Lecture 15

Emotion

1. What is an Emotion?
1. Components
2. Basic Emotions
3. Plutchik's Functional Model
4. Appraisal and Emotion
2. Theories of Emotion
1. Common Sense
2. James-Lange
3. Cannon-Bard
4. Schachter-Singer
3. Brain and Emotion
1. Hemispheric Specialization
2. Amygdala
3. Dual Pathways Model
4. Capgras Syndrome

Overview

The words "motivation" and "emotion" come from a common Latin word, movere, which means "to move." The movement occurs in two directions. People are motivated to experience positive emotions (and avoid experiencing negative emotions), and emotions motivate behavior. Emotions are a syndrome, comprised of many factors. These include subjective feelings, physiological arousal, cognitive appraisals, and behavioral tendencies. None of these components is essential for an emotional experience, and not all emotions involve all components.

Most theorists believe that people are born with a few basic emotions that enhance survival, and that other, less primitive, emotions arise from appraisals we make about stimuli we encounter or events we experience. Theorists disagree, however, about the order in which emotional components occur.

Because emotions are comprised of several components, several areas of the brain are involved in an emotional experience. These include the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and left and right hemispheres.

Specifics

• Identify 5 facets of an emotional experience (the eliciting stimulus is one).
• Identify 4 basic emotions, and know the dimensions along with these emotions vary.
• Distinguish 4 theories of emotion (common-sense is one of them) with respect to the ordering of components in an emotional experience.
• Know the role the amygdala plays in the registration of fear, and the dual-pathways model.
• Know the role the left and right hemispheres play in positive and negative emotions, and which hemisphere is more fully developed at birth.
• Be familiar enough with Capgras Syndrome to recognize it when you see it.