Problem 4

Question 1

Tripartite division of mental faculties

Kant

Answer 1

Human mental faculties can be divided into 3 elements

1. pure reason
   - -> congtiion/intellect
2. Practical reason
   - -> will/action
3. Judgment
   - -> feeling pleasure or pain

BUT: these 3 combined together to form a unitary psychological experience

Question 2

Zajoncs view on the relation between affect and cognition

Answer 2

Thought that affect can be independent of cognition but not always the other way round

1. the affective tone of a stimulus is identified within the first secs when you register the stimulus
2. it is assessed prior to cognitive processing
   - -> “primacy of affect”

THUS: our affective + evaluative reactions to particular objects are usually remembered much longer and more rapidly

Question 3

Mere exposure effect

Answer 3

Developing a preference for things, just because they are familiar to us

–> evidence for primacy of affect (Zajonc)

Question 4

Lazarus view on the relation between cognition and affect

Answer 4

Argued that cognition is necessary for emotion

–> “primacy of cognition”

Question 5

Lazarus counterarguments to primacy of affect

Answer 5

1. Mere exposure effect doesn’t represent evidence for it, because a preference is not = affective reaction
2. Cognitive appraisals are cumuli for determine the type + intensity of affective response

Question 6

Damasios view on the relation between cognition and affect

Answer 6

Affect is an integral part of cognition

–> since affective processes can modulation info processing in a number of way

e.g. attention, reasoning, decision making

Question 7

Appraisal-based models of affect

Answer 7

Suggest that the experience of emotion is determined to a large extent by the way in which a situation is interpreted by the individual

Question 8

Process based models of affect

Answer 8

Suggests that appraisals can occur in parallel at multiple levels

–> ranging from very low action tendencies to high level conscious decisions

Question 9

Information processing approaches

Answer 9

Designed to determine how people orient towards + remember different events and objects in the environment

–> focus on behavioral methods

BUT: exclude the role of affective states in the process

Question 10

What are the advantages of info processing models

Answer 10

1. Can examine whether biases are occurring at implicit levels due to use of behavioral paradigms
2. Can provide like btw research at “lower” neurobiological level + “higher” social cognitive approaches in psychology

Question 11

Current cognitive research on affect and cognition

Answer 11

Investigates

1. how comprehensive mental representations of affect unfold over time
2. Associated neural correlates

Question 12

What are the results of current cognitive research on the relationship between affect + cognition ?

Answer 12

1. Affective processing was there before more complex forms of cognitive processing

–> this is why complex forms of processing depend on the guidance of affective processing

THUS: Affect provides the cognitive system with a representation of the value of significance of a stimulus

Question 13

Dynamic circle

Answer 13

A particular emotion is likely to induce a cognitive bias so that mood relevant material is then prioritized by the processing system

–> this in turn increases the propensity of experiencing related emotions (=circle)

Question 14

Selective attention

Answer 14

Is needed to filter out non-relevant information

–> since we are constraint in out info processing capacities

Question 15

Late vs early selection debate

Answer 15

Refers to the question of whether information is identified before or after the allocation of spatial attention

Question 16

What makes an object actively significant ?

Answer 16

1. Objects that are naturally prioritized by the attentional system
   ex. snakes, spiders
2. Learning history
3. Novelty of stimulus

Question 17

Appraisal of valence hypothesis

Answer 17

The faster good + bad can be distinguished, the faster one can make an appropriate response

THUS: distinction should occur early in info processing and negative stimuli should be processed earlier than others

Question 18

How did behavioral studies examine the relation btw affect + cognition ?

What was the result ?

Answer 18

1. Visual search task to identify how quickly people are to detect a particular class of stimuli

–> indicating whether a particular object is present or absent

2. Negative emotional stimuli interfere with performance
   e. g. Stroop task

–> thus early bias towards negative stimuli

Question 19

Threat superiority effect

Answer 19

People are faster to pick out angry expression relative to happy expression

Question 20

What did brain imaging studies show about the relation btw affect + cognition ?

Answer 20

Amygdala activity correlates with enhanced activity of neurons in the extra striate cortex in the presence of emotional stimuli

–> since extra striate cortex is there for sensory processing, one can say emotional stimuli boost sensory processing

THUS: cortical activity occurring in the presence of affective stimuli can be modulated by the activation of the amygdala

Question 21

What is evidence for the fact that there is faster processing of negative stimuli ?

Answer 21

C1 component is the earliest response in V1 to a stimulus

–> there is enhanced responding of C1 for fearful relative to happy faces

Question 22

Emotion

Answer 22

Is an event-focused process that consists of a specific elicitation mechanism based on relevance of a stimulus that shape an emotional response across several organismic subsystems, including

1. motivational changes
2. physiological changes
3. changes in motor expression and in subjective feeling

Question 23

Component process theory

Answer 23

Organizes appraisal into four sequential objectives that help us to adaptively react to salient events

1. Relevant
2. Implications
   - -> what are the consequences of this event ?
3. Coping potential
   - -> how well can i cope or adjust to the consequences ?
4. Normative significance
   - -> how significant is the event with respect to my self-concept + social norms ?

THUS: the outcome of the process drives physiological reactions but also cognitive function

Question 24

Endogenous intention

Answer 24

Important stimuli are selected by voluntary top down control

Question 25

Neural correlated of endogenous attention + intention

Answer 25

Both implicate the forntoparietal networks of cortical regions Attention --> interactions of dorsal regions (FEF, intraparietal sulcus) Intention --> ventral regions rHP

Question 26

Does emotion have an impact on memory ?

Answer 26

Yes, People have implicit memory of affective reactions to certain stimuli ex.: Patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome were presented with pictures of faces and descriptions indicating that the individual on the picture was either good or bad --> even though they did not recognize the faces a few weeks later, they evaluated the individuals as being good or bad consistent with the description

Question 27

Flashbulb memories

Answer 27

Highly detailed, exceptionally vivid "snapshot" of the moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was learned about --> although people are highly confident in their memories, the details of the memories can be forgotten

Question 28

Remember/know paradigm

Answer 28

PP are shown a list of items and some time later they are presented with the same items again, which are mixed with new items. --> PP must decide if the item is old or new: If it is old, they must judge whether the item is: 1. Remembered - -> includes retrieval of an event along with contextual details 2. Known - -> sense that an item is familiar without any precise memory

Question 29

What was the result of the remember/know paradigm ?

Answer 29

Affectively negative stimuli were consistently remembered more accurately relative to positive or neutral stimuli, but both positive and negative stimuli were better remembered than neutral picture THUS: affective quality of a stimulus can enhance the feeling of remembering, even though the accuracy is not enhanced

Question 30

Name the stages of memory processing

Answer 30

1. Encoding 2. Consolidation 3. Retrieval

Question 31

There is better memory encoding when you put more attention on emotionally relevant info. What is the consequence of this ?

Answer 31

Weapon-focus effect --> less attention is now directed to peripheral attention THUS: one will have no memory of surrounding contexts of the emotional scene

Question 32

Which brain part is related to retrieval of neutral vs emotional events ?

Answer 32

1. Parahippocampus | 2. Amygdala

Question 33

Associated network model | Mood congruency theory

Answer 33

Info that is congruent with our current mood should be more salient + processed at deeper levels than incongruent info BUT: current mood at retrieval may thus also distort memory o past affective experiences ex.: Students who just passed an exam, will more likely underestimate the stress while learning for it than those who failed

Question 34

Positive + negative moods require different info processing strategies. Name them

Answer 34

Positive mood = Assimilation --> relying on general knowledge + stereotypes Negative mood = Accommodation --> detailed evaluation of info

Question 35

Assimilation

Answer 35

Cognitive elaboration of stimuli using schemata + knowledge structures

Question 36

Accommodation

Answer 36

Focusing on the demands of the external words --> careful and detailed perception and analysis of external stimuli BUT: more relevant in aversive situations in which it is important that one doesn’t make a mistake

Question 37

Associative network models | --> of mood and memory interaction

Answer 37

All concepts + facts we hold in memory can be represented as nodes within a complex network 1. Nodes are interconnected by means of semantic relationships, closely related concepts e. g. "dog" with "animal" 2. When activating one node, activation spreads out to activate closely related concept --> priming effects

Question 38

Affect infusion model | AIM

Answer 38

Assumes that mood congruity predictors of associative network models should occur under conditions that allow an open/unbiased search + processing strategy to operate --> there are 4 processing strategies und which affect infusion may occur

Question 39

Allowing for affect infusion

Answer 39

1. Heuristic - -> no motivational pressures for more detailed processing, simple task + little personal relevant 2. substantive - -> adopted when the task is difficult, or novel and there is no motivational goal to guide processing