9.00SC | Fall 2011 | Undergraduate

Introduction to Psychology

Emotion & Motivation

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Session Overview

How are you feeling right now? What is the neural basis for the different types of emotions we feel throughout our lives? In this lecture, we will discuss the components of emotion, the ways in which we express emotion, and the parts of the brain that are in involved in emotional processing, regulation, and perception.

Keywords: emotions, amygdala, fear, arousal, facial feedback, fear conditioning, emotion and memory, disgust, insula, William James

Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Neuroscience. Source: Susskind, J., et al. “Expressing Fear Enhances Sensory Acquisition.” Nature Neuroscience 11, no. 7 (2008): 843–50. © 2008.

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Discussion: Emotion & Motivation

How would you define emotion? It’s difficult to do without just naming emotions that come to mind: happiness, sadness, anger, etc. Despite how simple and familiar these examples seem to be, our definition of emotion is fairly complex… Read more »

Check Yourself

Long Answer Question

Describe the three theories of emotion. Give a specific example of the processes that would lead to an emotion under each theory.

› Sample answer

The James-Lange theory of emotion states that the experience of an emotional state is the result of the physical arousal caused by a stimulus or experience. According to the James-Lange theory an event such as someone crossing a street and hearing a loud car horn from behind. That person’s heart rate, respiratory rate, and amount of sweating will increase. This heightened physiological arousal will cause the brain to interpret this as a situation that should cause fear and therefore the person feels afraid due to the arousal and not directly from the car horn.

The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that the experience of an emotion occurs simultaneously with physiological arousal. If a large dog growled at a person the person’s heart rate would increase at the same time as the person became afraid. This is different from the James-Lange theory because the increased heart rate would not cause the emotional experience.

The Shachter-Singer two factor theory of emotion states the experience of emotion arises from the cognitive appraisal or interpretation of the physiological arousal and its source. An example would be if a person heard a dog bark loudly and turned to see a large aggressive dog approaching. The person’s heart rate would increase and the person would appraise the situation as dangerous and experience fear. However, if the person turned around and saw a small dog the person may still be experiencing an increased heart rate, but would appraise the situation as not being dangerous and therefore not experience fear.

Further Study

These optional resources are provided for students that wish to explore this topic more fully.

TYPE CONTENT CONTEXT
TV series “Facing Our Fears.” Episode 2 from “This Emotional Life.” TV series, PBS, 2010. This episode explores the role of emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, and despair have on our lives, touching on many ideas Prof. Gabrieli goes over in lecture
Website Paul Ekman’s website Website of Paul Ekman, famous pioneer researcher on emotion mentioned in class
Textbook supplement Study materials for Ch. 10, “Emotion and Motivations: Feeling and Striving.” In Kosslyn & Rosenberg, Psychology in Context, 3/e (Pearson, 2007) Practice test questions, flashcards, and media for a related textbook

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Session Overview

This discussion session complements the prior lecture session, Emotion and Motivation.

Discussion

How would you define emotion?

It’s difficult to do without just naming emotions that come to mind: happiness, sadness, anger, etc. Despite how simple and familiar these examples seem to be, our definition of emotion is fairly complex. Emotion is a physiological state that has the following components:

  • Positive or negative subjective experience (known as valence);
  • Bodily arousal;
  • Activation of specific mental processes and stored information; and
  • Characteristic behavior.

The functions of emotions are to help us approach or withdraw from things in the world, and to provide visual cues to others as to what we’re thinking.

And those emotions that first came to mind? Ekman and Friesen (1971) concluded that there are six basic emotions shared by all humans: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.

© Paul Ekman. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.

Would you argue that there are other innate emotions shared by all humans? Or that the model is too simple – are there, for example, different varieties of happiness?

Furthermore, many researchers emphasize the role of culture in shaping emotion. Think of two cultures you know well. Is the valence of a particular emotion (such as pride, joy, or anger) the same in each? Is the same behavior characteristic of that emotion in each culture?

Critical Thinking

Classifying emotions is one thing, but explaining why we have emotions is quite another. Four major theories of emotion have been influential in describing the purpose of emotion: the James-Lange theory, the Cannon-Bard theory, the cognitive theory, and today’s emerging synthesis model. To review, describe the relationship between event and emotion in each model. Describe some evidence in support of the theory and some evidence against it. Finally, describe the roles of brain, body, memory, and interpretation in the emerging synthesis model.

(Need help with this question? See Study outline for K&R Chapter 7 (PDF).)

James-Lange Theory

  • From event to emotion:
  • Evidence for:
  • Evidence against:

Cannon-Bard Theory

  • From event to emotion:
  • Evidence for:
  • Evidence against:

Cognitive Theory

  • From event to emotion:
  • Evidence for:
  • Evidence against:

Emerging Synthesis

  • Evidence of brain and body reactions:
  • Evidence of memory activation and interpretation:

Think About

How does emotion affect cognition? It almost certainly increases the strength of a memory (for example, compare your memories of September 10, 2001 with your memories of September 11, 2001). But what about the influence of particular emotions when you’re making decisions? This is a topic of great importance to many professionals, from teachers (who foster environments that enable students to learn) to pilots (who train to make emergency landings in stressful situations).

Imagine a typical decision you make on a daily basis: whether to save or spend your money. Imagine yourself making that decision under three difference conditions: when you’re angry, when you’re happy, and when you’re afraid. In each case, what do you decide to do with your money?

Now imagine you enter your psychology class and you’re angry, or happy, or afraid. Your teaching assistant hands you your test with a big, red D- written on it. In each case, how do you respond?

You can continue this thought experiment as it applies to different areas of your life. Overall, how would you characterize the effects of different emotions on decision-making?

› Sample response

Anger is known to lead to greater risk-seeking behavior. It gives people a sense of certainty and control. An angry person might make an impulsive purchase with their money, while a person who is feeling scared might be more cautious and save it. While fear tends to narrow the scope of attention (in preparation for fight-or-flight), happiness allows people to open up to new possibilities. A happy person might decide to spend money on a new experience.

Similarly, a happy mood could really affect how a person reacts to his bad grade. He might ask the teaching assistant about other options, such as doing extra credit work or re-taking the test. Anger might lead the student, certain that the test was unfair, to confront the teaching assistant. In a state of fear, the student might feel less certain about his own abilities and decide not to say anything.

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