PSYC 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Amygdala, Affective Neuroscience, Motivation
18 Jun 2018
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Exam 3: Chapters 9-12
Chapter 9
➔Emotion and Motivation
■Emotion
●Emotions are 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
■Adaptive Function of Emotions (Frederickson, 1998)
●Negative emotions narrow attention, enabling a response to threat through
increased physiological activation
➢Hard to be creative under stress
●Positive emotions broaden thinking and behavior, enabling exploration
and skill learning
■Emotions as social communication
●They provide observable information about internal states and influence
others’ behavior towards us
➢Seeing your parent is in a bad mood, less likely to ask favors from
them
■Stability and Change in emotions
●Biological factors: We come equipped to respond to stimuli that may
have evolutionary significance
➢Many fundamental emotional states are hardwired
➢Negative emotional states are studied more on the neurological
level
●Learning: previous experiences can affect current emotional experiences
■Nature of Emotions: Four common features of emotions
●1 - emotions are responses to eliciting stimuli
➢Response you experience due to outside factors
●2 - emotions involve cognitive appraisal
➢Labels applied to certain stimuli evoke responses
●3 - bodies respond physiologically
➢Increased heart rate/blood pressure
●4 - emotions include behavioral tendencies (expressive and instrumental
behaviors)
➢Facial expressions, demeanor
■The Appraisal Process
●Appraisals relate to what we think is desirable (or not)
●Unique appraisal processes cause individuals to have different emotional
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Document Summary
Emotions are 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. Negative emotions narrow attention, enabling a response to threat through increased physiological activation. Positive emotions broaden thinking and behavior, enabling exploration and skill learning. They provide observable information about internal states and influence others" behavior towards us. Seeing your parent is in a bad mood, less likely to ask favors from them. Biological factors: we come equipped to respond to stimuli that may have evolutionary significance. Negative emotional states are studied more on the neurological level. Learning: previous experiences can affect current emotional experiences. Nature of emotions: four common features of emotions. 1 - emotions are responses to eliciting stimuli. Response you experience due to outside factors. Labels applied to certain stimuli evoke responses. 4 - emotions include behavioral tendencies (expressive and instrumental behaviors)
