Emotion and Aggression•What is the James-Lange theory of emotion? What predictions does it make? What research supports this hypothesis?Eventappraisalaction (emotion)emotional feelingPredictions:-People with weak skeletal responses (paralyzed) should feel less emotion… NOT TRUE-People with weak autonomic responses (pure autonomic failure) should feel less emotion…YES (still feel emotions, but not as strongly as before)-Enhancing someone’s response should increase emotion…YESResearch That Supports This Hypothesis-short of breaththink suffocatingpanic attackpanic disorder-make person “smile” show them something potentially funnythink it’s funny-Exceptions: depression isn’t cured by smiling; smiles aren’t necessary for the feeling of happiness•Are emotional expressions learned or innate? Emotional expressions are innate•What is the role of imitation in understanding emotions?Imitation helps with communicating in order to understand emotions. People in different cultures (even isolated environments) use same patterns of movementsof facial muscles to express various emotions•What are some brain areas involved in emotion? What are some examples of the right hemisphere being more responsive to emotional stimuli? Limbic System-traditionally though of as emotion center-amygdala especiallyCortex-strong response to all emotions-different emotions seen all over, especially frontal and temporal lobes and sometimes different emotions activate same regions-some cells respond mainly to pleasant pictures, others to unpleasant pictures; haven’t seen cells specific to different types of unpleasantness (fear vs. anger)Insular Cortex (Insula)-lights up a lot, especially when experiencing (or recognizing on someone else) disgust-also fearExamplesPersonality-More activity in left frontal cortexhappier, outgoing, fun lovingmore activity in the right hemispheresocially withdrawn, less satisfied with life, prone to unpleasant emotionsRight Hemisphere More Responsive To Emotional Stimuli-activity in right amygdala (more than left) when listen to laughter or crying-pay attention to emotional expression on face: right (more than left) temporal cortex-damage to right temporal cortex: difficulty identifying others’ emotional states-people with left hemisphere damage outperformed other groups on knowing when people were lying or telling the truth-inactivate right hemisphere: can remember facts surrounding emotional event, but not the emotion itself•How is the prefrontal cortex involved in emotion? What is the general interaction b/t the prefrontal cortex & the amygdala? How is serotonin involved?Prefrontal cortex is involved with strong response to all emotions and is used when contemplating a moral decision. We tend to make decision based on how they “feel”, reason through them (justify them) later. People with prefrontal damage tend to choose based on logic, not emotionInteraction Between Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala-Amygdala gives you a knee-jerk, aggressive reaction to scary or anger-provoking stimuli-Prefrontal cortex puts the breaks on that reaction, in part by helping you understand how you would feel aafter such a response-Serotonin is an excitatory to prefrontal cortexhelps you to make good decisions*approach and avoidance•What types of emotions are the amygdala especially important for? What kinds of stimuli activate the amygdala? What are some behavioral/cognitive consequences of damage to the amygdala? Know the experiment about the resident and intruder hamsters, and the activation of the amygdala in those hamsters. -Amygdala receives highly processed sensory information (vision, audition, olfaction, somatosensory; from cortex)-Output to:-hypothalamus for autonomic response-prefrontal cortex to control approach and avoidance-midbrain, then pons, then spinal cord for startle reflex-associates appropriate emotional response with extrapersonal objects-associates drive with appropriate target-The amygdala is activated when -looking at photos of something frightening, or someone looking fearful-judging someone’s “goodness” or “badness” or when responding even to the name of someone widely known to be very bad or seeing words that denote threatening situation-trying to discern complicated emotional stimuli-fear directed at you or anger directed away from you are hard to discern-looking at someone else whose expression is fear or anger, even if observer isn’t conscious or presentation-brief presentation of image or cortical blindness-during fear conditioningBehavioral/Cognitive Consequences of Damage-still feel emotions-impairment in processing emotional information when it is complicated or subtle or ambiguous-impairment in focusing on emotional details as opposed to oter details-trouble recognizing arrogance, guilt, anger, surprise, admiration and flirtation-trouble rating “trustfulness” in another person-especially difficult to recognize fear-kluver-bucy syndromeHamster Experiment-Hamster in cage:-introduce another hamster (intruder)—home hamster eventually attacks-take out intruder…wait…put in another intruderhome hamster attacks quicker-during that time, increased activity in amygdala or if stimulate amygdala, prime the hamster to attack*We don’t attack due to the prefrontal cortex helping to put the breaks on a knee-jerk response initiated by the amygdala•What do twin studies and adoption studies tell us about the role of heredity in aggressivebehavior? -adolescent delinquent behavior: dizygotic (fraternal) = monozygotic (identical) thereforemore environmental contribution but adult crimes: monozygotic > dizygotic therefore more genetic contribution-probably adults have more control over their environment, therefore magnifying the influence of the genetic contribution-adopted kids: aggressive behaviors are most pronounced with biological parents with criminal records and dysfunction in adoptive family•What is the potential contribution of (1) smoking while pregnant, (2) low serotonin turnover, and (3) high testosterone to aggressive behavior?1- smoking during pregnancy is correlated with increased likelihood of son to be arrested for violent criminal activities in adolescence and early adulthood2- low serotonin turnover occurs in people with history of violent behavior (including arson and other violent crimes). Adolescents with history of aggressivebehavior: those with lowest turnover
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