PSY 1101 Lecture 8: Chapter 12 Emotion

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Mark Dallas

Document Summary

Emotion a complex psychological state or response - experience, physiological response, emotional response. Components of emotion - physiological arousal, expressive behaviours, consciously experienced thoughts and feelings. Without emotion, all stimuli in the world will seem the same. Emotions make some things seem more important than others, impress things into our memory. E. g without emotion, loss of car keys will seem as important as death of a parent. Evolutionary adaptation to the problem of survival and reproduction. Can act as triggers, drives of motivated behaviour ( ght or ight) Can contribute to rational decision making and purposeful behaviour. Can help in understanding and maintenance of relationships. Can also be maladaptive: inappropriate emotional states can lead to disruptive relationships. How many emotions are there: most common list - 6 basic emotions, fear, surprise, anger, disgust, happiness, sadness. Wednesday, july 13, 2016: perhaps others, interest/excitement, contempt, shame, guilt. Most theorists stick with the basic 6, but some propose dozens of different emotional states.