PSYC 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Facial Feedback Hypothesis, Cerebral Cortex, Motivation
18 Jun 2018
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Chapter Objectives:
●To provide a framework for understanding how basic emotional processes are
used to guide behavior in an adaptive manner, emphasizing historical views of
emotional processes.
●To describe motivation (why we do what we do) and its conflicts from the basic
biological needs (hunger, thirst, sex) to uniquely human motivational issues
(achievement, needs, etc).
Brief Lecture Outline:
I. Emotion
●Emotion: positive or negative affective states
● Consist of cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions to events that have
relevance to our goals
● Emotions are responses , while motivations are stimuli to action
A. Adaptive function of emotions
● Adaptive function of Emotions (Fredrickson, 1998)
○ Negative emotions narrow attention, enabling a response to threat
through increased physiological activation
○ Positive emotions broaden thinking and behavior, enabling exploration
and skill learning
B. Emotions as a social communication
● They provide observable information about internal states and influence other’
behavior toward us
C. Emotions: eliciting stimuli
●Biological Factors: We come equipped to respond to stimuli that may have
evolutionary significance
●Learning: Previous experiences can affect current emotional experiences
D. The nature of emotions: four common features of emotions
● 1. Emotions are responses to eliciting stimuli
● 2. Emotions involve cognitive appraisal
● 3. Bodies respond physiologically
● 4. Emotions include behavioral tendencies (expressive and instrumental
behaviors)
E. The appraisal process
● Appraisals relate to what we think is desirable (or not)
● Unique appraisal processes cause individuals to have different emotional
reactions to the same situation
● Appraisals can influence emotional experiences differently across cultures
F. Psychological process of happiness
● Downward comparison promotes increased satisfaction, while upward
comparison promotes dissatisfaction
○Feel good, do good Phenomenon: people are more likely to help others
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when they feel good
○Adaptation level principle: our conceptualization of happiness or
satisfaction is relative to our previous experiences
○Relative deprivation principle: happiness by our past experiences AND
relative to others attachments
G. Physiological components of emotions
● (LeDoux, 1996)
● Thalamus sends sensory input along two independent neural pathways
○ One directly to the amygdala→ emotional and behavioral reaction
○ One to the cerebral cortex → conscious interpretation
○ Affective Neuroscience
H. Evolution and emotional expression
● Evidence for innate fundamental emotional patterns
○ The expression of certain emotions is similar across a variety of cultures
○ Children blind from birth express basic emotions as sighted children do
I. Facial feedback hypothesis
○ Muscular feedback to the brain plays a key role in emotional experience
J. Culture and emotions
● Emotional display rules elicit different emotional reactions to the same event
○ Ex: “A-ok” symbol
● Universal facial expressions
○ Disgust, Anger, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise
● What makes a person happy?
○ Researchers have found that happy people tend to: have high self
esteem, be optimistic and outgoing, have a satisfying marriage or other
lover relationship, sleep well, exercise
○ However, other factors that seem UNRELATED to happiness include:
age, race, gender (women are more often depressed but also have more
joyful), education level, having vs not having children
K. Theories of emotion
●James-Lange: Feel afraid because pulse is racing(underlying physiological
stimuli is driving the emotional state)
●Cannon-Bard: Thalamus sends signals simultaneously to the cortex and the
autonomic nervous system
●Schachter's Two Factor Theory: look to external cues to decide what to feel
●Evolutionary Theories: innate reactions with little cognitive interpretation
II. Motivation
A. General Overview: definition, sources
● A process that influences the direction, persistence, and vigor of goal-directed
behavior
○Adaptive significance: we are motivated to engage in behavior that
promotes survival advantages
● Sources of motivation
○Extrinsic motivation: performing an activity to obtain an external reward
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or avoid punishment
○Intrinsic motivation: performing an activity because you find it enjoyable
or stimulating
B. Hunger
1. Physiology of hunger
●Initiating hunger: decreases in blood glucose levels are detected by liver
sensors, which convert stored nutrients back into glucose
○ The “drop-rise” pattern may be a signal of “hunger” to the brain
○Lateral hypothalamus (LH): involved in stimulating eating, often
referred to as the hunger center
● Stopping eating:
○ 1. Stomach and intestinal distention
○ 2. Peptides (ex: leptin) sent into bloodstream as food arrives in
intestines from the stomach
○ 3. Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH): may influence eating
cessation; often referred to as the safety center
● The involvement of feeding-related peptides in:
○ Hunger:
○ Satiety:
2. Psychology of hunger
● 1. Eating is positively reinforced by good tastes and negatively reinforced
by hunger reduction
● 2. Expectations that eating will be pleasurable and will reduce hunger
stimulative eating
● 3. Beliefs, memories and attitudes about food can also affect eating
● 4.Pressures for Thinness
○ Cultural standards of beauty
○ Overvaluation thinness for attractiveness
○ Viewing the body as an object
● 5.Causes of obesity
○ Genes appear to __ for 10-70% of the variation in body
○ Access to high-fat foods and cultural emphasis on “the best value”
○ Encouragement of a sedentary lifestyle
3. Eating disorders
● Anorexia Nervosa:
○ An intense fear of being fat and severe restriction of food intake
to the point of self-starvation
○ Anorexics are often perfectionists, have distorted standards about
thinness, often have a strong need for control
● Bulimia Nervosa
○ Over-concern about being fat
○ Binge eating and then purging food, usually by vomiting or by
using laxatives or other compensatory actions
○ Bulimia may be triggered by life stress
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Document Summary
To provide a framework for understanding how basic emotional processes are used to guide behavior in an adaptive manner, emphasizing historical views of emotional processes. To describe motivation (why we do what we do) and its conflicts from the basic biological needs (hunger, thirst, sex) to uniquely human motivational issues (achievement, needs, etc). Consist of cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions to events that have relevance to our goals. Emotions are responses , while motivations are stimuli to action: adaptive function of emotions. Negative emotions narrow attention, enabling a response to threat through increased physiological activation. Positive emotions broaden thinking and behavior, enabling exploration and skill learning: emotions as a social communication. They provide observable information about internal states and influence other" behavior toward us: emotions: eliciting stimuli. Biological factors: we come equipped to respond to stimuli that may have evolutionary significance. Learning: previous experiences can affect current emotional experiences: the nature of emotions: four common features of emotions.
