Psychology Of Emotion

Question 1

State the functions of emotion.

Answer 1

A source of information
Prepares us for action
Communication (facial expressions form attachment)
Regulate social behaviour
Create cognitive bias and maintain self esteem.
Coping mechanism for stress

Question 2

Explain false autonomic feedback and the valins effect according to Valins,66.

Answer 2

The role of arousal is for us to use our cognition to define what it means. Valins gave false heart rate feedback to male students after looking at pics of naked women. They kept The pics with a faster Heart rate as they associated it with arousal.

Question 3

Explain excitation transfer theory. (Zillman,78)

Answer 3

Participants watched porn after exercising or not exercising. Those who exercised reported higher levels of arousal and so they misattributed the feeling after exercise with arousal to the porn.

Question 4

Explain James and Langes biological perspective on emotion.

Answer 4

Emotion is a result of physiological arousal.

Some state that it causes emotion, some state that it is a signal for the brain to produce emotion.

Question 5

Explain the somatic theory of emotions.

Answer 5

The body informs the mind, meaning body changes accompany emotions and perception of changes determines emotional experience.

Question 6

Evaluate the biological theory of emotion.

Answer 6

We are not great at detecting arousal.

We use past experience to judge situations, meaning we act on thoughts not arousal.

Question 7

Explain Cannons biological theory of emotion.

Briefly evaluate.

Answer 7

Emotions begin In the brain. Stimulation leads to two outputs: flight or fight and register of emotion.

Those without physiological arousal experience emotion.

Question 8

Explain Schachter and singers cognitive explanation of emotion, the two factor theory.

Answer 8

Emphasises physiological and situational factors in determining emotion.
Autonomic arousal provides energy and intensity of emotion.
Our situation gives our emotional state its feeling through cognitive attribution.
Participants in their study mirrored emotions of their assigned person after being injected with epinephrine.

Question 9

Explain the role of cognitive appraisal in our emotional experience.

Answer 9

Determines level of arousal and type of emotion. For example, learning that snakes are dangerous makes us fear them.

This can explain disappointment as we expect things that will make us happy.

Cognitive appraisal involves values, goals, beliefs and expectations.