Schachter & Singer (1962)

Cognitive, social and physiological determinants of emotional statePsychological Review, 69, 379-99

Situation 1 One dark damp night you are walking home from town

alone and you have to go along a fairly narrow alleyway which is dimly lit. You are late and walking along the alley will save you quite a bit of time. As you walk you hear footsteps behind you and turn to see a dark silhouette of a man illuminated by the street light. You start to walk faster . Your heart is beating so fast you can almost hear it. You are breathing faster and your mouth is becoming dry. You feel….

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Situation 2 You are at a party and the music is excellent, the atmosphere is

charged and you feel that you look really good tonight. Across the room you see someone who seems to be looking at you. What’s more this person is absolutely amazing looking. You turn back and realize they are still looking at you and smiling. They walk over to you and you can immediately feel the electricity between you. As the night goes on you feel yourself becoming more and more infatuated with the person that stands in front of you. You feel your heart beating so fast you can almost hear it. You are breathing faster and your mouth is getting dry. In fact you feel…

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In both of the above situations you experienced the same physical reaction yet the emotion you “felt” was probably very different. Therefore we must ask what is an emotion? Do we simply interpret our body’s physical response to a

situation as an emotion Does what we thing about the situation (our cognitions)

constitute an emotion, irrespective of our body’s physical response

Or are emotions actually a mixture of the two?

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I. Theories of Emotion

A. Emotion = A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

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B. The James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories1. James-Lange theory states that our

experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

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I. Theories of emotion2. Study done by Hohmann-

a. Interviewed 25 soldiers who suffered injuries to the spinal cord

b. Divided into 5 groups based on how high the injury, the higher the less feedback they get from their body

c. Those with the highest injuries reported that they had the least strong emotions during emotion provoking events.

d. They reported having mental emotions but not physical ones

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“It’s a sort of cold anger. Sometimes I act angry…I yell and cuss and raise hell…but it doesn’t have the heat to it that it used to. It’s a mental kind of anger”

b. Those who suffered injuries that left them paralyzed from the neck down responded that their emotions were much less intense which would seem to support the James-Lange Theory

3. Cannon-Bard Theory = the theory that an emotion arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experiences of emotion

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▪ a. Believed that the thalamus played a key role as it gathered sensory input and sent it “down” to the sympathetic nervous system and “up” to the cerebral cortex at the same time. Thus it is sometimes referred to as the Thalamic theory of emotions

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▪ b. Marañon (1924) ▪ injected adrenaline (causes sympathetic arousal)▪ 29% described physiological changes in ‘emotional

overtones’ but mostly ‘as if…’ – Does this support James or Cannon?

▪ If an emotional topic was discussed before the injection, the same topic after injection triggered emotional behaviour, e.g. upset

▪ Thus to produce a genuinely emotional reaction to adrenalin, Marañon had to provide subjects with an appropriate cognition.

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C. Cognition and Emotion 1. Schacter’s Two-Factor Theory of

Emotion▪ a. Two factor theory = the theory that to

experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal

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II. Expressing EmotionA. Nonverbal Communication

1. In a study by Rosenthal and Hall they showed film clips of an emotionally expressive women. They found that some people are better at reading emotions in others. They found introverts tend read others better while extroverts are easier to read.

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2. Gender and Nonverbal Behaviora. Surveys reveal that women are much

more empathetic than males, however when monitored electronically the gap between men and women is much smaller.

▪ b. Coats and Feldman demonstrated that women are also more expressive of their emotions.

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B. Detecting and Computing Emotion 1. Ekman and O’Sullivan on detecting

lies▪ a. Some students watched nature films while

others watched a gruesome film▪ b. All of the students were asked to talk

about the movie as if they were watching a nature film (in other words they were to lie.)

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▪ c. They found that people are not very good lie detectors. They tried, students, psychiatrist, judges and police officers. They all performed at the level of chance. Only Secret Service Agents performed better.

2. In a follow-up study Ekman found that Government Agents (CIA), trained psychologist and special trained street smart interrogators from LA were able to detect liars.

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C. Culture and Emotional Expression1. The Ekman and Friesen study on

Emotional Expression studied people from around the world and their ability to identify emotions through facial expressions across cultures. They found that this ability seemed to transcend culture.

2. One other study on blind and deaf children showed they made the same facial expressions as we all do. This shows the universality of emotional expression because it would have been impossible for them to have learned to express emotions in this way.

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Detecting

emotions test

3. Charles Darwin points to the adaptive purpose of reading emotions. It was probably important to our survival to read the emotions of others. We would want to stay away from angry people and move closer to people who are attracted to us.

4. Display Rules = learned ways of controlling displays of emotion in social settings.

5. The effects of facial expressions on emotions = a study done by Laird found that when people are forced to smile they feel happy, when they scowl they feel angry and when (facial feedback hypothesis)

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Schachter & Singer (1962)

“This presentation contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law”

Schacter & Singer (1962)Study on Emotions AICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 1

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III. Aim/Hypotheses A. This study consisted of 3 major

hypotheses 1. Given a state of physiological arousal for

which an individual has no immediate explanation, they will "label” this state and describe their feelings in terms of the cognitions available▪ Physiological arousal + no rational explanation

+ an appropriate cognition → (a describable) emotion

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Physiological Arousal

No logical Explanation

Appropriate Cognition

+ + =Describable

Emotion(fear)

III. Aim/Hypothsis 2. Given a state of physiological arousal for

which an individual has a completely appropriate explanation, the individual is unlikely to label their feelings in terms of the alternative cognitions available▪ a. Physiological arousal + a rational explanation

→ NO emotion an appropriate cognition does not have an impact

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3. Given no physiological arousal, even if emotion-inducing cognitive circumstances are present the subject will not create emotions. ▪ a. No Physiological arousal + an appropriate

cognition → No emotion

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IV. Methods - Sample A. The Sample

1. Began with 185 Ps – 2. All male and white in their 1st year at the University of

Minnesota studying psychology 3. 1 dropped in initial phase because of refusal to receive an

injection 4. Students offered 2pts extra credit on final exam for each hour

participating in a psych study on campus

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IV. Methods - Variables B. Variables

1. 3 IVs▪ a. Physiological arousal (epinephrine vs saline)▪ b. Explanations of arousal (Informed of side effects,

Ignorant of side effects, Misinformed of side effects)▪ c. Emotion-inducing situations w/ explanatory

cognitions (Euphoric stooge vs Angry stooge) 2. DV: Emotions – self-feedback & observations

C. Design 1. Laboratory Experiment 2. Snapshot study

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IV. Methods - Design D. Set-up of the experiment

1. Told they were studying the impact of a vitamin “Suproxin” (really epinephrine) on vision.

2. Asked, “would you mind having an injection of Suproxin (made up name) to look at the effects of vitamins on vision?” (1 person of 185 declined)

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What does adrenaline do? Causes similar effects to the arousal

of the autonomic nervous system (ANS – “fight or flight”). Starts after 3-5 mins, lasts 15-30 mins.

Increases blood pressure Increases heart rate Increases blood sugar Increases respiration Increases blood flow to muscles & brain Decreases blood flow to skin (feels cold) Palpitations Tremors Flushing

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IV. Methods - Design E. Assignment of participants

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Epi Ign (ignorant)The Ps were given epinephrine, were told no side effects – tests first hypothesis as they had no explanation for their physical arousal

Epi Inf (informed)The Ps were given epinephrine and were told of the true side effects – tests 2nd hypothesis – as they have a reasonable explanation for their arousal.

PlaceboThe Ps were given saline which would not cause arousal - tests 3rd hypothesis as they had no arousal so it would show if cognition alone caused the emotion.

Epi Mis (misinformed)The Ps were given epinephrine, were told wrong effects – this was a control against people forming expectations that the shot caused their reaction

IV. Methods - Design 1. 2 IVs covered in 4 experimental

conditions:▪ Epi Ign – physio. arousal without explanation,

only current situation▪ Epi Inf – physio. arousal with explanation▪ Epi Mis – physio. arousal with inappropriate

explanation▪ Placebo – no physio. arousal, cognitions

(thoughts) are the only influence

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IV. Methods - Design 2. 3rd IV - Produce an emotion-inducing cognition:

▪ After receiving the shot, the Ps were taken to a room with either a euphoric or angry stooge and told to fill out a survey and wait.

▪ In the Euphoria condition they were placed with a happy stooge – This was created by having a happy stooge▪ Roll up paper and play basketball – trying to get the Ps involved▪ Making paper airplanes and trying to get the Ps involved

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Please read the scripts

found in the study

IV. Methods - Design

▪ In the Anger condition they were placed with an angry stooge. – This was created by having the stooge▪ React in an angry manner about a survey they were

asked to fill out.▪ Survey filled with personal questions about the Ps

and even one about their mother▪ For example- “With how many men other than your

father has your mother had extramarital relationships? 4 and under; 5 -9; 10 and over

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IV. Methods - Design F. DV

1. Emotional response 2. Measured in two ways:

▪ a. Researcher’s observations▪ b. Self-report questionnaires divided into

Likert type scales (quantitative data) and Open-ended questions (qualitative data)

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IV. Methods - Design

G. Debriefing 1. After the exp was over subjects were

told the true purpose of the exp and all deceptions were revealed

2. Subjects were sworn to secrecy.

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IV. Methods - Design

3. Subjects given a questionnaire about prior knowledge of adrenalin or this experiment▪ 11 subjects reported that they were

“extremely suspicious” about the true nature of the experiment so their results were excluded.

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Cue 1: Draw a picture to explain aims 2 & 3. Cue 2: Justify the use of deception in this experiment Cue 3: Give one example from the script (use the study) to

show the difference between the Epi Mis and Epi Inf groups Cue 4: In what ways is this similar to the Bandura Study? Cue 5: Give 2 examples of the stooges behavior in the Euphoric

condition and 2 examples in the Anger condition.

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Schachter & Singer (1962)

“This presentation contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law”

Schacter & Singer (1962)Study on Emotions AICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 2

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IV. Methods –Data Collection

G. Data Collection 1. Observation through 1 way mirror this

was considered a “semiprivate” index of mood as the subject was unaware that he was being observed.▪ a. In Euphoric condition coded in 3 categories

▪ Joins activity▪ Initiates activity▪ Ignores activity

▪ b. 88% level of interrater reliability

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IV. Methods –Data Collection

▪ b. In Anger condition 6 categories▪ Agrees▪ Disagrees▪ Neutral▪ Initiates agree/disagree▪ Watches▪ Ignores

▪ c. Two raters for inter-rater reliability 71% inter-rater agreement. Differed by 1 or less on 88% of the ratings

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IV. Methods –Data Collection 2. Self-Report

▪ a. Likert Scale items on how happy or angry they felt which was viewed as a “public” index of emotion as these comments would be available to the experimenters.

▪ b. Very few people self-reported anger even when they showed anger type reactions when with the stooge. It is believed that they felt afraid to reveal their anger because they might forfeit their bonus points)

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How good or happy would you say you feel at present?

I don’t feel happy or good

at all.0

I feel a little happy and

good.1

I feel quite happy and

good.2

I fell very happy and

good.3

I feel extremely happy and

good.4

IV. Methods –Data Collection

▪ c. To measure possible effects of the instructions in the Epi Mis condition the following questions were asked▪ 1. Did you feel any numbness in your feet?▪ 2. Did you feel any itching sensations?▪ 3. Did you experience any feelings of headache?▪ 4. These were responded to on a similar Likert Scale.

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IV. Methods –Data Collection

▪ Questions about the Mis(informed) condition▪ These questions were about the opposite symptoms that were

explained in the misinformed group▪ d. Two open-ended questions about physical and emotional

experiences during the experiment▪ This would be considered qualitative data but it was not reported

or summarized in the study. 3. Physical reaction = Pulse was taken immediately

before the injection and immediately after the interaction with the stooge

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Why no “Epi Mis / Anger” condition? “This was originally conceived as a

control condition and it was felt that its inclusion in the Euphoria condition alone would suffice.”

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V. Results – impact of adrenaline

A. Results of Epinephrine injections 1. All Ps who received injections

reported higher levels of arousal than the placebo Ps (see table 1)

2. Some subjects who did not physically respond to the epinephrine were removed from the experiment (4 in Eup 1 in Anger)

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V. Results – impact of adrenaline 3. Those in the misinformed condition did not differ

from the others so this condition was only used in the Euphoric condition

4. When asked open-ended questions in which subjects described their own mood and state, 28% of the subjects in the Epi Ign made a connection between the shot and their mood compared to only 16% of the Epi Mis5. Placebo Ps reported that the were less euphoric/angry than either Epi Mis or Epi Ign but more so than Epi Inf.

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations

B. Euphoric Condition 1. In the Euphoria condition both the Epi

Ign & Epi Mis groups reported more happiness and less anger

2. Those in the Anger condition who were Epi Ign reported less happiness and greater anger as predicted

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations 3. Results of the observations

▪ a. Score represents both the nature “wildness” of the action and the time spent in the action

▪ b. Thus using the Hula Hoop was weighted as a 5 and doing nothing was a zero.

▪ c. This score was multiplied by an estimate of how much time the Ps spent on that activity, this was scored across all activities.

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations

▪ d. The weightings were created based on the results of a “pre-test” using 15 college students.

▪ e. Based on these ratings Epi Mis>Epi Ign>Epi Inf▪ f. Using these behavioral indices the Epi Ign and

Epi Mis subjects are somewhat more euphoric than the placebo subjects but NOT SIGNIFICANTLY SO.

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations

C. Anger Condition 1. In the anger conditions the Ps were

reluctant to express anger toward the experimenter by publicly “blowing up” or by “spoiling” the survey.

2. However in “semi-private” observations when the Ps thought they were alone with the stooge they were more willing to display anger.

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations 3. Epi Inf rated themselves as happier than

Epi Ign 4. Epi Ign are less happy than placebo, but

not significant. 5. When looking at behavior (Table 5) we

see that the Epi Ign Ps show significantly more anger units 2.28 to -.18 as compared to the Epi Inf Ps

6. Same findings extend to Epi Ign vs Placebo

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V. Results – Effect of the Manipulations 6. Therefore the authors chose to rely on

the behavioral observation indices but they still present the self-report data in Table 4.

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Cue 6: Which of the 3 aims is supported by the fact that both in the Epi Ign and Epi Mis conditions the Euphoric group showed higher happiness?

Cue 7: Evaluate the pros and cons of S&S’s decision to only use the behavioral cues of anger.

Cue 8. Select 2 findings (data) which demonstrate a difference between the groups (EpiMis/EpiIgn/EpiInf)

Cue 9 Select 2 findings (data =) which demonstrate a difference between the Euphoric and Anger groups

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Schachter & Singer (1962)

“This presentation contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law”

Schacter & Singer (1962)Study on Emotions AICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 3

52

VI. Analysis of results A. Hypotheses

1. Euphoria = Epi Mis≥ Epi Ign>Epi Inf = Placebo 2. Anger = Epi Ign>Epi Inf = Placebo 3. In both conditions Epi Ign is greater than Epi Inf. 4. However Placebo results consistently fell between the Epi

Ign an Epi Inf 5. When the subjects in the Epi Ign group who guessed that

the shot had caused their arousal were eliminated, the difference between the Epi Ign and Placebo group became significant to the point .01 level (very significant).

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VI. Analysis of Results

6. Why then would the Placebo Ps show both greater self report and behavioral emotional responses than the Epi Inf group.▪ a. Lack of epinephrine does not mean that

they will not experience some arousal▪ b. The shot itself could have caused some

arousal

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VI. Analysis of Results – summary

B. In regards to Aim 1 where the subjects experienced arousal w/o cognition both the Epi Ign & Epi Mis Ps showed the most emotion

C. In conditions where the subjects experienced arousal w/ cognition (=Inf) they experienced no emotion in other words, the environment didn’t affect them (AIM 2)

D. For those with no arousal (placebo), Aim 3 doesn’t seem to be supported as they did show more emotional responses than the EPI Inf group. However a possible explanation for this was provided by the authors.

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues A. Over-all Ethical

1. all participants were psychology students 2. health checked in advance 3. consent received 4. no long-term harm 5. However, shots are painful. 6. Deception was used

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues

B. Validity of the results 1. Not all results were statistically significant

unless certain subject’s data points were removed from consideration

2. Using an injection is not ideal▪ a. Would be better to deliver unbeknownst to the Ps▪ b. Could injection have caused Placebo Ps to have

heightened arousal.

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues

3. Some Ps in the Mis & Ign also linked injection to arousal (design: to exp arousal w/o obvious cause!?!) these self- informers were excluded from the results possibly impacting the findings.

4. This is referred to as Experimental artifacts.▪ a. Artifacts refer to variables that should have been

systematically varied, either within or across studies, but that were accidentally held constant.

▪ b. Artifacts are thus threats to external validity.

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues

5. As two different methods were used for measuring behavior between the Anger and Euphoria conditions no direct test of hypothesis 1 is possible. (Hilgard 1979)

6. Other problems identified by Hilgard▪ a. Epinephrine doesn’t effect all the same way▪ b. No mood check before injection▪ c. Is synthetic arousal similar to real life arousal?

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues

7. Self-report presented as [happiness or anger] ▪ a. all Ps’ self-reports were on happy side▪ b. Thus the self-report alone shows that

S&S failed to produce any anger with the questionnaire.

▪ c. However S&S argued that it could be seen behaviorally

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VII. Evaluation – Methodological issues

8. Lab studies as always tend to be “artificial” and thus may lack ecological validity. ▪ a. Certainly in the case of this study it can be

argued that the experiment lacked mundane realism as stated by S&S themselves

▪ b. Only male subjects so lacks generalizability

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VII. Evaluation – Theoretical issues A. James-Lange is not supported as

there is no evidence that all emotions have a distinctly different pattern of autonomic responses

B. Cannon Bard is not supported as it cannot be said that all emotions have the exact same autonomic response.

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VIII. Applications A. Emotions are malleable but not as much as

proposed by S&S B. False-feedback can influence your cognitive

appraisal 1. One study showed men pictures from Playboy

magazine while playing their heart rate back for them as they looked at the picture.

2. Some pictures were given “false-feedback” where the heart rate played back was artificially high

3. The result was that the Ss later rated these pictures as more attractive or arousing than other pictures even though the heart rate increase was a deception.

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VIII. Applications

C. Usefulness = Clinical application: reattribute anxiety arousal to less threatening sources (e.g. from ‘hostile world’ to ‘just my heart racing’)

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Cue 10: List 3 ways subjects were deceived in this experiment

Cue 11: From the reading describe the alternative to injection described by S&S

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