Evaluation: interpretation and appraisal

Question 1

What is an appraisal?

Answer 1

A particular set of psychological interpretations of a current situation

Question 2

What is the facial feedback hypothesis (Strack et al., 1988)?

Answer 2

We experience joy because we express a smile

Pen study: participants had to hold pen in their mouth while reading comics
> Condition 1: hold pen with teeth
- expression similar to smile
-> found comics were funnier

> Condition 2: hold pen with their lips

• expression mimics sadness
• > found comics less funny

=> Our bodily expressions change the way we feel

Question 3

Following the facial feedback hypothesis (Strack et al., 1988), what would standing tall result in?

Answer 3

A feeling of self confidence

Question 4

What is the James-Lange theory of emotions (1980)?

Answer 4

Emotions occur in response to physiological changes

Stimulus -> Perception/interpretation -> Specific pattern of autonomic arousal -> Particular emotion experienced

Question 5

What were the 4 points of criticism Cannon and Bard (1927; 1931) set forth against the James-Lange theory of emotions?

Answer 5

1. Emotions do not necessarily change when the viscera (large organs) are disconnected from central nervous system
2. A physiological change artificially induced in the viscera does not always lead to spontaneous emotions
3. Physiological changes are often quite slow and happen AFTER people experience emotions
4. Same physiological changes associated with different emotional experiences
   (e. g. fear and exercise)

Question 6

What did Schachter and Singer (1964) think about the James-Lange theory of emotions?
What did they propose?

Answer 6

That it was incomplete, rather than entirely incorrect

• emphasis on both physiology AND cognitive appraisals
• determined jointly by people’s perceptions of their physiological state AND their appraisal of situations

Question 7

What was the study Schachter and Singer (1964) that lead them to their theory of emotions?

Answer 7

Asking provoking questions to participants

> Shot of adrenaline + told “this will increase arousal”

• participants not particularly angry
• attributed their arousal to the injection

> Shot of adrenaline + told nothing

• participants were most angry
• experienced both the physiological signs of anger, and interpreted the situation as provoking

> Salt solution

• arousal levels relatively low
• not particularly angry

=> Emotions come from Perception of physiological state AND Cognitive appraisal

Question 8

How is Schachter’s and Singer’s (1964) theory of emotions considered today?

Answer 8

One of the most influential theories of emotions to date

Question 9

What are the two most important auxillary propositions provided by Schachter and Singer (1964) regarding emotions?

Answer 9

1. When individual has no explanation for an arousal state
   - > labels arousal in terms of available cognitions
2. When individual has an appropriate explanation for arousal
   - > alternative cognitive labelling will be unlikely
   (e. g. if you know you’ve been injected with adrenaline, you will not blame your arousal on something else)

Question 10

What do the propositions of Schachter and Singer (1964) regarding cognitive labelling lead to?

Answer 10

Misattribution or falsely blaming particular circumstances as the reason for an emotion

Question 11

How did Dutton and Aron (1974) study the misattribution of arousal?

Answer 11

“Scary bridge experiment”:

> Condition 1: men walk across “scary bridge”

• on other side they were asked questions by attractive female
• she offered them her contact details
• they were more likely to contact the female

> Condition 2: men walk across “non-scary bridge”

• on other side they were also asked questions by attractive female
• she offered them her contact details
• they were less likely to contact the female
• > Condition 1 represents a misattribution of the men’s arousal
• falsely attributed their arousal to the female (experimenter)

Question 12

What was the pioneering investigation of Smith and Ellsworth (1985) of how emotions influence our appraisals of the world around us?

Answer 12

‘Patterns of Cognitive Appraisal in Emotion’

They asked people to describe in detail common emotions
-> significant differences

> Emotions influence appraisals

• sadness = negative interpretation of event
• happiness = positive interpretation of an event

> Fear and anger both had high levels of physiological arousal
-> differed more subtly

Question 13

What did Lerner and Keltner (2001) demonstrate on the difference of appraisal between anger and fear?

Answer 13

> Anger

• appraisal with certainty
• greater sense of certainty about their environment
• less adverse to risk, and more optimistic about positive outcome

> Fear

• appraisal with uncertainty
• interpret their environment as insecure or risky
• far less likely to choose risky option

Question 14

What is stress in terms of appraisal?

Answer 14

Appraising events as harmful, threatening, or challenging

- events perceived to tax or exceed one’s resources

Question 15

What is coping?

Answer 15

Process of trying to manage demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources

Question 16

How do people process potentially stressful experiences, according to Lazarus’ cognitive-motivational-relational theory (1966)?

Answer 16

> Primary appraisal:

• event
• relevance
• congruency

> Secondary appraisal:

• blame oneself or blame another
• > coping options
• > Coping potential
• problem focused coping
• emotion focused coping

Question 17

In the cognitive-motivational-relational theory of Lazarus (1966), what is the effect of one’s coping potential on stress levels?

Answer 17

> High coping potential -> low stress levels

> Low coping potential -> high stress levels

Question 18

What is the role of interpretation and appraisal in mental health?

Answer 18

They impact our behaviour and emotions

• stable individual differences in the way we evaluate situations -> essential to psychological understanding of what drives and maintains mental health disorders

Question 19

How can you study interpretation biases?

Answer 19

1. in the lab, using questionnaires

2. Experimentally: recognition test

Question 20

What did Miers and colleagues (2008) demonstrate using questionnaires to assess interpretation biases of social situations in adolescents?

Answer 20

> Negative interpretations of social situations were more common in adolescents with higher anxiety vs. controls

> High anxious adolescents only showed negative interpretations for social situations, but not for non social situations

-> This interpretation bias is specific to social contexts

Question 21

What does the recognition test consist of?

Answer 21

1. Participants have to read the recognition test
   - a story
   - they have to complete a fragmented word, after which they are asked to answer comprehension question
   - then they’re shown targets and foils
2. Rate how similar 4 statements are to the stories

• Each statement has positive or negative valence
• 2 of them are interpretations of the story (Targets)
• 2 of them are related to the story but are not interpretations (Foils)

Question 22

Can we use computer training tools to target the negative interpretation biases associated with anxiety?
How?

Answer 22

Yes: Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM)

• directly target the processes that give rise to dysfunctional thoughts
• through presentation of quick and repeated low level info. processing tasks

-> Reinforce more adaptive processing style

Question 23

What have studies demonstrated so far regarding Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM)?

Answer 23

CBM is effective in altering interpretation style
- however, effects on mood states are weaker

• additional research required to demonstrate whether it can reduce clinical symptoms and improve functioning

Question 24

What are the two risk facts for depression?

Answer 24

1. Environmental adversity
2. Negative cognitive appraisals
   - of self, world, others

Question 25

What did Krackow and Rudolph (2008) demonstrate on the perceptions of experiences in people with depression?

Answer 25

> Overestimated the stressfulness of events

> Overestimated their contribution to events

> Experienced more environmental adversity
- however, they appraise events differently

• > Realistic interpersonal difficulties
• > Biased appraisals of experiences

Question 26

What is the ‘optimism bias’ expressed in some people?

Answer 26

• they expect positive event
• to live longer and healthier than others
• they overestimate occupational sucsess

-> Optimistically biased updating pattern

Question 27

What is an optimistically biased updating pattern in people?

Answer 27

They incorporate desirable information into future predictions

Question 28

What did Cohen and colleagues show regarding people with depression and the ‘optimism bias’?

Answer 28

People with depression do not show the same bias as people who present an optimism bias

Question 29

What do cognitive models present in the context of mental disorders?

Answer 29

They place interpretations and appraisals as central to understanding the distress experienced by the person

> Intrusion
Interpretation
Emotion

Question 30

What are the three examples of Morrison (2001) on how misinterpretation of the same situation lead to different concerns associated with different disorders?

Answer 30

1. Racing thoughts or palpitations
   - delusional -> it’s alien control
   - panic disorder -> it’s a heart attack
2. Benign lump in one’s skin
   - health anxiety -> it’s a sign of cancer
   - psychotic -> it’s a transmitter device
3. An unacceptable blasphemous thought
   - OCD -> something bad will happen
   - Psychosis -> it’s demonic possession

Question 31

What seems to be a key factor of interpretation in psychosis?

Answer 31

The interpretation is culturally unacceptable and distressing

Question 32

What did Morrison (2001) show regarding anomalous experiences in society?

Answer 32

> 10-25% of general population had had anomalous experiences at least once

> Hallucinations are common in older adults following bereavement (mourning)

> Growing acceptance that voices are a normal psychological phenomenon

Question 33

How do cognitive models help develop person-specific understanding to guide treatment (Morrison, 2001)?

Answer 33

Misinterpretation of the same situation

-> Different concerns associated with different disorders