Psychology: Unit III Emotion

EMOTION

• response of the whole organism
• physiological arousal 
• expressive behaviors
• conscious experience

James - Lange Theory

• experience of emotion in awareness of physiological responses to emotion arousing stimuli

Cannon - Bard Theory

• emotion arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:
• physiological responses
• subjective experience of emotion

Schachter's Two - Factor Theory

• to experience emotion one must: 
• be physically aroused
• cognitively label the arousal 

Polygraph

• machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies
• measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion
• perspiration, cardiovascular, and breathing changes

Amygdala

• a neural key to fear learning

Catharsis

• emotional release
• "releasing" aggressive energy (through actions or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Feel - good, do - good Phenomenon

• people's tendency to help when they are already in a good mood

Adaptation - Level - Phenomenon

• tendency to form judgments relative to a "neutral" level
• defined by our prior experience
• brightness of lights
• level of income
• volume of sound

Relative Deprivation

• perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself