Notes for Psychology-April 7th "Emotion" may be operationally characterized by three primary components: 1. Physiological arousal . !

onscious e"perience #. $eha%ioral e"pression Emotions are e"perienced on both an ob&ecti%e and sub&ecti%e basis. 'b&ecti%ely( certain states of arousal may be )uantified on a physiological basis( and certain beha%iors may also be obser%ed and compartmentalized. *ub&ecti%ely( ho+e%er( certain emotions may be e"perienced on %arious indi%idualized cases. ,hus( a situation may be regarded as negati%e by one person( or positi%e by another. Arousal: ,he physiological state of arousal may be indicati%e of certain components of a ner%ous system( including the sympathetic ner%ous system and the parasympathetic ner%ous system. ,he former -*N*. instigates a certain response to different stimuli( and may thus be abbre%iated as eliciting a "fight or flight" response. ,he Parasympathetic Ner%ous *ystem( ho+e%er( does the e"act opposite( and ser%es the purpose of assuaging hyperacti%ity +ithin the ner%ous system itself. Arousal may be )uantified and measured through the indi%idual/s heart rate( the blood pressure( the breathing rate( pupil dilation( or brain acti%ity. 'ne researcher emphasizes a shift in focus from the !entral Ner%ous *ystem to the Automatic Ner%ous *ystem in the field of studying physiological arousal. 0esearch has also helped to distinguish +here positi%e and negati%e emotions are centered +ithin the brain itself. *1in !onductance 2e%el also helps to measure certain degrees of arousal. ,he polygraph test( for e"ample( has +idely employed this system of measurement. 3t ta1es note of the heart rate( breathing( *!2 in response to neutral )uestions +hen compared to target )uestions. ,his has pro%en to be unreliable( ho+e%er( gi%en the differences of physiology from indi%idual-to-indi%idual. Naturally( there are many difficulties +hen attempting to measure emotion. ,a1e( for e"ample( the decrease in reliance on the Autonomous Ner%ous *ystem responses. ,his is due to the fact that it produces the same physiological arousal for many %arying emotions. Another incredibly banal complication is that some indi%iduals are capable of concealing their o+n emotions. # 4ain ,heories of Emotion: 5ames-2ange ,heory ,his is built on the assertion that emotion is e)uitable +ith the physiological arousal of our body. ,his inherently says that emotion is( rather( the perception of physiological arousal( and is born as a response to this arousal.

A limitation of the 5ames-2ange theory is that the same reaction can come from different stimuli. 3ts narro+ conception fails to comprehend the %arying degrees of human emotion. ,he !annon-$ard ,heory asserted that emotional and physiological reactions transpire simultaneously rather than one preceding the other. ,hus( this is a centralized( holistic e"perience in +hich a stimulus produces a dual reaction on both an emotional as +ell as physiological le%el. ,his focuses on an innate emotional response that is uni%ersally applicable to all indi%iduals. 6et( this also produces a limitation to this theory( as it percei%es emotion as primiti%e and instinctually rather than e"isting alongside rational cognition and reason. 3n defense of this theory( some may say that rationality is foregone +hen presented +ith an o%er+helming stimuli. ,he ,+o-7actor ,heory attempts to address the )uestion as to ho+ cognition is intert+ined +ith %arying degrees of fear and an"iety. ,his tries to measure the cogniti%e labeling of certain emotions and physiological arousals. 3t thus interprets physiological arousal in light of e"ternal cues attribution( +hich prompts the indi%idual to label the emotion. 3t can be seen( then( as understanding emotions by analyzing the cogniti%e process +ithin the indi%idual. 7irst( the indi%idual may e"perience a physiological response to a certain stimuli( and then endea%ors to label the emotion at the root of such a state of arousal. ,ransfer of E"citation 8ypothesis: ,his states that the arousal from one e"perience may be carried o%er to an entirely separate situation. ,hus( an indi%idual may be incorrect in finding the source of their arousal and fail to properly e%aluate their o+n emotions or stimuli. Emotion is also firmly rooted in a beha%ioral study. ,a1e( for e"ample( the %erbal cues +hich an indi%idual may ta1e to articulate their e"perience. ,his may also e"tend to body posture and facial e"pression. ,he latter has been a central component of psychological research for many years. !ertain emotions elicit an innate response in the indi%idual( and thus produce a culturally uni%ersal facial e"pression. 3t is ta1en as e%ident that some facial e"pressions may be innately affiliated +ith other emotions. 0emember the si" different facial e"pressions that are uni%ersal across all cultures. *ome +onder( ho+e%er( if one affects a facial e"pression +hich in turn renders that feeling +ithin the indi%idual. ,his is the 7acial 7eedbac1 8ypothesis( +hich asserts that the facial e"pression produces the respecti%e emotion +ithin the indi%idual. ,hus( in%oluntary mo%ements of the face pro%ide information -feedbac1. on emotions. *ome researchers ha%e put this test into application. 3n one e"periment( patients +ere as1ed to hold a pencil +ith their lips( +hile others +ere as1ed to do so +ithin their teeth. ,he latter( supposedly( acti%ated the same facial muscles as a smile +ould. 3t +as found that those +ho +ere in a "smiling" condition en&oyed a cartoon they +ere sho+n more

than the group +hich held the pencil +ith their teeth. ,his is supporti%e of the 5ames2ange theory of emotions. ,he facial e"pressions pro%ide +onderful insight as to +hat facial muscles are triggered by certain emotions. ,hese ser%e as indicators as to +hat emotional e"pressions are in other people. ,he muscles in%ol%ed in a fear response( for e"ample( are fre)uently used to e%aluate if one is being truthful or decepti%e.