Psych Reading for February 25th Pages 404 415 Emotion and reason aren t necessarily opposites Theories of Emotion What Causes Our Feelings Emotions Mental states or feelings associated with our evaluations of our experiences Discrete Emotions Theory Humans experience a small number of distinct emotions even if they combine in complex ways o Emotions have distinct biological roots and serve evolutionary functions o Motor program A set of genetically influenced physiological responses that are essentially the same in all of us o Each emotion is associated with these Emotions occur without direct reinforcement possibly for biological reasons cockroach example Emotions are universal o IF we humans evolved to express emotions a certain way we d expect expressions to communicate the same meaning across cultures o A small number of primary emotions are cross culturally universal o Primary emotions Happiness Sadness Surprise Anger Disgust Fear Contempt o Display Rules Cross cultural guidelines for how and when to express emotions According to discrete emotions theorists each primary emotion is associated with a distinctive constellation of facial expressions Cognitive Theories of Emotion Think First Feel Later Our emotional reactions to stimuli precede our interpretation of them Cognitive Theories of Emotion Emotions are products of thinking rather than the other way around James Lange Theory of Emotion Emotions result from our intrepretations of our bodily reactions to stimuli Somatic Marker Theory WE uncosnsiously and instantaneously use our gut reactions to gauge how we should act Canon Bard Theory An emotion provoking event leads simultaneously to both an emotion and bodily reaction Two Factor Theory Two psychological events are required to produce an emotion o After encountering an emotion provoking event we experience an undifferentiated state of arousal o We seek to explain the source of this autonomic arousal and then decide how to react emote o Arousal often intensifies emotions Unconscious Influences on Emotion Variables outside our awareness that can affect our feelings Mere Exposure Effect Phenomenon in which repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably towards it o Can operate unconsciously Facial Feedback Hypothesis You re likely to feel emotions that correspond to your facial features Pages 422 426 strengths Happiness and Self Esteem Science Confronts Pop Psychology Positive Psychology Discipline that has sought to emphasize human o Focuses on helping people to find ways of enhancing positive emotions as well as on building psychologically healthy communities Defensive Pessimism The strategy of anticipating failure and then compensating for this expectation by mentally over preparing for negative outcomes What Happiness is Good For Happiness People s subjective sense of how satisfied they are with life Broaden and Build Theory Happiness predisposes us to think more openly allowing us to see the big picture we might have otherwise overlooked What Makes Us Happy Myths and Realities Misconception 1 The prime determinant of happiness is what happens to us Misconception 2 Money makes us happy Misconception 3 Happiness declines in old age o Positivity Effect The tendency for individuals to remember more positive than negative information with age caused by the diminishing of the amygdala which plays a key role in the processing of negative emotions o Reason why old people are generally happier Misconception 4 People on the West Coast are the happiest Possible things that make us happy o Marriage o Friendships o College o Religion o Political affiliation o Exercise o Gratitude o Giving o Flow A metal state in which we are completely immersed in what we re doing Pages 429 435 Motivation Our Wants and Needs Motivation The drives that propel us in specific directions Motivation A Beginner s Guide Drive Reduction Theory Certain drives motivate us to minimize aversive states Homeostasis Equilibrium Yerkes Dodson Law There s an inverted U shaped relation between arousal and mood and performance o If we re below the optimal point we typically experience low motivation and don t perform well o If we re above the optimal point we typically feel too anxious or stimulated and likewise don t perform well Certain drives generate tendencies towards approach a predisposition Others generate tendencies toward avoidance a disposition away from toward certain stimuli certain stimuli As we get closer to our goals our tendencies to avoid increase more rapidly than our tendencies to approach Creative success seems to breed an even greater desire to create Incentive Theories We re often motivated by positive goals o Intrinsic Motivation People are motivated by internal goals o Extrinsic Motivation People are motivated by external goals Certain rewards that w might expect to be reinforcers may undermine intrinsic motivation Contrast Effect Once we receive reinforcement for performing a behavior we anticipate that reinforcement again Needs o Primary needs Biological necessities o Secondary needs Psychological desires o Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs We must satisfy our primary needs such as physiological needs and needs for safety and security before we can progress to more secondary needs Hunger Eating and Eating Disorders Stomach contractions which occur when our stomach is empty because of hunger Glucostatic Theory When our blood glucose levels drop typically after we haven t eaten for some time hunger creates a drive to eat to restore the proper level of glucose Leptin Hormone that signals the hypothalamus and brains tem to reduce appetite and incease the amount of energy used Set Point A value that edstabishes a range of body fat and muscle mass we tend to maintain Internal external theory Holds that relative to other people people with obesity are motivated to eat more by external cues like portion size as well as the taste smell and appearance of food than by internal cues like a growling stomach or a feeling of fullness Pages 437 442 Libido Sexual Desire A wish or craving for sexual activity and sexual pleasure Sexual Response Cycle o Excitement Intitiated by whatever prompts sexual interest o Plateau Sexual tension builds o Orgasm Sexual pleasure and physical changes peak o Resolution Relaxation and a sense of well being People s expression of sexual desires is shaped by social norms and culture