chapter 12: the emotions as motivators psy 338: motivation

Chapter 12: The Emotions as Motivators

PSY 338: Motivation

EmotionNo commonly accepted definitionConceptualized in many different ways – physiological changes, cognitive appraisals, innate fundamental facial expressions

Involves a mixture of: Physiological arousal Conscious experience Expressive behavior

Emotion from a biological perspective…Darwin’s Principle of Emotion (1872)He proposed three principles for understanding the expression of emotion in both humans and animals:Serviceable associated habits•The ways in which organisms express emotion have had survival value in the past; emotional expressions were originally learned but became innateAntithesis•The expression of opposite emotions involves opposite kinds of behaviorDirect action of the nervous system•Some emotional expressions occur simply because of changes in nervous system activity

Charles Darwin(1809-1882)

James-Lange Theory

James (1890According to this theory, people experience emotion based on observations of their own physical behavior and peripheral responsesWe basically check our body responses to determine our emotions

We feel sorry because we cried… We feel afraid because we are trembling… The feeling follows the response and is caused by

the response The smile made me happy…

William James(1842-1910)

James-Lange Theory

James (1890)Order of events that leads to emotion:

1. Perception of an environmental stimulus2. This leads to changes in the body3. This is fed to the brain indicating a changed

state The change in the physical state is the experience of emotionBasically, the perception of changes in our body leads to an emotional experienceWithout the bodily changes, emotions might not existAt best, they would be intellectualized

Criticisms of James-Lange Theory

Cannon (1929)1.Bodily changes supposed to provide feedback to the brain and provide emotional quality to experience could be completely eliminated without disturbing the emotions of the organism2.Bodily changes occurring in emotional states are similar regardless of the emotions shown3.Internal organs supposed to provide feedback to the brain are not very sensitive structures4.Changes occurring in the internal organs are too slow to provide the experience of emotion5.Artificial manipulations of aroused state do not lead to emotional feelings

Autonomic Nervous System

When you are emotionally aroused, your body is physically arousedAutonomic Nervous SystemTwo parts:Sympathetic Nervous SystemArouses the body – mobilizes energy in stressful situationsIncreases such things as HR, breathing, production of sweat, and the flow of epinephrine (adrenaline)Parasympathetic Nervous SystemCalms you down

Emergency TheoryCannon (1929)

•The autonomic nervous system activated emergency emotions like fear, hunger, and pain

The Cognitive-Physiological Theory of Emotion

Schachter & Singer (1962)The intensity level of our body responses determines the intensity of the emotion but doesn’t tell us which emotion we are experiencing We must use cognitive processes to determine and label which emotion it is

More awareness here than in James Lange theory

This interpretation involves reflecting back on the situation the physiological response is coming from

Thus, giving a cognitive appraisal so we can determine the emotion


Schachter & Singer (1962)ProcedureParticipants given injections of epinephrine All told it was a new vitamin supplement designed to help improve visionGroup 1: Told to expect an increase in arousalGroup 2: Told that their feet would feel numb and they would have slight itching sensations and slight headacheGroup 3: No information was given to this groupAll asked to go to waiting room for 20 minutes for the drug to take effect followed by a vision testAnother group which was given a saline placebo injection and no information served as a control


Schachter & Singer (1962)ProcedureParticipants entered the waiting room; in this room was another person claiming to be a participant but in reality was a confederate In one room, the confederate pretended to be extremely happy (euphoric); in another room he pretended to be very angry

Note: Control group participants only entered the euphoric room


Schachter & Singer (1962)ResultsParticipants in Group 2 and Group 3 were most likely to experience euphoria/angerInterpretationThe combination of physiological arousal and cognitive labeling produce emotion

Nonverbal Cues

Vaughn & Becker (2008)ProcedureAsked participants to view photos of gender-neutral imagesSome had happy faces and others looked angry

Actual faces used in study

Nonverbal Cues

Vaughn & Becker (2008)ResultsFaces viewed as being masculine were also viewed as being more angry

InterpretationGender differences in non verbal communication

Nonverbal Cues

Miller, Caul, & Mirsky (1967)Procedure Phase 1Rhesus monkeys put in shock chamber but could avoid shock by pressing a key whenever a light came onMonkeys quickly learned how to avoid the shock

Nonverbal Cues

Miller, Caul, & Mirsky (1967)ProcedurePhase 2•Conditioned monkey could see light stimulus but no longer had a key to press•In another room, another conditioned monkey had a key to press but could no longer see the light stimulus•However, they could see the first monkey in the other room via a TV monitor•So, the question was: Would the first monkey alter its facial expression when the light came on? And could the second monkey perceive that change, press the key, and thus avoid shock for both of them

Nonverbal Cues

Miller, Caul, & Mirsky (1967)ResultsThe first monkey’s facial expression did change when the light came onThe second monkey observed the change and pressed the key Monkeys were able to both send appropriate facial expressions and alter their behavior as a resultInterpretationThe experiment indicates that rhesus monkeys are sensitive to facial movements that may be expressions of emotion and can alter their behavior accordingly

Nonverbal Cues

Miller, Caul, & Mirsky (1967)In another part of the experiment, they raised the monkeys in isolationLater they paired them with normally-raised monkeysIsolated monkey were unable to be either reliable senders or observersDisruption of the ability to use nonverbal, emotion-produced cues was apparent in the monkeys raised in isolation

Nonverbal Cues

Buck (1976)ProcedureParticipants viewed series of slides that fell into various categories in relation to the emotional responses the participant was likely to feel when viewing themThe slides included sexual, scenic, maternal, disgusting, and ambiguous categoriesAnother person viewed the person who was looking at the pictures and attempted to correctly classify the emotions – pleasant or unpleasant

Nonverbal Cues

Buck (1976)ResultsObserver was able to predict emotion at better than chance InterpretationDifferent people react differently to the same stimuli making judgments difficult for the participants

Nonverbal Cues

Buck et al. (1972, 1974, 1975, 1976)Results form several of his studies:Women communicated emotion nonverbally better than menWomen are better sendersInterpretationFrom childhood there is a strong society influence on proper gender roles

Nonverbal Cues

Buck et al. (1972, 1974, 1975, 1976)Results form several of his studies:Observers were better at judging the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the expressed emotion than they were at judging the particular category of the emotionInterpretationApparently, emotional expression through facial movements indicates emotional mood but fails to indicate the causes of the mood

Nonverbal Cues

Rosenthal et al. (1974)ProcedureDeveloped a device measuring a person’s sensitivity to nonverbal cuesSpecific reactions could be measured to nonverbal cues like facial movement, body movement, voice tone, etc.ResultsPeople could correctly identify various emotional states even when only given brief exposure to the stimulus (1/24 of a second) to the nonverbal cues

Brain Mechanisms of Emotion

Railroad worker’s accident had a profound emotional effect

3½ feet in length; 1¼ inch in diameter

Some history buffs travel to the tiny town of Cavendish, VT

Brain Mechanisms of EmotionOrbital Frontal Cortex This is the brain region close to the eye socket that

provide information to the amygdala that appears important for emotionality produced by social situation

Amygdala Emotional control center of the brain – major influence

on aggression and fear Emotional memories

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Implicated in cognitive-emotional interactions

Emotion From a Learning Perspective

Classical Conditioning & EmotionWatson & Raynor (1920) Little Albert was very emotional (fearful) as he cried

hysterically when he attempted to get away from the conditioned stimulus

LeDoux (1994) Conditioned fear is associated with activity in the

amygdala Amygdala is crucial to the development of emotional

learning


Operant/Instrumental Conditioning & Emotion

The relationship between response and consequence appears to include an emotional component

Reinforcement brings about a positive emotion

Punishment brings about an unpleasant emotion


Emotional ModelingBandura (1971) Emotionality can be learned through the observation

of others We are sensitive to the facial, vocal, and postural

indications of emotional arousal in others; later if we are in situations like we had previously observed we react in an emotionally similar manner


Emotional ModelingMumme & Fernald (2003)ProcedureHad 10-infants month-old and 12-month-old view television monitor where adult was consistently reacting negatively to a particular object

Experimental room setup


Emotional ModelingMumme & Fernald (2003)Results12-month-olds attempted to avoid the object and cried while doing so; 10-month–olds did not seem to be affected by the objectInterpretationThe ability to learn emotional responses observationally begins around the age of one

Emotion From a Cognitive Perspective

These theorists posit that bodily changes are insufficient for the experience of true emotion; we must assess a situation as emotion producing before we experience emotionSchachter & Singer (1962)This experiment (discussed earlier in the chapter) suggested that some sort of appraisal process was involved and subsequently become known as Schachter’s Model Schachter’s ModelWhen arousal occurs a cognitive label is attached to the arousalBoth are necessary for the emotion to be experienced

Attribution of Emotion

Valins (1966)ProcedureMale undergrads viewed 10 slides of seminude females while hearing sounds that were allegedly their heart beats; deception used

Group 1: Participants heard their "heart rates" increase markedly during the viewing of five of the slides and not change for the other five

Group 2: Participants heard a marked decrease in the bogus heart rate during the viewing of five of the slides and not change for the other five


Valins (1966)ResultsIn comparison with the slides to which participants did not hear a change in the bogus rate, the slides to which they heard a marked change, whether increased or decreased, were

Rated significantly more attractive during the experiment

Chosen significantly more as a sort of payment for experimental participation

Rated significantly more attractive during a disguised interview conducted approximately a month later


Valins (1966)InterpretationWe have an active attribution process where we tend to form a hypothesis and then attempt to test it by searching for relevant cues in ourselves or in our environmentOnce the attribution is formed, it is remains stable of time as evidenced in them later choosing to take the highly rated photos home and especially in the interview taken a month later

Note: A follow-up study was done to further check this

See next slide


Valins (1974)ProcedureSame as in earlier study except this time participants were debriefed and told about the bogus set-upAsked to rate the pictures againResultsNo changes were found in their ratingsInterpretationConsistent with attribution theory, once formed, emotions are difficult to change


Goldstein, Fink, & Mettee (1972)ProcedureShowed male participants pictures of male nudes and recorded actual heart rate information but provided false heart rate informationResultsFalse heart rate information was not related to dislike of slides (as was predicted)Actual heart rates were related to dislike of slidesInterpretationAttractiveness scores in Valins’ studies may have resulted not only from false feedback but from actual physiological changes

Emotion as Primary & Universal

Zajonc (1980)Posits that there is a primacy of affect: Emotion is independent of and can occur prior to any cognitionPresented several arguments for this position

1. Affect is basic2. Emotions are inescapable3. Once affective reaction has occurred it is hard to

change Emotional judgments just seem to feel right;

do not seem open to logic4. Emotional reactions are difficult to verbalize

The Tomkins Model

Tomkins (1962)Proposed that we have a limited set of discreet emotions that are genetically programmed into the brain and initiated by changes in stimulation Changes in stimulation lead to a neural firing pattern of circuits within the brainThese changed patterns then generate specific emotional statesIncreased neural firing will lead to interest, fear, or surprise as the firing rate increases; enjoyment is the result of a decrease in neural firing; distress and anger result from sustained levels of firing above some optimal level

The Tomkins Model

Tomkins (1962)Societal constraints cause us to not display our innate emotionsTherefore, we often voluntarily modify our emotions to be more socially acceptableBacked-up emotionsCan be suppression of emotionsCan be a feigned expression of an emotion not really felt

Izard’s Differential Emotions Theory

Izard (1977)Differential Emotions Theory (DET)Emphasizes the idea that specific emotions have distinct experiential qualitiesAssumptions

Each emotion has three components: its own neutral substrate, a characteristic expressive pattern, and a distinct feeling associated to it

Each emotion is inherently adaptive Emotions are discreet Emotions interact with each other Emotions interact and influence other important bodily

processes such as homeostasis, drive, perception, cognition, and motor responses


Abe & Izard (1999)Posit that both positive and negative basic emotions are adaptive and motivationalWe are born with four basic emotions: Positive: joy and interestNegative: sadness and anger

As we get older, the basic emotions decrease but do not completely disappearAdulthood: Positive basic emotions remain adaptive as they motivate and guide our immediate behavior in response to novel stimuli; negative basic emotions occur in emergency situations


Izard (2007)Emotional schemas are more complex than basic emotions

Involve an interaction between emotion and cognitive processes such as appraisal or attribution

Results from life span development

Carroll Izard(1924 - )

The Circumplex Model of Affect

Russell (1980)Posits that there is too much variability within emotions for them to be discreet entities; feels we need to break emotions into component partsEmotions are consistently related to one another and as such should be classified along two dimensions

Pleasantness-Unpleasantness High arousal-Low arousal

Felt the continuum was bipolar


Russell (1980)Developed his model from a series of studies instructing participants to classify words that represented the range of emotionsThrough factor-analysis he determined that the words formed a circular path based on the two dimensions: pleasantness and arousalHe found that positively correlated items clustered together while those not correlated were depicted at a 90 degree angle from each other; negatively correlated items were placed at opposite ends of the circle (180 degrees apart)He referred to this circular pattern set-up as a circumplex

See next slide


Russell (1980)Found that people sometimes placed an emotional word in two categories usually adjacent to each otherReferred to these as falling into “fuzzy set” categories where the transition from membership to nonmembership is gradual

Circumplex Model of Affect

Facial Expression & Emotion

Ekman studies (beginning in early 1970s)Series of studies showed universality of emotionsEkman & Oster (1982)The majority of observers of five different cultures examined interpreted facial expressions similarly

Some of pictures used by Ekman

Facial Expression & Emotion

Ekman & Friesen (1971)Found that people from diverse cultures not only judged facial expressions in the same way but also produced identical facial movements regardless of the emotionMembers of a sample from a preliterate New Guinea culture showed the same facial movements as people in literate cultures Ekman (1972)Found that Japanese and American individuals asked to watch stressful films displayed the same facial expressions when watching the film in isolation

Facial Expression & Emotion: Some differences

Display RulesAcceptable behavior learned early in life can determine which emotional expressions are appropriate depending on the circumstance Ekman (1972)When an authority figure was present during the viewing of the films, differences of the facial expressions of the Japanese and American participants were seenFriesen (1972)Replicated with same results

Can you tell if someone is giving you a “false smile”?

Ekman, Friesen, & O’Sullivan (1982) Participants were not successful in uncovering differences

between felt and false smiles Approximately chance levels of accuracy

Ekman & O’Sullivan (1991) When most people are shown videotapes and asked to

judge who is lying, approximately chance levels of accuracy College students, psychiatrists, court judges, police officers,

and federal polygraphers were all right around 50% U.S. Secret Service agents did a little better (64%)

The Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Kraut (1982)Posits that the emotion we experience is influenced by feedback from facial muscles or skin


Strack, Martin & Stepper (1988)ProcedureDeception: cover story told to participants on how pens can help disabled individualsParticipants were asked to watch a series of cartoons and were given the following instructions:Group 1

Gently hold a pen between your teeth, making sure it doesn’t touch your lips (induces a smile)

Group 2 Grip the end of the pen firmly with your lips, making sure it doesn’t dip

downward (activates a frowning muscle)Group 3

Control group was told to hold the pen in their hands

Later, each group was asked to rate the cartoons


Strack, Martin & Stepper (1988)Results Compared to control participants, those who held the pen in their teeth (Group 1) rated cartoons as funnierThose who held the pen in their lips (Group 2) rated the cartoons as less funny than the other two groupsInterpretationIt seems an affective reaction to emotional stimuli is intensified or weakened when the facial muscles associated smiling are facilitated (Group 1) or inhibited (Group 2)

Participant in this experiment


Soussignan (2002)ProcedureDeception: another cover story Asked participants to hold pen in their mouths that mimicked a genuine smile (referred to this as a Duchenne smile), a fake smile, or in two non-smiling expressions while watching positive and negative video clips

Non-smiling control conditions

Duchenne smile Fake smile


Soussignan (2002)

Results Duchenne smiling group rated the video clips as more positive then the other three groups

InterpretationFeedback from facial muscles and skin appear to be influencing our emotion

chapter 12: the emotions as motivators psy 338: motivation

Documents

expression of emotion

perception of changes

organismbodily changes

emergency emotions

body responses

emotional states

emotional experiencewithout

emotional quality