PSY 2510 Lecture Notes - Facial Feedback Hypothesis, Social Cognition

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 2510
• Professor: Sonia Wesche

Document Summary

James-lange -- emotional experiences come from our perceptions of physiological reactions to events. Cannon-bard -- stimuli simultaneously elicit both physiological reactions and subjective experiences. Schachter-singer two-factor theory -- when we experience physiological reactions we search for the causes which will determine the label we attach to that arousal; what external cues suggest we should be feeling. Many studies show that cognitive and situational factors play a role in emotion -- supporting. Of the older theories, more evidence for cannon-bard approach until recently. Sophisticated equipment indicates that different emotions have different physiological patterns --- consistent with james-lange. Changing facial expressions sometimes produce changes in emotion. Facial feedback hypothesis -- facial expressions may provide information that feeds back to brain to influence our experiences of emotion. Several studies (laird, 1984; mccanne & anderson, 1987) show that enhancing or suppressing tension in certain muscles associated with smiles or frowns affects participants" emotional reactions to stimuli.