EMOTION

B Y : JO R D A N , M

A T T , DO U G , A

N D J OR D A N

WHAT IS EMOTION?

Emotion- a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

• People can’t always say what an emotional experience feels like, they can just simply compare it to another experience they’ve already had that is similar.

Example: “Love is more like happiness than like anger.”

WHAT IS EMOTION? (CONT.)People’s emotions can be categorized by

their valence, and by their arousal.

Valence- How positive or negative the experience is.

Arousal- How active or passive the experience is.

• For example, somebody that has both a positive valence and a high arousal can experience happy thoughts and/or be excited. Whereas somebody experiencing negative valence and low arousal will feel sad, depressed, gloomy, and even boredom.

THE EMOTIONAL BODYThe Emotional BodyJames-Lange Theory- Stimuli triggers activity in the autonomic nervous

system (physiological arousal), which produces an emotional experience. *(Specific physiological arousal)*

- States that the physiological arousal hits a certain state before an emotion is had.

- Each emotion has its own degree of arousal

Cannon Bard Theory- An emotional experience and a physiological response happen at the same time

- Conflicts with James-Lange theory, stating that emotional responses often happen more quickly than arousal of the body has taken affect.

- Something like blushing long after you’re embarrassed, they happen at the same time, but the autonomic nervous system is much slower to react.

THE EMOTIONAL BODY (CONT.)Two-factor Theory- Emotions are an inference about

physiological arousal *(general physiological arousal)*

- Similar to the James-Lange theory- The body will become physiologically aroused and

we determine/infer the arousal to be a certain emotion depending on the situation.

- Research disagrees that all emotional experience is not different interpretations of the same bodily state.

THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN• Amygdala- Plays role in regulating emotions

such as fear• Appraisal- An evaluation of the emotion-

relevant aspects of a stimulus • A stimulus takes two routes simultaneously • Amygdala is the gas pedal that increases our emotions• Cortex is the brakes that slows our emotions down and

allows time for our brain to figure out what is taking place

THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN (CONT.)Regulation of Fear• Emotional Regulation- the cognitive and behavioral

strategies people use to influence their own emotional experience

• Reappraisal- changing one’s emotional experience by changing the meaning of the emotion eliciting stimulus

• When reappraising, our brain turns down the amygdale action to consciously change an experience by accessing the cortex

• “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

-- Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius

THE REGULATION OF EMOTIONEmotion Regulation- the cognitive and

behavioral strategies people use to influence their own emotional experience.

*9 out of 10 people attempt to regulate their emotional experience at least once a day.

Reappraisal- changing one's emotional experience by changing the meaning of the emotion (eliciting stimulus).

*Appraisal- an evaluation of the emotion (relevant aspects of the stimulus).

COMMUNICATIVE EXPRESSIONCommunicative Expression- is being able

to communicate usually through emotional facial or body expressions. Such as if a gorilla grits his teeth, he’s may be trying to say “I’m angry at you”, or when a dog growls he’s (non-verbally showing) his warning toward his focused subject.

• Emotional expressions are like the words of a nonverbal language.

• The context in which a facial expression occurs often tells us what that expression means.

COMMUNICATIVE EXPRESSION (CONT.)

-Notice the Communicative Expressions shows that the gorilla is angry as opposed to being happy or satisfied.

DECEPTIVE EXPRESSION• Your expressions are moderated by your

knowledge that is permissible to show contempt for your peers, but not for your superiors.

• Display Rules- normalities for the control of emotional expression.

• Research has shown that many aspects of our verbal and nonverbal behavior are altered when we tell a lie.

• One of the tell-tale signs of a liar is that their performances tend to be just a bit too good. A liar's speech lacks the detailed imperfections that a person telling the truth typically occurs, such as superfluous speech, spontaneous correction and expressions of self-doubt.

TEST QUESTION!Question: What is Emotion?

Answer: a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

SOURCES Emotional Wheel Picture: http://fullfeminine.com/• (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

The_Expression_of_the_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animals) Mental qualities are determined by the size, form and constitution of the brain:

and these are transmitted by hereditary descent. George Combe (1828) The

Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to External Objects.• (http://psychophysiolab.com/uhess/pubs/HT09.pdf) Darwin’s basic

message was that emotion expressions are evolved and (at least at some point in the past)

adaptive. For Darwin, emotion expressions not only originated as part of an emotion process that

protected the organism or prepared it for action but also had an important communicative

function.