Emotion Regulation Flashcards
(29 cards)
What can emtoional states be characterised by?
subjective experience, physiological response, behaviours, cognition, transient, context
Describe subjective experience & what do LeDoux and Pine argue?
LeDoux and Pine argue that we should be labelling the behaviour and not the emotion because the emotion is not falsifiable. Threat response rather than fear etc.
Describe the physiological response.
Fight or flight - sympathetic nervous system. Prepares response activation so dilates pupils accelerates heartbeat, inhibits digestive activity, stimulates glucose release, secretion of epiniphrine and norepinephrine.
Rest and digest - parasympathetic nervous system. Preps relax and recovery. So contracts pupils, slows hearbeat, stimulates digestive activity.
emotion could be up or downregulation.
What is an example of a cognitive response?
Rumination: thoughts –> feelings –> behaviours –> thoughts. Can exacerbate this transient emotional feeling.
How are emotions transient and situational?
Emotional duration is usually 10 minutes - 3 hr. Negative emotion is intense at first, but further recollection of it, the intensity decreases. Think of flight example.
What is dysregulated emotion?
overly intense emotions (subjective/physio), impulse behaviour (behavioural), lack of emotional awareness (cog).
What is emotional regulation?
The process by which individuals monitor, evaluate, and modify their
emotional experiences, behavioural expression, and cognitive responses
- positive outcome oriented
What are the four emotion regulation strategies?
Cognitive, Expressive/Response, Situation Modification, & Attentional Deployment
Describe the strategy of reappraisal.
Reappraisal – reassess and reinterpret the meaning/significance of an
event or situation in order to positive emotions and negative emotions
Describe the strategy of acceptance.
Acceptance – acknowledging & allowing oneself to experience or
tolerate difficult emotions without trying to change them
Describe the strategy of rumination.
Rumination – repetitive pattern of focusing on and dwelling on
negative emotions, thoughts, memories
Describe suppression.
Suppression – consciously inhibiting or blocking out expression or display of an emotion (usually an unwanted emotion). Really effortful strategy so kids are bad at it. Kids usually go for distraction. Suppression is more common at work.
Describe problem solving.
Problem Solving – actively addressing and resolving underlying
source of emotional distress.
Describe Distraction.
Distraction – diverting one’s attention away from the
source of distressing emotions (i.e., the “event”). Can be behavioural in terms of engaging in distracting
activities (exercise) or cognitive (mental refocusing)
What is the relationship between PFC and emotion regulation?
PFC increases activity in brain regions involved in emotion experience when up-regulating. For down regulation, PFC decreases activity in brain regions involved in emotion experience. It has the switch and control.
What are the neural systems involved in emotion regulation?
PFC, Amygdala, and Insula (Primary). Hippocampus, ACC, Thalamus, and Hypothalamus (secondary).
What does the Amygdala do?
processes emotion stimuli,
receives sensory input from thalamus,
evaluates emotional significance &
communicates this to the rest of the brain.
What does the Insula do?
represents info about bodily
sensations, helps integrate motivational
info with sensory info to signal subjective
“feelings” (the self)
What does the hippocampus do?
learning & memory, connects emotions to contextual information
What does the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) do?
integrates cognitive and emotional information to guide decision-making and behaviour
What about the thalamus and hypothalamus?
Thalamus: transmits sensory info from nervous system to brain (amygdala & other limbic regions)
Hypothalamus: generates physiological responses to emotions (heart rate, blood pressure)
Emotion Regulation: Brain - what was the finding regarding age?
As age increases, negative affect decreases only when reappraising and using regulation. This could be because the prefrontal cortex is developed to modulate amygdala and Insula.
As age increases, what happens with the amygdala activation?
Greater reductions in amygdala reactivity
during reappraisal compared to passive. PF cortex is activated and downregulates the amygdala and helps reappraise in adults - reduce emotional response centre to something.
There is also greater negative connectivity with age (Regulation > Reactivity for negative stimuli). So more PFC, less amygdala with age.
What happens in the brain during reappraisal?
PFC recruitment increases with age which results in down regulation
of amygdala reactivity and reductions in negative emotion.
