PSY494: Lecture 6
Slide 1- 5:
This is an overview of the last lecture, touches upon the last few slides of lec 5:
- The reason behind collectivism and individualism:
- Even in sports teams, it is usually the individual players that are famous and
loved by the pubic
- Self referencing changes the emotions of people, depending on the situation.
Ie. Americans vs. Japanese:
Americans:
- experience anger frequently
- this anger is usually focused on people who are relatives ( close in relation) and
liked
Japan:
- Inappropriate to express anger towards family members and close relatives
- The “self” is inclusive, it includes all people and not just themselves
- everyone is the same entity
What is Happiness?
- Happiness is a cultural construct
- In western society, people are considered independent
- positive emotions create high energy arousal
- positive emotions produce activity= high adrenaline
- In non western society, people are considered interdependent
- Positive emotions create calm elated arousal
- calm vs. excited:
- low vs. high arousal
- social vs. self centered
Jealousy:
-Independent: People in this situation don’t want to share their spouse or significant other
with other people
- monogamy society
-Interdependent: A collectivist culture is less monogamous
- less sexual jealousy
- But they are jealous of sexual relations outside the “group” ( for example,
people not from the same tribe)
Ifaluk culture: There is little jealousy in this culture and even little fear of rape
Gender Differences in Emotions: - women are not technically more emotional
- It’s the kind of emotions that differ in expression
- The woman gender is more collective= the think more about relationships
- men are more individualistic
- In certain cultures, these are what has been transmitted and inherited
- they are trained to have and maintain a social role
Emotion and the brain:
- culturist perspective: they think that no one can anything from studying the brain
- the brain part that is most associated with emotional functions is the amygdala
-if emotions are distinct from other cognitions, then we should know which parts of the
brain control emotions and cognition
- higher level thoughts influence higher level cognition
Thesis for the idea of linking Emotions and The Brain:
- “The amygdala is your emotional computer”
Slide #6:
The triune Brain: ( Diagram)
A) Simplest organisms: (reptiles)
- contain just motor systems
- most basic
- reptilian complex ( this is the most central and oldest part of the brain)
B) Limbic System:
- Surrounding ( around reptilian complex)
- it is the evolutionary conservative in mammals
- what we think affects emotions are in this part of the brain
- reptiles don’t have this part of the brain
C) Neocortex:
- greater expansion of the amygdala in mammals
- animals other than mammals have larger cortex
- so if the limbic system is meant for emotions then that would mean other
animals would have emotions too
- this is unless the neocortex has something to do with emotions
specifically
- limbic system: this part is the bridge for thinking of self concerns
Slide#7:
- not all structures in the limbic system are concerned with emotions
- ie. Hippocampus: self referential memory
- central for mental thought of future and for self memories ( to recollect) - deals with moments in time
- this represents the self
- Problems with the limbic system concept:
- contains parts not concerning with emotion
- doesn’t contain parts concerning emotion
Slide#8:
- the cortex is defined by layers
- amygdala: is a cluster of parts
Slide # 8:
- Schafer: He performed anterior temporal lobe lesions in monkeys
-this produced rendering of fierce monkeys into tamed monkeys
Slide #9:
- lesions produced a change from fierce to tamed monkeys:
-this created a loss of neophobia ( the fear of new things)
- they were not afraid to approach new things once they had lesions
-They had hyperality : tendency to stick anything in their mouth
-Altered sexuality: “mounts” everything
- “psychic blindness” seeing things, but lost emotional thought related to them
Slide #10:
- take away amygdala in a rat, it will snuggle with a cat
Slide#11:
- In rhesus monkeys:
- took baby away from mom within the first two weeks of life
- baby had lesions at 2 weeks
- they then returned them to the mothers, and the mothers reared them
-after 6 to 8 months:
- amygdala lesions: loss of neophobia
-When researchers put food in cage= both control and lesioned monkeys took
food
- put food with a plastic snake around it, monkeys without an amygdala
took the food
Slide#12:
- performed split brain, which is severing the chiasm that connects both hemispheres
- right eye goes to right hemisphere and vice versa
- it became independent hemispheres
-they put an eye patch on one eye, when they saw through the eye with only the
amgydala, they were fearful
- the eye that does not contain the amgydala, when only looking
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