to suggest emotional facial expressions are involuntary and automatic

Answer 35

- volitional facial paresis - emotional facial paresis

Question 36

volitional facial paresis

Answer 36

the ability to voluntarily control facial muscles is damaged, but genuine emotional facial expressions can still be produced- cannot be elicited voluntarily

Question 37

emotional facial paresis

Answer 37

impairs the production of genuine emotional facial expressions, but these can still be replicated by moving facial muscles

Question 38

what does the expression of automatic emotional facial expressions suggest?

Answer 38

they have a biological and evolutionary basis

Question 39

ekman & freisen (1971) found...

Answer 39

cross-cultural generalisability between facial expression recognition in new guinea and western society- argues in favour of innate expressions between cultures

Question 40

peleg (2006) found...

Answer 40

recognisable facial expressions in congenitally blind people- more similar between relations than non-relations

Question 41

what was found in the facial expressions of new-born infants?

Answer 41

they were somewhat reminiscent of those observed in adults

Question 42

what does the amygdala attribute?

Answer 42

emotional significance to events

Question 43

what is the function of the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 43

believed to inhibit the expression of emotion, as emotional responses may run out of control when the vPFC is less function

Question 44

what is the vPFC involved in?

Answer 44

emotional decision making

Question 45

what is the prefrontal cortex involved in?

Answer 45

memory extinction- the process of a new memory that inhibits the expression of the previous memory

Question 46

what happens when the PFC is absent in rats?

Answer 46

extinction does not occur it should be easier to regulate these responses if there is a strong pathway

Question 47

where is the periaqueductal grey located?

Answer 47

around the central aqueduct, and it has different subdivisions

Question 48

different subdivisions of PAG

Answer 48

- dorsolateral periaqueductal grey (dPAG) - ventrolaterial periaqueductal grey (vPAG)

Question 49

dPAG stimulation in rats

Answer 49

they run away- an active response

Question 50

vPAG stimulation in rats

Answer 50

they freeze- an escape response

Question 51

how is a freezing response coordinated?

Answer 51

the amygdala activates the PAG, showing its involvement in the selection of defensive emotional responses

Question 52

PFC is _________ and PAG is ________

Answer 52

upstream, downstream

Question 53

how can evidence be found to support implicit bias?

Answer 53

can study implicit emotional responses to racial outgroups

Question 54

what does behavioural data suggest about implicit racial bias?

Answer 54

greater fear response (MRI amygdala action) to black faces when presented unconsciously

Question 55

when was this greater fear response reduced?

Answer 55

when presenting faces to ensure they entered the unconscious, suggesting automatic implicit biases can be inhibited- but this takes work

Question 56

what is the dorsolateral PFC associated with?

Answer 56

attempts to control unwanted prejudicial responses